Patterico's Pontifications

12/6/2010

Turn Out the Lights, The Party’s Over

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:34 pm



RIP Dandy Don.

29 Responses to “Turn Out the Lights, The Party’s Over”

  1. Good old days of watching football for me. Dandy Don calling a Staubach Cowboys game. Nothing better for a Texas kid.

    BradnSA (24ba37) — 12/7/2010 @ 12:45 am

  2. Meredith was a superb player in his time. But ABC’s MNF was never better when the broadcast booth sported the likes of Dandy Don, Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford. Punctuating their play-by-play with witty word-play made even the most lopsided of past-midnite games entertaining. It was appointment TV for its time. Now Meredith is gone along with Cosell, Roone Arledge, who conceived the broadcast, and Chet Forte, who directed them in their heyday.

    RIP Dandy Don. Thanks for helping to make the party worth catching.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 12/7/2010 @ 3:10 am

  3. Turn Out The Lights, The Party’s Over…….

    RIP Don

    BT (74cbec) — 12/7/2010 @ 4:35 am

  4. Dandy Don’s best moments for me were when he started talking about country song titles. My own favorite was “We don’t need a refrigerator in our house, we just put the six pack next to my baby’s cold cold heart”. You can’t make ’em up Pally!

    Rest in peace. You brought a lot of joy into households watching MNF.

    Mike Myers (0e06a9) — 12/7/2010 @ 4:53 am

  5. Meredith’s witty put – downs of Cosell were really the only thing that kept me watching those games. I suspect a lot of other fans felt the same way.

    Dmac (498ece) — 12/7/2010 @ 6:42 am

  6. I remember when MNF started and watching them with my dad. It was an institution. Now you can’t watch it on broadcast TV, we can’t go to the moon, and soon not even launch a person into space.

    While we’re at it, I saw in a local newspaper a listing of all bowl games, and most of them are listed as being covered by ESPN. Does that really mean I can’t watch Wiconsin (and TCU) in the Rose Bowl unless I have cable? Shouldn’t there be an antitrust violation in there somewhere? (more tongue in cheek than serious, I imagine if the money makes the contracts go that way, still…)

    MD in Philly (cac12c) — 12/7/2010 @ 6:50 am

  7. Its astonishing how bad Monday Night Football is these days. Both the program as commentary, and the product as football games. Lousy commentators and worse games.

    SPQR (26be8b) — 12/7/2010 @ 7:13 am

  8. The Sunday night games are way better now. Dungy and Harrison in the studio is a great combination.

    JD (6e25b4) — 12/7/2010 @ 7:23 am

  9. Dandy Don singing that song always cracked me up. I recall Mike Shannon singing it once during a Cardinals radio broadcast, but he was probably drunk.

    I also miss Keith Jackson yelling Fuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmblllllllllllllllllllle.

    JD (109425) — 12/7/2010 @ 7:34 am

  10. I never knew much about football, but Don Meredith always made me want to watch. He was adorable and talented.

    Patricia (3aa1fd) — 12/7/2010 @ 8:00 am

  11. During a Browns game…

    Frank Gifford: What do you think of (WR) Fair Hooker?

    Don Meredith: I’ve never met one.

    Ed from SFV (6edf50) — 12/7/2010 @ 9:31 am

  12. The Philadelphia physician asked:

    Does that really mean I can’t watch Wiconsin (and TCU) in the Rose Bowl unless I have cable?

    And why would you even want to watch Wisconsin and TCU?

    The University of Kentucky fan, and alumnus, Dana (3e4784) — 12/7/2010 @ 10:59 am

  13. JD wrote:

    I also miss Keith Jackson yelling Fuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmblllllllllllllllllllle.

    Heck, I still do that watching games; it scares tha cats! But, do you tink ABC will pay me for it?

    The Dana who hasn't played football since high school . . . and wasn't very good even then (3e4784) — 12/7/2010 @ 11:02 am

  14. Go Horned Frogs!!!!!

    R.I.P. Dandy Don. A great part of my childhood.

