"The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give." ~ Howard Cosell
On this day in 1984, sportscaster Howard Cosell (1918-1995) retired from ABC-TV's Monday Night Football after 14 years at the mike.
One of the show's original commentators, Cosell once said, "Sports is the toy department of human life."
The colorful commentator was born Howard William Cohen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A lawyer by training, he joined ABC's pioneering Olympic coverage in the 1960s and was best known for "telling it like it is" as he bravely defended boxer Muhammad Ali when the heavyweight champion was stripped of his title in 1967.
Broadcasting co-host Al Michaels explained that Cosell was "the omniscient, all-knowing, all-seeing eye of the viewer. He really carved out a role that had not existed in this business and I'm not sure exists to this day."
"Courage takes many forms," Cosell revealed. "There is physical courage, there is moral courage. Then there is a still higher type of courage—the courage to brave pain, to live with it, to never let others know of it; and to still find joys in life; to wake up in the morning with an enthusiasm for the day ahead."
Tell it like it is.