Steelers fans cope with reality
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It will be a sad day when later this year one displaced 'Burgher turns on his NFL Live broadcast on his computer and won't hear the famous (infamous?) voice signifying the beginning of the Stiller season. I'm old enough to remember his Post-Gazette writings. He will be sorely missed. As much as Bob Prince, I imagine. Damn, these are the instances when I wish we could stop Father Time.
Dave Shaffer,
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Since 1970, color analysis on Pirates radio broadcasts has come from the likes of Nellie King, Jim Rooker, Steve Blass, Bob Walk and John Wehner.
In 35 years on ABC, insights emanated from 12 apostles of the church of Monday Night Football -- Howard Cosell, Dandy Don Meredith (twice), Alex Karras, Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, Fran Tarkenton, O.J. Simpson, Joe Namath, Dan Dierdorf. Boomer Esiason, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller and John Madden.
But there was only one Myron Cope.
Cope retired last week from his peerless reign as the screechy-voiced sidekick on Steelers radio broadcasts. Quit is too harsh a word for a 76-year-old self-made character afflicted with various health ailments who accepted a friend's blunt assessment that he was longer up to his own copacetic standards.
"I'm reminded of when Bob Prince was fired in 1975. Willie Stargell said it was like the U.S. Steel Building falling down," said Curt Smith, author of the book Voices of Summer about masterful baseball broadcasters. "That's how I regard Myron Cope. He was the embodiment of the Steelers. Like Bob Prince, he is impossible to replace.
"The remarkable thing is that baseball is much more suited for radio while football is a TV medium. For him to last so long as an analyst and an icon is an enormous tribute to Myron," Smith added.
Indeed. In all years and in all the markets of the media-savvy NFL, only one voice surpasses Cope in longevity. Van Miller did play-by-play for the Buffalo Bills for 37 years, but Miller's service wasn't continuous because his station lost the broadcast rights for a time in the 1970s.
No one has had a run of 35 consecutive years calling pro football on radio, according to the NFL Hall of Fame. And, with longevity as the yardstick of achievement in any endeavor, no NFL color analyst matches Cope's tour de force.
I can remember when I was a kid listening to Myron. I could not stand that voice. How could the team hire this screeching, howling fanatic? But in the ripeness of time, I began to realize what Bill Cowher knows -- that Myron is Pittsburgh -- gritty, hard-working and determined to rise to the top of whatever challenge presents itself. I hope there is some way Steelers fans can post our thanks to him for helping to create so many lasting memories.
First Published June 26, 2005 12:00 am
