Jim McKay, 1921-2008

There's irony in the notion that the great Jim McKay passed away just hours before the final leg of horse racing's Triple Crown or months before a Summer Olympic Games.

No sportscaster exhibited more versatility than McKay, who died Saturday at 86. The voice of more than a hundred different sports on CBS and ABC and original host of the seminal "ABC's Wide World of Sports" won 12 Emmy Awards and was the first sportscaster to be bestowed with the honor. In 2002, McKay received the International Olympic Committee's highest honor — the Olympic Order.

But as omnipresent as McKay was on television for more than a half-century, it is his work in chronicling the tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics that will never be forgotten by those who were transfixed to their sets during those dark hours. He was the anchor of ABC's round-the-clock coverage when Palestinian terrorists kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes. It was McKay who had the unenviable task of telling the world when a commando raid to rescue the athletes ended in tragedy.

"They're all gone," McKay said.

Read more about the distinguished career of the great broadcaster here and listen to remembrances by former colleagues Keith Jackson, Brent Musburger and Don Ohlmeyer.