The marvelous voice of sportscaster Jim McKay is stilled. The longtime announcer for Wide World of Sports whose coverage of the Munich Olympics itself made history, died today at his home in Maryland.

McKay voiced one of the most memorable lines in sports - "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat" - that opened ABC's Wide World of Sports. The job gave him a national reputation and recognition, and helped define sports coverage as we know it today.

It was his presence in the booth at the Munich Summer Games when terrorists took Israeli athletes hostage that vaulted him into international fame.

Oddly enough my first recollection of McKay was not on WWOS, but on a cheesy, low-budget show called "Divorce Court." A forerunner of "Judge Judy" and similar shows, and the successor to a contemporary show of the same name, "Divorce Court" re-enacted marital splits. McKay covered, or maybe narrated, the trials which, he memorably intoned, were presented in hopes of stemming the ever-rising tide of divorce in this country.

It was always McKay's voice that riveted the attention - cool, crisp, resonant, reflective and emotional at times, such as his coverage of The Miracle on Ice, when the US Olympic hockey team beat the Soviet Union. Thanks to YouTube and other resources, we can hear that voice whenever we want. But the man who owned it is gone.