Cosell Didn’t Always Tell It Like It Was

Nearly anybody who came in contact with Howard Cosell came away with stories to tell. And those who worked with the unique man, who died last weekend, could fill a book.

Al Michaels recalls the time in Kansas City in 1981 when, the night before he and Cosell were to work a Monday night baseball game, they were being driven back to their hotel after dinner and came upon a street fight in a rough part of town. There was a small crowd of onlookers.

Michaels said Cosell ordered the limo driver to stop, then got out of the car and began calling the fight, as only he could.

“He concluded with, ‘And now this fight is halted,’ ” Michaels said. “And the fight stopped.”

After signing a few autographs, Cosell got back in the car and they drove off.

Terry Jastrow, longtime ABC producer who worked extensively with Cosell on just about everything but “Monday Night Football,” invited Cosell to his wedding in 1978, when he married actress Anne Archer. The wedding took place at the home of Archer’s mother, Marjorie Lord.

“I think Howard had already imbibed a few clear libations, and just when the minister said, ‘And now you may kiss the bride,’ Howard’s voice came booming from the back of the room: ‘Young man, you lay one hand on that lovely young lady and I’ll break your arm.’ ”

*

Cosell liked to be known for “telling it like it is.” But he didn’t always tell it that way.

Steve Hirdt of Elias Sports Bureau, the statistician on many ABC telecasts since the mid-1970s, recalls a Monday night baseball game in 1978 between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves in Cincinnati.

The Braves had a rookie at second base named Chico Ruiz and Cosell began talking about how the Braves had a knack of resurrecting old ballplayers, referring to the former Red and Angel infielder Chico Ruiz.

One problem. That Chico Ruiz had been killed in an auto accident in 1972.

“It took all the nerve I could muster before I told Howard of his mistake,” Hirdt said.

*

The first time this reporter met Cosell was in 1973, at a luncheon at the Hollywood Palladium before a Monday night game between the Rams and New York Giants.

He was pleasant enough at first, although he complained about not feeling well. A colleague, Barbra Zuanich, asked him if he would be able to go on that night.

“No, I’ll just let those other two guys (Frank Gifford and Don Meredith) handle it,” he said.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

He exploded.

“How could I possibly be serious,” he bellowed. “Don’t you understand, young man, I am ‘Monday Night Football.’ There is no show without me.”

*

Over the years, there were many other meetings with Cosell, some fairly pleasant. It all depended on his mood.

Once at a home in Westwood, he invited me to play pool. When a few people gathered around, though, he began taking all the shots. Suddenly, there was no game. It was Howard’s show.

The week before the 1984 Summer Olympics, he was out to dinner with Times columnist Jim Murray and they ran into me at ABC’s hotel. Murray, at dinner, had led Cosell to believe I had written a piece on Cosell more favorable than it actually was.

Cosell invited me to join him and some of his colleagues for drinks.

There had been a lot of talk at the time that Cosell might quit “Monday Night Football.” After he had had a few more vodkas on the rocks, I asked, “So, what’s the deal? Are you quitting ‘Monday Night Football’?”

He said there would be a meeting the Tuesday after the Olympics, and a decision would be made then.

“Can I call you?” I asked.

“I probably won’t take your call, but you wouldn’t be doing your job if you didn’t at least try,” he said.

I called his office in New York on that Tuesday and left a message. About an hour later, he returned the call and said, yes, he was quitting.

But in his book, “I Never Played the Game,” he wrote: “I have no idea how Stewart obtained my phone number.”

He no doubt didn’t want it known that he had returned a lowly reporter’s call.

He also wrote, “After Stewart’s story appeared in Los Angeles the next day, all hell broke loose. Without realizing it, I had given him a scoop.”

My recollection of those events differed from Cosell’s, but then Cosell, as those who knew him learned, didn’t always tell it like it was.

TV-Radio Notes

The “CBS Sports Show,” with Pat O’Brien as host, makes its debut Sunday, 1-3 p.m. The featured event is a James Toney-Anthony Hembrick fight, but there will also be an amazing story of 23 touring Russian figure skaters who have been stranded in our nation’s heartland for eight months because they ran out of money. They were staying at the YMCA across from the federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19--six were injured, none seriously, in the car-bomb blast--and they were unable to re-enter the building. The community of Edmond, Okla., has since taken them in.

NBC is so high on Bill Walton that the network has added him to the announcing team of Marv Albert and Matt Guokas for the NBA finals. Walton will also join Greg Gumbel and Steve Jones for the Western Conference finals. . . . Gumbel and Jones will call Saturday’s Laker-Seattle game at 12:30. . . . Walton will be paired with Tom Hammond Sunday for Boston-Orlando, the first game of a tripleheader that begins at 9:30 a.m. . . . New Detroit Piston Coach Doug Collins will continue to work the playoffs as an analyst for Turner Broadcasting.

ESPN’s baseball opener Tuesday between the Dodgers and Florida Marlins got a 3.2 rating. ESPN’s 1994 opener between St. Louis and Cincinnati on a Sunday night got a 4.1. . . . ESPN cut away from the big America’s Cup race between Dennis Conner’s Star & Stripes and Mighty Mary on Wednesday to go to “SportsCenter” when Mighty Mary, the eventual loser, had a big lead. ESPN will show the race in its entirety Saturday at 7 p.m. The entire race was live on ESPN2, but then, who gets ESPN2?

There are those who doubt Joe Montana will do very well if he pursues a broadcasting career. But apparently Steve Young would have no problem. Young is the co-host with MTV’s Daisy Fuentes of a Fox special called “All-Star Challenge” that will be on Sunday at 7 p.m., and Rob Silverstein, the executive producer of the show, said of Young: “He’s a natural, absolutely tremendous. He could do anything in broadcasting, not simply be a commentator.” Said Young, who has graduated from law school, about a possible broadcasting career: “I haven’t given it much thought, but I did have a lot of fun doing this show.” On how he thought Montana might do, Young said, “I don’t know, but I’d love to hear his insights.”

Fox had to do some reshuffling of its hockey announcers this weekend and will use Bob Miller on Sunday’s game between the Kings and Mighty Ducks. . . . A USA network poll taken Tuesday night had 85% of more than 13,000 callers saying that Axel Schulz beat George Foreman last Saturday. Actually, Schulz was a winner in defeat, as his stock went up considerably. Look for a proposed rematch in Germany in September to be on pay per view. Asked if Schulz was now a pay-per-view fighter, promoter Bob Arum said, “Only if he fights Foreman.” Why would Foreman agree to a rematch? Try $25 million.

There are currently two UCLA basketball videos on the market. “Return to Glory: 1995 UCLA Basketball,” narrated by Chris Roberts, was put out by UCLA and benefits the school’s athletic department. Information: (800) 529-4500. “Wizards Again: The Official 1995 NCAA Championship Video” has been released by CBS Video. Information: (800) 747-7999. . . . John Madden, Bob Costas and Dick Enberg, as usual, were among the winners this week at the Sports Emmy Awards dinner in New York. But it was particularly nice to see Keith Jackson get the Emmy as best play-by-play announcer. CBS won eight awards for its Winter Olympics coverage and Bud Greenspan bagged three for his “Lillehammer ‘94: 16 Days of Glory.”