Howard Cossel> who likes to listen...

Robinson · Post by **Robinson** » 22 Dec 2007, 21:20

Ok guys I am curious who actually likes or liked to listen to his
commentary on things ?

I really do not for whatever reason he just sounds painful and is annoying.

Kym

dagosd2000 · Post by **dagosd2000** » 22 Dec 2007, 22:20

Robinson wrote:Ok guys I am curious who actually likes or liked to listen to his
commentary on things ?

I really do not for whatever reason he just sounds painful and is annoying.

Kym

I replied a while back on these commentators like Cosell and Merchant. I could never understand their purpose on a broadcast. You have a play by play guy like a Lampley and a "color" guy like a Steward(who's either a trainer or ex fighter) who you ask technical questions,or they give insights that the average fan can't see. Guys like Cosell and Merchant think they know everything--more than the play by play guy and the expert put together. They are often smug and can not admit they were wrong. I remember Cosell's book"I've Never Played The Game". He should have stopped with the title. He criticized everyone he worked with. I don't think athletes take them very seriously. They like to cause controversy even when it's not warrented. They are like sportswriters(and often the case they were sportswriters). They take themselves too seriously.

Collins2000 · Post by **Collins2000** » 22 Dec 2007, 22:46

Robinson wrote:Ok guys I am curious who actually likes or liked to listen to his
commentary on things ?

I really do not for whatever reason he just sounds painful and is annoying.

Kym

Don't like his commentary at all. He didn't have a clue what was going on during a fight.

Didn't mind his interviews. He was pretty good at getting fighters to open up.

Worst ever for me by a long way is Fat Bob Sheridan. Now there's a guy who can spout mindless shite without a break for 3 hours.

Robinson · Post by **Robinson** » 22 Dec 2007, 22:55

How do these guys gte the job ?

I really like to listen to Al Bernstein, Teddy Atlas, Lambley, Foreman, Leonard, Gil Clancy, Stewart.

But I agree Bob Sheridan and Howard Cossel are who ? guys who did what ? sports fans with an opinion who were given a BIG pay check, often more than the athletes(undre card especially) and a micro phone.

I always found it funny when Larry Merchant would argue and dispute an opinion of guys like Foreman or Ledderman who is an actual fighter and a qualified judge.

Kym

Goodnight, Irene · Post by **Goodnight, Irene** » 23 Dec 2007, 01:19

Bob Sheridan!?

This guy is flat-out spectacular at generating excitement in the call. I'm surprised he's not getting any appreciation here, quite the opposite. Just look at the way Lampley handles Tyson's stunning fall from grace against Douglas...

Lampley: [flat] "What an uppercut by Douglas, down goes Tyson."

& then listen to Sheridan when Tyson receives the uppercut & falls. In every telecast, the guy is having the time of his life when the action is on, & that to me is a great thing for the listener.

Myself, I don't really like the Showtime crew. The HBO team of Lampley, Merchant, Foreman & Lederman (worth listening to for the nature of his voice alone) is my preference. I'm not sure about Merchant though. He makes some profound statements on occasion, but his attitude toward a respected fighter like Foreman has at times been insolent & insulting, when he implies George doesn't know what he's talking about. That's a bit rich. Less of the makeshift metaphors would be nice too.

Robinson · Post by **Robinson** » 23 Dec 2007, 02:04

I too prefer the HBO team for the most part, listening to those guys from the late 80s up to now make istening to a Joe Rogan and Goldsmith seem like listening to apes mate.

Kym

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 23 Dec 2007, 02:26

Don Dunphy is the ONLY boxing commentator I have heard who was competent.

The ONLY one.

Robinson · Post by **Robinson** » 23 Dec 2007, 02:34

What fights has he done...

I have heard the name but I can not place the name with a voice.

Kym

Goodnight, Irene · Post by **Goodnight, Irene** » 23 Dec 2007, 02:45

A very high-pitched voice Robinson. An old man with a wirey frame & thick glasses.

He called Ali-Frazier I (did a great job) & also Foreman-Frazier I (less convincing).

Robinson · Post by **Robinson** » 23 Dec 2007, 02:49

Ta mate.

I have only Cosel calling both those fights,
I know the guy you are talking about now.

