From the NYTimes obit of legendary ABC sportscaster Jim McKay:
His professionalism and sensitivity melded in 1972. During the Munich Olympics, as he left the hotel sauna and was about to go into the swimming pool on his only day off, he received word that Arab terrorists had invaded the Israeli living quarters in the Olympic Village. Mr. McKay hurried to the studio, and for 16 consecutive hours he anchored ABC’s extraordinary news coverage, with field reporting from Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell and others.The episode ended with the killing of 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and trainers. When that word reached Mr. McKay, he said he thought that he would be the person who told the family of David Berger, an Israeli-born weight lifter whose family lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio, “if their son was alive or dead.”
He looked at the lens and said, “They’re all gone.”
When ABC finally signed off, Mr. McKay, physically and emotionally spent, returned to his hotel room. Only then did he realize he had been wearing a wet swimsuit beneath his trousers.
The next day, Mr. McKay received this cable from an old CBS colleague: “Dear Jim, today you honored yourself, your network and your industry. Walter Cronkite.”
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I was only 18 months old in 1972 for the Olympics, but I remember in February 1980 Jim McKay hosting the afternoon session of the Lake Placid games and announcing that the USA-USSR hockey game would be shown in tape delay, and he said, looking askance at a monitor, "...Uh, I think you're gonna want to see this."
I also thought he was great in 1984 hosting the L.A. opening ceremonies with Peter Jennings.
I was 10 at the time of the 1972 Olympics, and they were the first Olympics I was aware of, largely due to Jim McKay and ABC's coverage, both of the Israeli athlete tragedy and of the games themselves. (I also remember that either Time or Newsweek had a cover photo of Marc Spitz wearing all his medals.) For several consecutive Olympics, Jim McKay *was* the Olympics for me, to a great extent.
PS -- Rod, I think you mean "Ave atque vale" in your "category" list above. "Ave atque vale" means "Hail and farewell" (see Catullus 101). "Ad atque vale" is meaningless.
Oh, you're totally correct! I thought that looked weird.
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