As if the impending addition of another digit to the number of years in which I’ve inhabited the planet wasn’t enough to remind me of the reality that I’ll one day exit it (gracefully or otherwise), the man who narrated many of my boyhood memories of the ambiguous concept of “sport” has passed.

Jim McKay has died of natural causes at the age of 86.

And, yes, I’m old enough to realize that many of you are too young to appreciate McKay’s achievements and contributions.  We therefore suggest that you use the tremendous resources residing at your fingertips to learn more about the man who was a dominant presence in the days of three television channels, at a time when “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” was a phrase that virtually every American instantly recognized.