For those of you under thirty, no doubt you consider the poet laureate of sports Bob Costas.  For us older folks, that honor fell to Jim McKay.

Back in the day when you could enjoy ABC's "Wide World of Sports" which could be anything from water polo to yak racing, Jim McKay was the face of that show.  He was smart, inquisitive and goofy all at the same time.  There was simply no one on the air like him, combining his sense of intelligence and offbeat.

Of course, his most famous moment was one we'd all like to forget, announcing the deaths of the Israeli hostages at the 1972 Olympic games.  Tapes and reports don't do it justice; you had to live through it and follow it to it's tense and horrifying conclusion in which McKay simply said "They're all gone."

In this brave new world of like Stuart Scott, Tony Kornheiser,  Chris Berman,  Curt Menafee etc., there will never be another Jim McKay.  Classy, cool and a pro to the end.  Thanks Jim.