Was Howard Cossell any less of a Blow-hard than guys like Max Kellerman or Steven A Smith?

Good thread title. I agree he had his biases but hes still a better commentator for me, simply because he knew how to talk while Kellerman and A. Smith sound like gyrating hamsters

 

Howard Cosell was obnoxious and wasn't knowledgeable about the fine points of certain sports, notably boxing and football. He also wasn't the most talented play-by-play broadcaster. That being said, Cosell had a very powerful personal presence and fine interviewing skills (when he wanted to use them in a proper manner). He also had a strong sense of justice and didn't hesitate to take certain firm stances, notably when backing Muhammad Ali after he refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army and was stripped of his world heavyweight title. Cosell denounced certain ABC sports events that were not up to par. But one exception to being relatively frank, Cosell never criticized the head of ABC sports programming, Roone Arledge or ABC itself at a time when ABC showed a lot of subpar sports events, such as gross boxing mismatches or the infamous late 1970s boxing tournament put on by ABC.

His powerful personal presence on ABC sports programming often made him a center of attention. As such, he could convey the importance of certain sports events with his presence and actions. In regards to Larry Merchant, Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman, I don't think that any of them possessed Cosell's powerful personal presence on television.

- Chuck Johnston

 

I'm too young and on the wrong continent to have experienced Cosell at the time, but have seen more than plenty from archive footage over the years.

He strikes me as a warts and all kind of guy, who brought a full package of good and bad. He was an obnoxious egomaniac, and fundamentally clueless about boxing. He also had a great distinctive voice, was fearless, and his sheer presence and personality added gravitas to any broadcast.

The conventional rules of broadcasting didn't really apply to Cosell. He could be talking absolute jibberish, and it would somehow enhance the entertainment of what you were watching. His commentary on Foreman-Frazier I was ridiculous, and he might as well have been watching Foreman-Lyle with a blindfold on. However, both are up there with the most memorable pieces of boxing commentary ever.

 

I think the three of them are," much of a muchness".

 

Merchant pisses all over Cosell for boxing knowledge imo.George Kimball relates how "qualified Cosell's support of Ali really was in his book," The Fight Business" At the end of his career Cossell was often drunk on air.

 

A very good post. I'd disagree a bit, Cossell was a good blow by blow and color man, with a flair for the dramatic when it happened, which is probably the hardest thing to capture in a live broadcast. Some think Don Dunphy was a better blow by blow man, but his voice was not.

As for Kellerman and Smith, Cossell is easily better than both. Kellerman has improved a bit, but he's still not in the same class. Stephen A Smith is a loud mouth fan type of broadcaster.

One of the things boxing gets right is its voice talents. Cossell & Buffer like them or not will echo in boxing history for another century.

 

Classic thread title, for those who heard Cosell "live" in the 60's & 70's. Good or bad, Cosell was able to turn a sports match into an "event" all by himself. One time the Dallas Cowboys were playing the Washington Redskins televised on ABC Monday Night Football.....and 2 ranchers out in Lubbock, Texas, simultaneously fired shotguns at an old TV they had out in the barn when Cosell's face first came on the screen.....and blew up the TV.

 

Howard Cosell was a great broadcaster.

He was a successful lawyer who decided to switch careers mid-life and take up broadcasting.

He bought a large tape recorder that he had to strap on his back (because all tech was giant back then) and he earned his chops calling minor league baseball games, interviewing ball players.

He started working at small radio stations and eventually got a job calling boxing matches in the late 1950s for radio. He got to be very good at it. By the early 1960s, he was calling big fights on radio with former champs like Rocky Marciano.

Cosell was part of the wave of "new journalism" in the 1960s that focused more on personal stories about athletes as opposed to just calling a game or a fight and leaving personal details out of it.

Cosell loved talking about what went on behind the scenes with athletes before and after big games/fights.

Much of the old guard in broadcasting hated him, much like most of the old guard in newspapers hated guys like Jimmy Breslin when he started for doing the same thing.

