“Spanning the Globe to bring you the constant variety of sport; the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat; the human drama of athletic competition.”

Each week, ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” opened with the host, Jim McKay, doing this voiceover. McKay died Saturday at age 86. He was the ringmaster for The Olympic Games on American television and the host for “Wide World of Sports” for 25 of its improbable 37 years on ABC.

Over the past few days, events in the world of sport offered a fitting eulogy for Jim McKay.

The thrill of victory came into focus at several championship venues. In hockey, the Detroit Red Wings skated off with the Stanley Cup on Wednesday. This Red Wings team is arguably one of the best Stanley Cup winners of the past several decades. They were able to take very good hockey clubs and many star players and make them look very ordinary or even sub-par. They were able to dominate the extremely talented Pittsburgh Penguins for long stretches of ice time allowing them nary a shot on goal, while making them look inept on the ice. Many of these veteran players have won Stanley Cups, but the joy of victory never grows old.

In tennis, the French Open came to its conclusion offering the women’s finals on Saturday matching two young players who had not won a Grand Slam event: Dinara Safina of Russia and Anna Ivanovic of Serbia. Ivanovic had come out of her war-torn country to international tennis prominence, practicing in a drained swimming pool in the winter and, at age 11, practicing tennis in the morning to avoid NATO bombings of Belgrade later in the day. The joy of victory could be seen in the mix of a joyous smile and tear-filled eyes as the Serbian national anthem played to mark Ivanovic’s first grand slam victory.

Rafel Nadal won the men’s title for the fourth straight time, tying Bjorn Borg’s record. He did not lose a set on Sunday or in the two weeks of the tournament. Indeed, in three sets Nadal lost only four games to Roger Federer. This was a stunning and dominating performance over the man who has been called the greatest tennis player of all time. Nadal was clearly thrilled to have won this tournament and to receive the winner’s trophy from Bjorn Borg.

Perhaps the greatest thrill of victory this weekend came in conjunction with a most devastating agony in defeat.

The human drama of athletic competition could not have been greater than what transpired on Saturday afternoon at Belmont Park. With the Triple Crown of horseracing on the line, Da’Tara, a 38-1 long shot, won the Belmont Stakes by over five lengths leading wire-to-wire. A $2 bet on Da’Tara returned $79. Da’Tara’s Belmont win was certainly a thrilling victory for owner Robert LaPenta, trainer Nick Zito, jockey Alan Garcia, and all those connected to Da’Tara.

The focus, however, was on the agony of defeat. The overwhelming favorite, Big Brown, finished last, well up the track, and after the backstretch was never a factor in the race. No potential Triple Crown winner has ever finished last in the Belmont Stakes, and perhaps no potential Triple Crown winner had ever been given the hype that fell on Big Brown over the past three weeks since he won the Preakness in convincing fashion.

It seems now an eternity since Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr., started telling anyone within earshot or microphone range that Big Brown would win the Triple Crown. Dutrow was unfazed by the fact that it hadn’t been done in 30 years, and that 10 other horses had failed to win at Belmont when given the opportunity at a Triple Crown.

Earlier this week, Dutrow was declaring the race over. He termed it “a forgone conclusion” that Big Brown would win. No one else belonged on the same track as Dutrow’s wonder horse. These horses “couldn’t run with Big Brown.”

When Big Brown had to stop training for three days because of the crack in his hoof Dutrow’s victory claims did not diminish. All was well. No problem at all. If anything, Dutrow seemed more glib and more certain than ever. Then he announced that Big Brown was no longer getting his monthly dose of Winstrol. Big Brown didn’t need anything extra to win. He is a natural.

So when the race ended there was Rick Dutrow, his blue shirt soaked with sweat, looking like he had been hit over the head with a blunt instrument. He walked out of the stands and back to his horse stunned, his glibness laying in the dirt at the quarter pole. The agony of defeat was written all over his person.

When he recovered enough to speak to the press, Dutrow was clearly still in shock. He had no idea what went wrong, nor did jockey Kent Desormeaux who said simply “I had no horse” coming into the far turn.

Jim McKay would have relished this moment. Not because it was a pleasure to see someone like Dutrow eat his words, but because the essential human drama of athletic competition had played out at Belmont Park. The joy of victory and the agony of defeat were spread across the racetrack.

This is what draws us to sport, what keeps us coming back, and what Jim McKay was a master at framing with his words.