I was in Atlanta covering the Marian Hossa trade when I got the text message that Myron Cope had died. I was a bit numb, as I'm sure most of you were. For those that don't understand the Pittsburgh Steelers Nation, Mr. Cope was an annoying, fringe member of the second tier of American sports journalists. In other words, a household name in his local market, and fairly unrenowned and nameless elsewhere. Maybe a glorified version of the quirky Bill Curry that passed away a month earlier.
For those that are citizens of Steelers Nation, we knew Myron Cope as the spokesman for a generation. We all know that the Steelers did their whole 75th anniversary thing this year, but when we ground ourselves in reality, the true history of our Steelers dates from 1972-ish to the present. There is no voice more suitable to narrate that 35 year living highlight film than that of Myron Cope. No voice was more welcome at the outset of a stadium rocking play, and no voice summized chagrin better after a bone headed miscue. Hence the duality of a die hard fan...the enigma of love/hate.
The beauty of being a local sportscaster is that one can shed some of the required objectivity that national media members must hold. In other words, he or she can actually be a fan of the teams they cover. Myron Cope was a true Steeler fan, and through his passion for the team and the city, he became forever entwined in the lore of both.
Cope is as Black and Gold as those Terrible Towels that he popularized. He's as much of a part of the yinzer culture of the Burgh as a Primanti Bros sandwich or a steaming plate of pierogies in a tailgate lot outside the stadium. I would even go as far as to say that excluding players, the five most relevant figures in our Steelers history would be Dan Rooney, Art Rooney, Charles Noll, Bill Cowher, and Myron Cope. It may come as a stretch to some, but that's how shaping Cope was to Steeler culture.
Cope's naming of the "Immaculate Reception" was as prophetic as it was ingenious. That catch ushered in a new, unprecedented era of enlightenment, salvation, and eventually glory. Myron Cope has been, and will always be, the bantering soundtrack behind this glory. No true Steeler fan can go a single Sunday afternoon without uttering at least a couple Cope-isms...Yoi, The Bungles, Okel Dokel, Doube Yoi, Chaz "the Emperor" Noll,...the list goes on and on.
I had the fortune of meeting Mr. Cope twice. Both times in the same elevator at Allegheny General Hospital, sometime around 1990. He was visiting his ailing wife, and I was visiting my Dad, who was just recovering from open heart surgery. Although the surrounding circumstances were somber and less than ideal, it was a great privilege, nonetheless, to meet such a great and influential man. We will miss you, Myron. Rest in peace. Hopefully, right now, you, Mike Webster, and Art Rooney are enjoying some stogies, a few Iron City's, and reminiscing the 1978 Super Bowl team!
Pittsburgh says goodbye to a great man
4 comments:
well done BW
nice piece BW.
My sense though, is that he was a bigger national presence that you may be giving him credit for. He did a fair amount of national work as a writer, most notably with Sports Illustrated. In fact, a recent SI tribute to the top 50 article they had ever published highlighted one of his pieces. Anyone east of da burgh who listened to NY or Philly media heard for a fact that those sports talk guys all took pause to talk about how Myron was a big deal, a pioneer. For a NY guy to do that, well, that actually means something.
Let the towels fly at half mast.
Yeah, I read his bio also. Not sure you understood my message.
I am pretty sure I understood the message, but let me go back and check for skip codes.
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