MARN RETIRES
Stillers will be yoi-less in the fall
Late yesterday afternoon, Maryland Bureau Chief Sam Basile called with disapointing news — Myron Cope was retiring.
If you have ever driven through Pennsylvania on a Sunday afternoon or watched some NFL Films Super Bowl highlights, chances are you may have heard the legendary Cope providing Steelers color commentary on the radio. His voice is one not easily forgotten, it is very nasal and is ultimately an exaggerated Pittsburgh stereotype. My first experience with exposure to him came in ’86 when my family and I were driving back to NoVa from Michigan and we found a Steelers game (I think Louie Lipps got clotheslined) on the radio. Even at the age of nine, I knew this guy was awful. Over the years, NFL Films on ESPN made me more familiar with his work, as did making the acquaintances of a number of Steelers fans in college.
I firmly believe the person who gave Cope his first job in radio did so with the hope that it would humiliate him. It backfired — big time. Marn, as he is known, became an institution. For years, fans haved turned the TV down and the radio up to get his insight on the game. He was also credited with creating the “Terrible Towel.”
Yesterday, Cope announced that he was retiring, ending another Pittsburgh institution. He will be missed and can never be replaced. Can Beano be far behind?