Cosell literally worked his way up the ladder until he finally got a shot at calling fights for television. He really started rubbing people the wrong way when he sided with Muhammad Ali when Ali changed his name and then wouldn't enlist in the Army.

Most sportwriters and announcers simply refuse to call Ali by his new name. They continued to call him Cassius Clay. But Cosell had changed his name (it was much more Jewish sounding before) and he changed it to appeal to listeners who may have been racist against Jews. And Cosell said he wanted people to call him Howard Cosell so he saw no problem calling Muhammad Ali by his new name. It was his right to change his name.

Then the old guard started writing negative stories about Cosell, and he just laughed them off because his career was on the rise and they had stalled.

When Monday Night Football began in 1970, he was asked to join the broadcast team and his personality exploded. People loved him or hated him. But they all watched.

I disagree with anyone who tries to compare Cosell to a Stephen A. Smith or a Max Kellerman. They are hired to just add their opinions and shout.

Cosell was an actual broadcaster.

Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman couldn't be placed in front of a microphone and call a boxing match ALONE for 15 rounds.

In fact, I can't think of any broadcaster right now, including Al Bernstein or Jim Lampley or any of them who could sit alone and call a fight without having two or three guys next to them to talk to and add commentary.

Every broadcast team seems to have three guys and a fourth person who goes in the ring afterward to interview the fighters.

In his heyday, Cosell often did all that alone. He was sort of the bridge between the old school guys like Don Dunphy and what we have today.

People hated him for being loud and opinionated and for focusing on the private lives or outside the ring activities of athletes, but THAT'S ALL broadcast sports is today.

He started that. Then everyone bashed him for it. Then everyone copied the "louder" and "flamboyant" aspects of him. But most don't have the technical skills he had. He was unique that way.

 

I never heard George Kimball call a fight, but I have read Cosell's writing.

 

I think Cossell was a far more value set man stemming from a different era than Kellerman and Smith....his conflict with athletes character in the ring and during interviews had more to do with his not being accustomed to showmanship and preferring a sporting event where the fighting speaks for the man not the other way around

Kellerman is a hype man he is a product of the new era as is Smith.....they know the sports OK but they try to entertain more than inform

It depends on personal preference myself I preferred the Cossell style as it didn't interfere with the fight credentials itself....

Cossell was very anti non sporting matchups....when the fight would quit being competitive he could not allow a beating to continue without speaking up at its futility

Cossell expected sports to be just

 

Excellent post ^^^^^.

 

Your point is?

 

This. Cossell was extremely talented to the point that Vince McMahon even tried to get Cossell to work for him, but Cossell declined the offer.

Cossell talking about getting an offer from Vince Mcmahon.

“In early 1984 I got a call from Vince McMahon, the marketing and merchandising wizard who’s responsible for the boom in professional wrestling. I had never heard of him, but after a quick and precise introduction, he promptly got down to business. He wanted me to be the primary announcer on his wrestling telecasts.

‘You can’t be serious,’ I said laughing.

‘I’m dead serious,’ he said.

‘Come on. Boxing was bad enough, and now you want me to end my career calling phony wrestling matches. Good Lord, you must be crazy.’

'I’m not crazy,’ McMahon said, and I could hear anger creeping into his voice. ‘You really should think about it.’

‘I don’t have to think about it Vince, I don’t want any part of it.’

‘Well, **** you, Howard!’ he said. ‘Wrestling’s going to be the biggest sport in this country and I don’t need you anyway!’

I couldn’t believe my ears. Just like that the guy turned on me. ‘Wrestling will be King,’ he said. ‘You’re making the biggest mistake of your life.’

‘That may be Vince, but I’m not going to do it.’ After I hung up, I thought McMahon was a real kook. I still do. But he’s a, incredibly successful one."

 

All 3 were/are huge blowhards. I found Cosell to be highly dislikable due to his arrogance, blatant opportunism and condescending attitude, but at least he was somewhat entertaining. The other 2 always made me cringe as well. I think someone mentioned it before on this thread, but it seems Cosell paved the shitty path for people like Kellerman and Smith.