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Howard Cosell is an American sports journalist and broadcaster. Cosell started to gain success by covering boxing events and becoming close friends with boxer Muhammad Ali. He would also be responsible for calling other major boxing events including the fight between George Foreman and Joe Frazier in Kingston,Jamaica in 1973. Cosell is responsible for screaming “Down Goes Frazier! Down Goes Frazier! Down Goes Frazier!” which would become one of the greatest sporting quotes in broadcasting history. In 1970, Cosell was hired to become a commentator for Monday Night Football. He would help to make Monday Night Football a weekly ritual for sports fans and helped the show to become a #1 overall ratings hit in the Nielsen ratings. Cosell also covered several Olympic events including the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany and the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal, Canada. Cosell was also responsible for announcing the shocking death of musician John Lennon (a member of the Beatles) live on a broadcast of Monday Night Football to the millions of people watching at home. Cosell’s own distinct manner of commentating during sporting events is what separated him from other sports broadcasters during his era. Cosell would give in-depth analysis as well as criticism during broadcasts which was uniquely different compared to other commentators who would simply call the games as they saw them without any added discussions involved. This is what helped to give Cosell one of his better quotes in which he describes the manner in which he uses to commentate sporting events…
“This is Howard Cosell telling it like it is.” – Howard Cosell |
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