Sunday, June 8, 2008

Jim McKay Passes Away

Veteran ABC sportscaster Jim McKay passed away of natural causes yesterday at his Maryland home. He was 86 years old. He had hosted ABC's "Wide World of Sports" for over four decades and covered 12 Olympic Games, including the tragic 1972 Munich Olympics. He was the father of CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus.

McKay also had a WCBS connection and it's the reason his last name was changed, according to NPR:
McKay was born Jim McManus in 1921. He was working under that name in 1950, when he took a job hosting a sports show on WCBS in New York. A network executive wanted to call that show The Real McKay — so the host changed his name.
The New York Times has this piece of information:
The next decade brought more television stints at WCBS-TV and the CBS network as a weatherman, a public-affairs moderator, a game show host and a sportscaster.

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