What might’ve been (excerpted from the New York Times’ review of “Howard Cosell: The Man, the Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports,” by Mark Ribowsky):
Cosell did not mind self-parody but refused Allen’s offer to play a pervert in “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex.”
I’m guessing this was the role Cosell turned down:
Sadly, according to the review, “Cosell is either forgotten or regarded as a relic of the era before ESPN seized control of televised sports. A few years ago, I was interviewing a different type of television sports star, Bob Costas, before a college audience. When we began to discuss Cosell, the students appeared flummoxed. Howard Cosell? ‘Do you want to explain him or should I?’ Costas asked. You simply had to experience Cosell back in the three-network universe, when ABC Sports was king. No one who watched Cosell could forget him or resist imitating him. “
Cosell, forgotten? Not on my watch.
