The End of an Era

[miami_fan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2091527

Associated Press


PITTSBURGH -- Myron Cope, whose screechy-voiced antics and towel-waving enthusiasm became nationally known during the Pittsburgh Steelers' string of Super Bowl championships in the 1970s, is retiring after 35 years as a team announcer.

Cope, a one-of-a-kind voice who became a broadcaster in 1970 only because of a radio station executive's whimsy, decided to quit after retired team executive Joe Gordon told him his on-air work had declined.

Cope, 76, has had several years of health problems, including a concussion that caused him to be disoriented during one game and to miss another last season. He also has been undergoing treatment for hoarseness and a leg injury.

"Joe came to my house and said, 'Do not go another year in the booth. You've got 35 years in and with your health ...,'' Cope said Tuesday. "My slipping, he attributed it to my health problems. He said, 'It's too punishing for you to go another year. It's too physically taxing.'

"It takes a very special friend to tell you the truth when he knows it's going to hurt," Cope said.

With Cope leaving, the Steelers will go with a two-man radio booth of play-by-play announcer Bill Hillgrove and analyst Tunch Ilkin, who was added several years ago to work alongside Cope. Craig Wolfley remains as a sideline announcer.

While football announcers don't often match the popularity of baseball announcers, who work 10 times as many games each year, Cope became Pittsburgh's best-known sports broadcaster and commercial pitchman in the mid-1970s and has remained so to this day.

His quick wit and quirky phrases, including "Yoi!" -- his version of "Wow!" -- added to his popularity, as did his 1976 invention of the Terrible Towel. The bright yellow good-luck charm is still twirled by the thousands at Steelers games and has generated millions of dollars in revenue, much of which went to charity.

Team owner Dan Rooney said the towel-twirling stoked the fans' abundant enthusiasm and created an intimidating atmosphere for opposing teams such as the Cleve Brownies -- Cope's nickname for the rival Cleveland Browns.

"You were really part of it," said Rooney, who talked to Cope via a speaker phone while vacationing in Ireland. "You were part of the team. The Terrible Towel many times got us over the goal line."

Last season, Jerome Bettis said there probably wasn't another local NFL team announcer whose popularity exceeded that of the players he described.

"He doesn't play, he doesn't put on a pair of pads, but he's revered probably as much or more in Pittsburgh than Franco (Harris), all the guys," Bettis said.

Cope's biggest regret is not being on the air during Harris' famed Immaculate Reception in a 1972 Steelers victory over Oakland -- the first postseason win in franchise history. Cope was on the field for his postgame show when Harris, on what seemingly was the last play of the Steelers' season, grabbed the soaring rebound of a tipped Terry Bradshaw pass and scored a game-winning 60-yard touchdown. The wildly improbable play is often called the greatest in NFL history.

"He ran straight to me in the corner, and I'm yelling, 'C'mon Franco, c'mon on!," said Cope, who, acting on a fan's advice, tagged the play "The Immaculate Reception" during a postgame TV commentary that night.

Remarkably, Cope didn't become a sports announcer until he was 40 and had no plans to do so until a WTAE radio executive suggested the freelance sports writer's knowledge and unique voice would bring attention to the Steelers. At the time the Steelers were not as popular as the Pirates, and few home games sold out.

But the Steelers quickly improved thanks to astute drafting that brought in stars such as Bradshaw, Harris, Mean Joe Greene and Jack Ham. As the team's popularity expanded, so did Cope's.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I've never heard of this guy, but what the shit? I'm moving to the Pittsburgh area in about a month, and now I'll never get to hear this guy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I've never heard of this guy, but what the shit? I'm moving to the Pittsburgh area in about a month, and now I'll never get to hear this guy.

http://www.networksandwebapplications.com/myron/

There's several sections, mostly of the legendary Cope, but be sure to catch the one in the "Hilgrove" section, featuring Tim Couch's first NFL pass (just to hear Myron Cope laughing in the background).

[Pumpy Tudors]

Thanks for the link, MiddleGA. I'll check it out when I get home from work tonight.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I've never heard of this guy, but what the shit? I'm moving to the Pittsburgh area in about a month, and now I'll never get to hear this guy.

Trust me, you really arent missing much.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I've never heard of this guy, but what the shit? I'm moving to the Pittsburgh area in about a month, and now I'll never get to hear this guy.

No more Pumpy in New Orleans?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

No more Pumpy in New Orleans?

Gotta go, gotta go. My wife is one of the country's newest computer science professors, and a small university in the Pittsburgh area offered her a job. For some odd reason, she wants to take me with her.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by stevew

Trust me, you really arent missing much.

Agreed. During my European Years I was forced to listen to all the Lions games on the internet. You can't get the Lions' home feed on the web (thank you very much Infinity Broadcasting), so I was forced to listen to the other team's radio guys. Considering the Lions rarely won any of these games, it was a horribly painful experience. The radio guys cackled with glee and the Lions patheticness, commented on it repeatedly, often refering to the Leos as "the Lowly Lions", etc. At the same time (as is their job), they'd get incredibly pumped up whenever their team did something good against these "Lowly Lions" (which was quite often). It was sports hell.

Anyway, the short of it is, that "that old Pittsburg guy" was the worst of the worst. He was by far the most irritating and annoying guy to listen to. This includes the Green Bay guys, the Chicago guys, and Vikings guys. I couldn't stand him. Then again, the fact that the Steelers always killed the Lions probably played no small role in my sour feelings towards the old feller. He had an impressively long career. I guess that's something.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Gotta go, gotta go. My wife is one of the country's newest computer science professors, and a small university in the Pittsburgh area offered her a job. For some odd reason, she wants to take me with her.

Congrats. I'm glad that she didn't dump you for a trophy husband once she hit the big time. I can only hope for the same from Mrs. A.

[st.cronin]

Is that radio guy for the Mets still working? I think he's been calling games for them since 1962, and he REALLY needs to retire.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by stevew

Trust me, you really arent missing much.

You are no longer a bonafide Steelers fan.

Cope is a huge part of Steelers' history.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

May god rest his soul.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

You are no longer a bonafide Steelers fan.

Cope is a huge part of Steelers' history.

I can differentiate between liking the Steelers and not liking a raving lunatic who is very hard to listen to. He's not a good color man anymore.

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Gotta go, gotta go. My wife is one of the country's newest computer science professors, and a small university in the Pittsburgh area offered her a job. For some odd reason, she wants to take me with her.

Moving pics plz.. ?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

No more Pumpy in New Orleans?

Yeah, it saddens me too. There are fewer and fewer FOFC's in the New Orleans area. Who else will be here besides me and LloydLungs?