Tell me more about Howard Cosell

George Kimball said he was frequently drunk in the studio in his later years.His championing of Ali is overhyped ,he steered a very fine line on that issue.

 

To add a little more and support what you’re saying because you had a lot of good points - he is very iconic when I think of the 60s-70s he’s there he’s the voice of the era no matter my personal protest and I think if you were watching back then that his voice was the stamp of quality, that it was a legitimate event. My uncle who loved Ali and watched all his stuff growing up in the 90s still says “Down goes Frazier” all the time. He hasn’t watched a lot of boxing bar Ali and I think it was limited to a few fights he could get a hold of back then but I owe Howard some happy memories.

 

I loved Cosell probably through the 1970s.

No, he couldn't explain the technological minutiae of boxing, but the desire for that is a relatively modern thing. I don't know if any of you are auto racing fans, but a guy named Sid Collins was the lead announcer for the Indy 500 broadcasts for about three decades, and he didn't know a spark plug from a lug nut and neither did his crew of announcers, but they were iconic for their day because they approached the race like an event. That would not play in the 21st century because people want the technological minutiae, but again he was absolutely iconic in his time.

Just like Cosell. He made the fights he covered events. He made them special. He made them memorable. "Down goes Frazier" may be the most iconic three words ever spoken in coverage of a fight.

And then there's his defense of Ali and the draft issues, which drew condemnation at the time but the decades since have proved that both he and Ali were right.

I think Monday Night Football ruined Cosell, although again some will see the most famous trio he worked with in those games (him, Gifford and Meredith) as iconic. The problem is that the attention and spotlight of that IMO fueled his innate ego and pomposity, and the fact that like with Ali he went against the grain and the conventional wisdom of the times, which prompted criticism, fueled his inability to let criticism roll off his back like water off a duck as people in his position need to do. He may have been the most thin skinned human being to ever walk the planet, to the point of paranoia.

He became overly bitter about all sports and the importance they are given in society, even though he benefited from that so there was a bit of hypocrisy there.

And toward the end he became so consumed with bitterness and ego and rage that he literally burned his bridges with pretty much everyone he'd ever been associated with. Although somebody ... I can't remember who, it was in a bio of Cosell that I read ... got in his face toward the end and said something along the lines of "Howard, why can't you be proud of and appreciate what you accomplished and how you were a hero to so many of us, rather than bitter about all the people you think have screwed or criticized you," and said it seemed to reach him somewhat although he did shortly afterward.

It really wound up being a sad story.

 

Reminds me of a conversation between Cosell and Joe Namath that went something like this...

Cosell: How many great broadcasters are there?

Namath: One less than you think, Howard.

 

Beautiful

 

Not so sure about him taking himself too seriously. A hilarious scene in Woody Allen’s “Bananas” saw him presenting a political assassination as if it was a big fight.
Even striving for quotes from the fallen despot.

 

I miss Howard Cosell...watched and listened to him since the early-mid 1960's. I'd rather hear Cosell go on about a fight than listen to 5 clowns all talking at once during a PPV....

 

Yes it’s a mystery as to why it’s the norm to have so many commentators.
On the FITE PPV feed for the Benavidez fight at the weekend there was only one. It was either Ray Flores or his brother, who sound similar. Coincidentally, I’ve always thought Flores sounds like Cosell!

 

I cant vouch for the guy in Boxing but in NFL his commentary was not to shabby.

 

Thanks. Never heard that before. Brilliant comeback from Namath on his feet.

 

I only heard he wore a wig

 

Funny anecdotal story -- my pops was a cabbie way back in the day and picked up none other than Howard Cosell from the airport. He said Cosell left him a $100 bill as a tip.

 

I’ve hear this “rumour” too. Maybe that’s why Howard turned his whole body to face someone instead of just turning his head. If he turned too fast, his head might’ve been the only thing that swivelled while his toupee stayed in the same position in space. Smart man Howard was.