Howard Cosell quotes
Howard Cosell
Birthdate: 25. March 1918
Date of death: 23. April 1995
Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist and author, who was prominent and influential on radio, television and print media from the early 1960s into the mid 1980s. He was also an actor who played minor roles in several TV programs and movies. Cosell was widely known for his blustery, confident personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. There's no question that I'm all of those things." In its obituary for Cosell, The New York Times described Cosell's effect on American sports coverage: "He entered sports broadcasting in the mid-1950s, when the predominant style was unabashed adulation, [and] offered a brassy counterpoint that was first ridiculed, then copied until it became the dominant note of sports broadcasting."In 1993, TV Guide named Howard Cosell The All-Time Best Sportscaster in its issue celebrating 40 years of television.
Quotes Howard Cosell
„Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Sonny Liston's not coming out! Sonny Liston's not coming out! He's out! The winner and new heavyweight champion of the world is Cassius Clay!“
February 25, 1964, calling the victory of Cassius Clay (who would later change his name to Muhammad Ali) over Sonny Liston.
„Crowd screaming chanting ALI! ALI! Legends die hard and Ali is learning that even he can not be forever young.“
October 2, 1980 during the 9th round of the ill-fated Muhammad Ali-Larry Holmes World heavyweight championship.
„He is working Duran effectively…. and Duran must resolve from pulling in…and he does…WHAT?! DURAN HAS QUIT?! ROBERTO DURAN HAS QUIT!!! There can be no other explanation. Pandemonium in the ring, and Roberto Duran has quit!“
November 25, 1980, calling the fight between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard, which Duran infamously quit during the 8th round of the fight.
„The Rooneys are the finest people, the people I most respect in American sports ownership. I've always felt that way. And there's no reason to change. They are people of integrity and character… I have a whole transcendental feeling for the Steelers and the Rooneys and Pittsburgh.“
1982 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qEocAAAAIBAJ&sjid=A2AEAAAAIBAJ&dq=howard%20cosell%20plays%20pittsburgh%20they%20play%20the%20whole%20city&pg=4344%2C3796544
„There it is, ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning.“
October 12, 1977, reporting a school fire (initially mistaken as a tenement fire), while announcing Game 2 of the 1977 World Series. This comment, while widely attributed to Cosell, was never made.[citation needed]
Incorrectly Attributed
„That little monkey gets loose, doesn't he?“
September 1983, referring to wide receiver Alvin Garrett of the Washington Redskins; the statement was denounced as racist, but it was pointed out that Cosell had regularly used the same term to describe small players of all races.[citation needed]
„Look at that little monkey run!“
During the Halftime Highlights segment of Monday Night Football on September 24, 1973 when describing a 97-yard kickoff return by Washington Redskins player Herb Mul-Key against the St. Louis Cardinals.
„That little monkey. The theorem was that he was too small to play in the NFL.“
citation needed
Referring to Mike Adamle during an Exhibition Hall of Fame Game, Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Giants, Fawcett Stadium, Canton Ohio, July 29, 1972.
