Free Republic

Anyone who grew up watching sports in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s certainly remembers Howard Cosell, the legendary ABC sportscaster, who died twenty-six years ago this week, on April 23, 1995 at the age of 77. The Jewish lawyer turned broadcaster from Brooklyn, with the nasally voice was famous for his polysyllabic vocabulary and known for his memorable lines that he used to revolutionize the industry at a time when sports announcers were mostly predictable and mundane. To this day, the three words, “Down Goes Frazier,” could very well be one of the most famous sports lines ever uttered....

The late, great radio icon Don Vogel as Howard.

ABC TV's Monday Night Football promotion is like a restaurant that tries to attract customers by telling you how entertaining its waiters are. Then when one of them keeps dropping dishes, management will bring in a new one, and then another, all the time keeping the pitch going about how this is a promotion not to be missed. The food? Naah, nobody cares about that. It's our waiters they're interested in, our stars.The sick thing is that journalists buy into this nonsense ... TV columnists, molders of public opinion. I've already begun to read the hand-wringing about the departure of ABC...