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Veteran Sports Exec Sean McManus Recalls Being By Dad Jim McKay’s Side As He Broadcast Munich Olympics Massacre Depicted In ‘September 5’ – Guest Column


Sean McManus, eventually the president of CBS News and Sports, was a high schooler when he attended the Munich Olympics with his dad Jim McKay.

He got a unique view of how his father and the sports team headed by Roone Arledge exhibited courage under the extreme pressure of covering live the terrifying events as they unfolded 100 yards away, with the whole world watching, along with members of the Black September terror group. In 1972, I was a 17-year-old senior in high school and my mother, sister and I attended the Munich Olympics with my dad, Jim McKay, who was assigned to cover gymnastics and track & field for ABC Sports. At one point my dad reported that a journalist on-site had said, “All hell has broken out at the airport.” The tension and the enormous gravity of the situation weighed heavily on my father, but he remained poised and professional even as his emotions were swirling inside of him.

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