'Standard' set by broadcaster
Associated Press
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

BALTIMORE --- When Jim McKay traveled to St. Andrews in Scotland to cover the 2000 British Open it was his final overseas event in more than 50 years of broadcasting.

Sportscaster Jim Nantz visited McKay in his hotel room before the final round. He recalled McKay wasn't emotional about the end of his career; he was upset about being away from his family.

"He longed to be home. That's all he wanted to talk about," Nantz said Tuesday at a funeral Mass for McKay. "He no longer had any appetite for the life of the lonely road warrior."

About 200 people filled the pews of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen for the funeral of McKay, the venerable host of ABC's Wide World of Sports and one-time broadcaster of the Masters Tournament who died Saturday at 86 at his Maryland farm.

Relatives, friends and colleagues remembered McKay, born James Kenneth McManus, as a man who, despite his globe-trotting TV persona, longed for the simple pleasures of home and the company of his wife, Margaret, his son and daughter and his three grandchildren.

"He taught me how to drive a car and how to drive a golf ball," James Fontelieu, McKay's oldest grandson, said through tears. "He was my best friend."

Among those in attendance were NBC Olympics host Bob Costas and NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol.

"He's one of the greatest broadcasters in the history of the medium," Costas said. "Jim essentially created the role of the modern Olympic host. He set the standard."

From the Wednesday, June 11, 2008 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
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