# Howard Cosell **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 17, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557 "2010-12-17T20:43:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/1 "2010-12-17T20:43:24Z")
In the column on [Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2972/was-the-battle-of-the-sexes-tennis-match-between-billie-jean-king-and-bobby-riggs-fixed), Cecil writes: “With the inimitable Howard Cosell in the broadcast booth, 30,492 spectators in the building plus millions watching on TV saw King kick Riggs’s butt.” Not to nitpick, but “inimitable”? Is there anyone over the age of 40 who _can’t_ imitate Howard Cosell? ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/2 "2010-12-17T21:05:01Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > Not to nitpick, but “inimitable”? Is there anyone over the age of 40 who _can’t_ imitate Howard Cosell? Well, they can _try_… Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/3 "2010-12-17T21:43:34Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > In the column on [Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2972/was-the-battle-of-the-sexes-tennis-match-between-billie-jean-king-and-bobby-riggs-fixed), Cecil writes: > > “With the inimitable Howard Cosell in the broadcast booth, 30,492 spectators in the building plus millions watching on TV saw King kick Riggs’s butt.” > > Not to nitpick, but “inimitable”? Is there anyone over the age of 40 who _can’t_ imitate Howard Cosell? Best nitpick of the week 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/4 "2010-12-17T21:56:28Z")
Oh, sure, anyway over age 40 can do Howard Co-_Smell_, but the real guy? Inimitable. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/5 "2010-12-17T22:06:27Z")
The intonation and rythm is easy. The vocabulary and obnoxiosity takes practice. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/6 "2010-12-18T02:45:06Z")
What was really unique to Cosell was that he reported sports like real news. For those of us who were around in the 60s, he stood out from the crowd like Dylan, Tolkien, or _The Prisoner_. I confess, though, that what I chiefly remember of the telecast of that match was an annoying little “Anything you can do I can do better” bumper that played at _every_ gawd-dam commercial break – Chinese Irving Berlin torture. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/7 "2010-12-20T15:39:00Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > What was really unique to Cosell was that he reported sports like real news. For those of us who were around in the 60s, he stood out from the crowd like Dylan, Tolkien, or _The Prisoner_. > > I confess, though, that what I chiefly remember of the telecast of that match was an annoying little “Anything you can do I can do better” bumper that played at _every_ gawd-dam commercial break – Chinese Irving Berlin torture. Cosell was the most annoying person on TV ever. That grating voice, self importance, and need to find a “controversy” to talk about rather than the actual sports event. I hated him with the passion of a thousand suns. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/8 "2010-12-20T16:14:41Z")
At one time Cosell had the rare privilege of being rated the best-liked and most-hated person in television. At the same time. In the same survey. Often copied, never duplicated. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/9 "2010-12-20T17:29:12Z")
He would have fit well in HBO’s Real Sports. He was willing to tell the truth about sports contracts and the owners lying about injuries . He stepped on toes. He revealed the seamier side of boxing from Don King and bought off judges. He was a wee bit arrogant, but he told it like it was. I appreciate that. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/10 "2010-12-20T18:58:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The intonation and rythm is easy. The vocabulary and obnoxiosity takes practice. This post is best read out loud in a Howard Cosell type of voice. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/11 "2010-12-20T21:55:53Z")
It’s Cosell’s fault that all sportscasters feel they have to say “fortuitous” or “serendipitous” when they mean “lucky”. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/12 "2010-12-21T16:38:45Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > Not to nitpick, but “inimitable”? Is there anyone over the age of 40 who _can’t_ imitate Howard Cosell? I can’t as I have no idea who he is. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/13 "2010-12-21T22:34:13Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > I can’t as I have no idea who he is. That’s understandable. Cosell’s fame peaked in the 70s. He was all over the TV then, in everything from “The Odd Couple” to Dean Martin’s roasts, to his own variety show, “Saturday Night Live” (which premiered on ABC even before NBC’s “Saturday Night”). But his popularity began to decline in the 1980s. He was at his absolute best, however, as a boxing reporter, especially when covering Muhammad Ali. [Ali vs. Cosell - 1968 interview](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXbY-CrxO9M&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/14 "2010-12-28T22:02:47Z")
All I know about him is a throwaway joke in Woody Allen’s Sleeper, where the scientist in the future (trying to learn about our past society) plays a clip of Cosell’s TV broadcast to the un-frozen Woody Allen character, and says (paraphrased): Scientist: “At first we didn’t know what this was, but we have a theory. We think that when people in your society committed a horrible crime, they were forced to watch this.” Woody: “Yes, that’s exactly what this was.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/15 "2010-12-29T00:45:49Z")
Before Cosell, broadcast sports reporting was almost entirely made up of infantile rah-rah boosterism. I only wish we still had someone like him. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/16 "2010-12-29T00:49:05Z")
I know he was polarizing, but I thought he was awesome. Monday Night Football has never been the same without him. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/17 "2010-12-29T03:22:55Z")
" inimitable" ? I never heard of the word before. But it is so true. What would the heavyweight champion of the world be without him? Ali was willing to share the spotlight with Cosell, a mere sports commentator. And Monday Night Football has never been the same since. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/18 "2010-12-29T03:51:51Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > It’s Cosell’s fault that all sportscasters feel they have to say “fortuitous” or “serendipitous” when they mean “lucky”. And “years of age”. “He is just 27 years of age.” Because just saying he is 27, or 27 years old, is not pedantic. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/19 "2010-12-29T13:41:43Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I know he was polarizing, but I thought he was awesome. Monday Night Football has never been the same without him. QFT. For those who didn’t like his style, just imagine how boring his announcing would have been if he had said “Frazier goes down!” instead of “Down goes Frazier!” [Down goes Frazier!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9q7mvc6bsY) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557/20 "2010-12-29T14:03:07Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > Cosell was the most annoying person on TV ever. That grating voice, self importance, and need to find a “controversy” to talk about rather than the actual sports event. I hated him with the passion of a thousand suns. Yes, we have to say it. Remember this is just a message board, no matter who posts. An unspeakable error confirmed to us by common sense - the sun has no passion, rather it has large amounts of heat. Hard to go back to the thread after that but this is just me telling it as it is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557.md?page=2)