personal and professional accomplishments. Personal life An avid horse racing enthusiast who raised thoroughbreds, McKay founded Maryland Million Day, a series of twelve races designed to promote Maryland's horse breeding industry. The day-long program has grown to become a major racing event in the state of Maryland, second only to the Preakness Stakes day at Pimlico Race Course. It has spawned more than twenty other similar events at United States race tracks such as the Sunshine Millions. McKay and his wife purchased a minority share in the Baltimore Orioles in 1993. He participated in the effort to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to Baltimore and Washington. McKay died on June 7, 2008, from natural causes at age 86. He was survived by his wife Margaret, son Sean, daughter Mary Guba, and three grandchildren. McKay died on the same day as the running of the Belmont Stakes (won by Da'Tara that year). Honors McKay won numerous awards, including the George Polk Award for his sports and news coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics. McKay was the first sportscaster to win an Emmy Award and won thirteen Emmys in his lifetime. 1987: American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame, inducted along with veteran boxing and horse racing announcer Clem McCarthy. 1988: U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. 1993: TV Guide named McKay the best sportscaster of the 1970s. 2001: Paul White Award, Radio Television Digital News Association McKay was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame during its 11th induction. He was selected as the inaugural Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism recipient in 2002. The NBC broadcast of the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was dedicated to McKay, per a message at the closing of the broadcast. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has dedicated a scholarship for college athletes for postgraduate study in McKay's honor. The Armory in New York City dedicated a high school track meet in his name on December 12, 2008. References External links "Loyola Remembers Jim 'McKay' McManus of the Class of 1943," Loyola College in Maryland, Monday, June 9, 2008. Jim McKay-Hometown Hero Jim McKay on covering the 1972 Munich Olympics, 1998 interview by EmmyTVLegends.org (on YouTube) 1921 births 2008 deaths American Football League announcers American horse racing announcers American male journalists 20th-century American journalists United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of Irish descent American television sports anchors American television sports announcers Association football