Thrills--and Agony

By Bob Costas

Broadcaster Jim McKay, who died June 7 at age 86, traveled some 4 million miles in his 37 years with ABC's Wide World of Sports, "spanning the globe," as the show's slogan put it, to bring viewers "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." And wherever his travels took him--from the Olympics to barrel-jumping, from horse-racing to demolition derby--he brought a reporter's eye, a poet's touch and a little boy's enthusiasm.

But McKay's finest hour was sports' darkest, when 11 Israeli athletes perished in a terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics. As he reported the story over 16 uncertain hours, McKay was calm, capable and compassionate--and thinking of the parents of Israeli weight-lifter David Berger, an American who had immigrated to Israel. "I knew," he said, "that I would be the one to tell them if their son was alive or dead." When that terrible moment came, McKay looked into the camera. "My father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized," he said softly. Then, "They're all gone." It was an exquisite blend of professionalism and humanity.

Thirty years later, a filmmaker asked Berger's father what he thought of McKay. As McKay would have, Dr. Benjamin Berger found just the right word--in this case, the Yiddish term for a man of character. Said Berger: "[Jim McKay] is a mensch." Yes, he was.