He is a pretty good commentator I have him on
a Patterson fight and a Frazier fight from the late
60s I think

Kym

dagosd2000 · Post by **dagosd2000** » 23 Dec 2007, 03:23

granberry wrote:Don Dunphy is the ONLY boxing commentator I have heard who was competent.

The ONLY one.

Hey Granberry,I think when I just got on this forum I said something good about Ali and I think you were the guy that replied"a lot of crap". Well, I've said some negative things about him too,but what the hell. Over the last few days I know how you feel about him. You're right about Don Dunphy. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. He always presented himself as a nice guy and tried to give an honest appraisel of the action. I wish we had another one like him.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 23 Dec 2007, 04:17

Robinson wrote:What fights has he done...

I have heard the name but I can not place the name with a voice.

Kym

LOL

Don Dunphy did the Friday Night fights from c. 1940 onward.

I remember the night the Friday night radio fights went off the air, Dunphy said the one fight he would have liked to see was Tony Zale versus Ray Robinson.

He was commentator for the Friday night TV fights.

When Ali fought Coopman, Don Dunphy started as commentator in the first round.

About 30 seconds into the first round Dunphy said,

"Coopman's knickname is the Lion of Flanders. After what I've seen so far,

a better name for him would be the Pussycat of Flanders."

When the 2nd round started, Dunphy was gone. Other commentators more enthusiastic about the crap they were seeing gave the rest of the fight.

elmersalsa · Post by **elmersalsa** » 23 Dec 2007, 05:50

Cossell was interesting, but when it comes to Sugar Ray Leonard and Ali, he was biased with them. He was like promoting those guys in a way.

I liked the boxing team of Gil Clancy and Tim Ryan or Al Bernstein with Gil Clancy. They were great.

but Don Dunphy was the greatest.

yancey · Post by **yancey** » 23 Dec 2007, 07:52

Cosell could bring a sense of excitement....just hear him on the knockdowns in the first Frazier-Ellis fight and of course the "down goes Frazier" bit in Jamaica, but....

I totally agree with the sentiment that Don Dunphy by himself was the best.

nytony · Post by **nytony** » 23 Dec 2007, 10:15

Goodnight, Irene wrote:Bob Sheridan!?

This guy is flat-out spectacular at generating excitement in the call. I'm surprised he's not getting any appreciation here, quite the opposite. Just look at the way Lampley handles Tyson's stunning fall from grace against Douglas...

Lampley: [flat] "What an uppercut by Douglas, down goes Tyson."

& then listen to Sheridan when Tyson receives the uppercut & falls. In every telecast, the guy is having the time of his life when the action is on, & that to me is a great thing for the listener.

Sheridan is rarely heard in th US. He handles the international broadcasts so he's better known in Australia than the US.

He didnt cover the Tyson-Douglas fight live. You hear him on ESPN Classic but those are studio recordings years after the fight with many retakes/ edits.

enrique · Post by **enrique** » 23 Dec 2007, 10:56

Cossell was a pompous egomaniac and first class hypocrite. I did not know him but I knew many who did and no one, I mean no one, liked him as a person. His knowledge of boxing was very limited.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 23 Dec 2007, 11:45

Howard Cosell was terrific when it came to interviewing
people or conveying the excitement of important bouts.
He also could be very blunt, a rare trait at a time when
so many sports broadcasters seemed to be shills. But
it is true that Cosell had very little knowledge about
the nuances of boxing, especially when it came to
how fighters with different boxing styles matched up.
My favorite boxing broadcasters and commentators of
the past were Don Dunphy, Gil Clancy and Jerry
Quarry.

- Chuck Johnston

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 23 Dec 2007, 12:03

enrique wrote:Cossell was a pompous egomaniac and first class hypocrite. I did not know him but I knew many who did and no one, I mean no one, liked him as a person. His knowledge of boxing was very limited.

Enrique,

You are too kind in your description of Cosell.

Cosell was the mouthpiece for the ABC-TV--Don King destruction of boxing.

He was completely and totally incompetent when it came to boxing.

For some reason I had his phone number at ABC and talked to him over a period of several years.

His normal voice was hardly recognizable---the voice he used on the air was a stage voice.

He was THE most negative person I have ever talked to.
If you said you were going down to the corner to get an ice cream cone, he would say, "You'll never do it. You won't make it that far to the store. The store will be closed when you get there. Ha ha ha."

