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Memories of McKay live on
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Margaret McKay, the wife of Jim McKay, comforts her grandson James Fontelieu during a memorial service for the veteran sportscaster at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore on Tuesday. — AP
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - One of the hardest things James Fontelieu has ever had to do was talk about his best friend, his late grandfather and legendary sportscaster, Jim McKay.
“He taught me how to drive a car and drive a golf ball,” he said as tears rolled down his cheeks. “He showed me the world. He was my best friend.”
About 300 family members, friends and colleagues gathered at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in north Baltimore on Tuesday to celebrate the life of one of the most influential media members of all time who passed away on Saturday of natural causes at his horse farm in Monkton. He was 86.
Attendees read like a who’s who of broadcasters, including Al Michaels, Katie Couric, Bob Costas, Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Jim Nantz, Armen Keteyian and Dick Ebersol.
McKay is best remembered for his coverage of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, where 11 Isreali athletes were massacred after being taken hostage. His coverage of the event, prior to the 24-hour news cycle of today, was considered groundbreaking. He was the first to break the news that a commando raid at a nearby airport to rescue the hostages ended tragically.
Staring into the camera, he said the chilling words: “When I was a kid my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were eleven hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They’re all gone.”
Jim McKay, Born James K. McManus in Philadelphia on Sept. 24, 1921, but moved to Baltimore at age 15 and graduated from Loyola Blakefield and Loyola College. McKay hosted ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” for more than 40 years starting in 1961. McKay covered events ranging from Olympic Sports to horse racing to motorcycle jumping and became the first sportscaster to win an Emmy Award in 1968. He also was an integral part of the television coverage of the 1980 Olympic games and the “Miracle on Ice,” and coined the phrase “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”
“My call at the end of the U.S.’s gold medal game against Finland, ‘the impossible dream has come true,’ was actually a play off of what Jim had said in the studio earlier when he asked, ‘can this impossible dream continue?’” Michaels said. “He wasn’t announcing, it was like he was talking to you.”
Many of McKay’s friends and relatives took turns speaking of his illustrious career and life, but the topic continually returned to his family and the love of his life, wife Margaret.
Nantz, who handles the NFL, PGA Tour and college basketball for CBS Sports, talked about visiting McKay on several occasions, including once prior to his final overseas broadcasts at the British Open at St. Andrews in Scotland in 2000.
“He longed to be home. That’s all he wanted to talk about,” Nantz said. “He no longer had any appetite for the life of the lonely road warrior.”
McKay’s son, Sean McManus, president of CBS News and CBS Sports, said his father’s life ended the way he would have wanted.
“He passed away at home with the woman he loved,” McManus said. “That’s pretty good.”
dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com
