Jimmy Magee (31 January 1935 – 20 September 2017) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
sports broadcaster, known as The Memory Man, he spent over half a century in sports broadcasting, and presented radio and television coverage of the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
since 1968 and the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
since 1966. By the time of his retirement he was the longest-serving sports commentator in the English-speaking world.
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Early and personal life
Jimmy Magee was born in 1935 in New York City[McGoldrick, p. 1.] in the United States, to Patrick (Paddy) Magee and his wife Rose (née Mackin). The family returned to Ireland shortly after his birth. Magee and his three siblings were subsequently raised in Cooley, County Louth.[ As a child Magee was influenced by the sports commentary of the legendary Gaelic games broadcaster ]Michael O'Hehir
Michael James Hehir (also known as Michael O'Hehir and ga, Mícheál Ó hEithir; 2 June 1920 – 24 November 1996) was an Irish hurling, football and horse racing commentator and journalist. Between 1938 and 1985 his enthusiasm and memor ...
. He recalls commentating as a seven-year-old for his next-door neighbour on a variety of imaginary games that the young Magee was also playing in. He has also spoken of making up his own radio commentary in a field at a young age.
After being educated locally Magee secured a full-time clerical post with Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway
The Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway (DNGR, DN&GR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland. It was conceived in the 1860s to provide a link between the towns in its title and the London and North Western Railway port at Greenore, from ...
. He and his wife Marie married on 11 October 1955 and had five children: Paul, a soccer player with Shamrock Rovers F.C. (winning the League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
in 1977), who died of motor neuron disease, aged 51 years in May 2008;[.]
Linda (b. 1959); June (b. 1961); Patricia (b. 1962); and Mark (b. 1970).
1989 was an emotionally trying year for Magee as his mother and wife died within months of each other, Marie dying at the young age of 54.
Magee died on 20 September 2017 after falling ill during the previous days.
Many tributes were made to him including Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...
Leo Varadkar who said ""His commentaries were legendary and based on a breadth of sporting knowledge that was peerless". RTÉ Head of Sport Ryle Nugent
Ryle Nugent was born in Dublin and is an Irish sports broadcaster, reporter and former Head of RTÉ Sport. Prior to his appointment, he was RTÉ's commissioning editor for sport primarily specialising in rugby union. He is the resident rugby uni ...
said "It’s hard to put it into words, the man meant an inordinate amount to so many people, I think he was the soundtrack to many generations".
Career
While still working with Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway Magee began his broadcasting career. He started out as a reporter for the Radio Éireann
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
programme '' Junior Sports Magazine''. Other contributors on the programme were Jim Tunney and Peter Byrne, former football correspondent with ''The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
''. On leaving his Railway job, Magee presented a number of sponsored radio programmes before concentrating on sport. He was a producer, presenter and script writer for Radio Éireann's
sponsored programmes in the 1950s and 1960s.
Jimmy joined Raidió Teilifís Éireann in 1956. In 1966 Magee covered his first World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
for RTÉ Radio. He did likewise for the 1970 FIFA World Cup before transferring to television for the 1974 FIFA World Cup finals. In all he has provided commentary at eleven World Cups – his latest commentary coming at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
in South Africa.
Magee's column or quiz had appeared in every single publication of the Sunday World since the first edition in 1973.
Magee has also been a staple of RTÉ's coverage of the Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
. Beginning at the 1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...
in Mexico City, he has attended the eleven subsequent Olympic games as a commentator with RTÉ. In 2012, he commentated on the boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
for RTÉ at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, including Katie Taylor
Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She is a two-weight world champion and the current undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBA title since 2017; the IBF title since 2018; and the ...
's gold medal-winning fight.[
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Magee provided commentary on the football.
From 1987 to 1998 Magee hosted '' Know Your Sport'', a sports-themed quiz show, along with George Hamilton. Magee's broadcasting career also saw him provide commentary for over 200 international football games, 30 European Cup finals, multiple ]Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
cycle races, World Athletic Championships and boxing. He also narrated numerous videos on Sport in general such as ''The purple and Gold'', ''Meath return to Glory'', etc.
A freelancer Jimmy worked for Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
in 1994 and signed for UTV in 199
on a three-year contract where a lifetime ambition of commentating on All Ireland Finals was achieved. He commentated on three finals in both hurling and football.
He launched his memoir, ''Memory Man'', in 2012.
Some of Magee's one-liners in commentaries have become famous or infamous (what are affectionately known in the broadcasting industry as ''Colemanballs
Colemanballs is a term coined by '' Private Eye'' magazine to describe verbal gaffes perpetrated by sports commentators. '' after the famed commentating clangers of BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
).
for his radio sports commentaries. In 1989, he was the subject of a special tribute show on ''
presented him with a replica of its torch.
* McGoldrick, Seán. ''Jimmy Magee: The Official Biography – I Remember it Well''. Dublin: Blackwater Press, 2000. .
* ''Memory Man'' with Jason O'Toole. 2012.
*''Different Class'' with Jason O'Toole, 2013.