He talked about his superiority to the newspaper writers, since he was on TV. He was very proud of the fact he was on TV.

Then after he stupidly wrote a book spitting at his superiors at ABC, he was booted out of his TV job.

And guess what. He eagerly took a job writing for papers.

Jim Spence was Cosell's direct superior at ABC.
His book details what a pig Cosell was.
Cosell was a drunk (just like Bert Sugar---Two of the biggest phonies you will ever find).

Spence tells how Cosell's wife would call him at the beginning of some Monday night football broadcasts, because she could recognize from hearing Cosell's first words over the air that he was drunk.
She would beg Spence to make sure that Howard got back to his hotel safely after the broadcast was over.

Spence tells of the time Cosell threw up on fellow announcer Don Meredith's cowboy boots during a broadcast. When things got too bad they would use the excuse that Cosell "had a bad reaction to medication" and couldn't continue the broadcast.

The Spence book contains lengthy sections on Cosell, from the point of view being in the postion of his superior at ABC.

When Cosell stunk up the fights as "commentator" I just turned off the sound. There are only two fighters in the ring and there is no reason to have the sound on.

Friends of mine who followed football hated Cosell with a passion. They told me when a game was on they listened to the radio broadcast while they watched the TV with the sound off.

Cosell and his reeking incompetence stunk up boxing.

Cosell is the face of the media powered operation that turned boxing into garbage.

DaveV17 · Post by **DaveV17** » 23 Dec 2007, 13:01

dagosd2000 · Post by **dagosd2000** » 23 Dec 2007, 14:07

I remember when a lot of the big fights were on radio. Now you talk about an announcer having to stay on top of things! I remember Russ Hodges,and the guy who did the Basilio/Robinson fight. My mind gets foggy on this. Maybe there's someone out there who can recall some of the old radio announcers. They were something special. Every time I here those old recordings of Clem McCarthy doing the fights(especially Louis/Schmeling II),I think of a time when I wish I was alive.

dagosd2000 · Post by **dagosd2000** » 23 Dec 2007, 17:35

elmersalsa wrote:Cossell was interesting, but when it comes to Sugar Ray Leonard and Ali, he was biased with them. He was like promoting those guys in a way.

I liked the boxing team of Gil Clancy and Tim Ryan or Al Bernstein with Gil Clancy. They were great.

but Don Dunphy was the greatest.

Good reply,Salsa.Tim Ryan was very good. You know Howard Cosell was very arrogant with everyone he worked with,but when it came to Ali, it made Cosell's day when Ali would make fun of him. I think Ali could have pissed on him in front of the camera and I think Howard would have laughed and said,"Now Muhammad,don't you think you're being a bit truculant?"

Robinson · Post by **Robinson** » 23 Dec 2007, 17:57

Ok...so the general concensus is that we hate Cosell..

Yet how was he so famous and how did he get the job ?
Seriously he is more famous than alot of the athletes he
called....for what ? a hari piece, an annoying voice and
a lounge room opinion on boxing.

Kym

dagosd2000 · Post by **dagosd2000** » 23 Dec 2007, 22:29

Robinson wrote:Ok...so the general concensus is that we hate Cosell..

Yet how was he so famous and how did he get the job ?
Seriously he is more famous than alot of the athletes he
called....for what ? a hari piece, an annoying voice and
a lounge room opinion on boxing.

Kym

Read his book"I Never Played the Game" He threw dirt on everyone he came in contact with. He was high profile,but I never heard anyone who said they liked listening to him. Some people would watch him to shout insults at the TV while he was doing a broadcast. He had some kind of "in" with ABC so he was always on the air with Monday Night Football and always was doing the important fights. I watched these sporting contests despite his presence. It was like you either turned the sound off or had to put up with his arrogance.

Robinson · Post by **Robinson** » 25 Dec 2007, 02:22

Thanks guys. I must confess that out of EVERY commentator I tend to tune the volume down on Cosell.

yancey · Post by **yancey** » 25 Dec 2007, 11:18

Did something happen to Tim Ryan?

Now that this thread brings his name up, it seems to me I haven't seen him on TV in a long time. I know he did tennis and football, in addition to boxing.

Good announcer.

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