March 25
HUMBLE HOWARD DAY
Howard Cosell (Cohen) was born on this day in 1918. Cosell came to be the most liked -- and the most disliked -- sports journalist across America.
Cosell agreed when others described him as arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a show-off. And still others said he forgot to include “irritating, generous, funny, paranoid, charming, egomaniacal and insecure.”
A New York attorney, Cosell ventured into the world of network sports journalism through his association with WABC radio and TV in New York in the 1950’s and early 1960s. He was featured as the boxing announcer for ABC Sports and, under Roone Arledge, filled various sports positions on Wide World of Sports -- from horse racing to Olympic competition. Cosell would, in a stentorian and often difficult to understand syntax, make use of his abundant vocabulary that contained big, big words that sent sports fans scurrying for their dictionaries.
Always outspoken and frequently controversial, Cosell would Tell It like It Is, the title of one of his best selling books on the subject of sports and broadcasting. It was Cosell who would be the first to claim that Cassius Clay (Muhammed Ali), would be a media star; and he championed Ali’s fight against the draft. His association with the boxer put him in front of Congressional committees and made him a regular guest lecturer in college classrooms.
Cosell later quit broadcasting boxing matches and openly expressed a loathing for that sport, and for football, as well. Humble Howard was also host of a weekly program (not a sports program) for ABC Contemporary Radio -- interviews and commentary titled, Speaking of Everything.
Cosell was a major figure, with colleague Jim McKay, in bringing the hard news story to the minds and souls of a nation in 1972 when several Olympians were tragically slain during the Winter Olympics in Germany. He later became more outspoken, even against his own colleagues who he had worked with for so many years. Many people felt that Cosell became a bitter, broken man in his later years following the death of his wife, Emmy. She was the only one who could tell him to “...shut up, Howard. Nobody cares.”
The once-powerful ‘voice that roared’ left Monday Night Football after fourteen years.
Howard Cosell died in 1995. Roon Arledge said, “Howard Cosell was one of the most original people ever to appear on American TV. He became a giant by telling the truth in an industry that was not used to hearing it and considered it revolutionary.”
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
No portion of these files may be reproduced without the express, written permission of 440 International Inc.