    Icy Texan (ed9a26) — 12/7/2010 @ 12:12 pm

  15. Wisconsin vs TCU could be a very entertaining game. TCU might hold Wisconsin to 60 or so points.

    JD (6e25b4) — 12/7/2010 @ 12:19 pm

  16. Trash-talking already, JD? Be very afraid of those Froggies.

    DRJ (d43dcd) — 12/7/2010 @ 12:28 pm

  17. Is this their first meeting Wisconsin and TCU

    And why?

    EricPWJohnson (2a58f7) — 12/7/2010 @ 12:41 pm

  18. Hey maybe we can have a SMU vs Tulane or Rice vs Louisiana Tech?

    Something to make sure college football loses any last vestige of respect

    EricPWJohnson (2a58f7) — 12/7/2010 @ 12:43 pm

  19. DRJ – not trash talking, just noting that the Badgers have scored 70 points in one game, and 80+ in another.

    JD (822109) — 12/7/2010 @ 1:52 pm

  20. Comment by The University of Kentucky fan, and alumnus, Dana — 12/7/2010
    Just be glad my father hales from the bluegrass state and bleeds Kentucky blue.

    The physician from Philadelphia was previously from Wisconsin where he went to college and medical school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Why has TCU and Wisc never played…. well, many snide remarks can be made, but suffice it to say that Big Ten schools do not play many non-conference games, and when they do Wisconsin likes to go to San Diego, Hawaii, Las Vegas and such for some odd reason, and rumor has it frogs/toads/whatever are a bit sluggish in Wisconsin come mid-October.

    Wisconsin’s one loss was to a good Mich State team when their top two receivers were out or playing with injuries, and it was in Lansing.

    In Wisconsin’s last game, their second-string running back scored 4 touchdowns, the quarterback had 4 touchdown passes to 3 different receivers. And historically, Wisconsin has done better in bowl games, esp the Rose Bowl, then some of the other Big Ten schools who often embarass us. Of course, Alvarez was coach during the previous Rose Bowl appearances (since 1990 or so), and is now the AD.

    So, will it only be on ESPN, or not?

    MD in Philly (cac12c) — 12/7/2010 @ 2:09 pm

  21. Unless you’re in a Wisconsin TV market or Dallas-Fort Worth, where the ABC stations will have the opportunity to pick it up, you’re stuck with ESPN.
    Go Big Ten!

    either orr (58d2a4) — 12/7/2010 @ 5:19 pm

  22. Comment by either orr

    There is something wrong when a person can not watch the Rose Bowl on broadcast television. It is no longer the America I grew up in.

    (Not sure if this is sarcasm or not.)

    MD in Philly (cac12c) — 12/7/2010 @ 5:55 pm

  23. The Philadelphia physician wrote:

    Just be glad my father hales from the bluegrass state and bleeds Kentucky blue.

    If he’s bleeding, and you’re a doctor, shouldn’t you take care of that for him?

    The snarky Dana (bd7e62) — 12/7/2010 @ 6:34 pm

  24. Of course, UK is in the BBVA Compass Bowl, whatever the heck that is, and the ‘Cats’ opponent, the University of Pittsburgh, is so good that they just fired their head coach.

    Not to be outdone, Kentucky is firing its running backs and defensive backs coaches.

    How often does a school start canning its coaches before the bowl game?

    The puzzled Dana (bd7e62) — 12/7/2010 @ 6:44 pm

  25. eric:

    Is this their first meeting Wisconsin and TCU

    And why?

    I can’t tell if you’re being snide or sincere but historically there haven’t been many matchups between Big 10/Southwest Conference schools (TCU was in the SWC until it broke up) and the Rose Bowl was limited to schools from the PAC-10 and Big-10 until the BCS in 2002. TCU has been playing football since 1896 (as Ad-Ran College) and it has a great tradition, including players like Sammy Baugh, Davey O’Brien, Bob Lilly, Kenneth Davis and Ladainian Tomlinson.

    DRJ (d43dcd) — 12/7/2010 @ 6:58 pm

  26. Bob Lilly, he was good.

    I can’t think of any Big 10 and SWC/Big 12 contests other than the few times Ohio State and Texas have matched up over the last few years.

    MD in Philly (cac12c) — 12/7/2010 @ 8:27 pm

  27. Something to make sure college football loses any last vestige of respect
    Comment by EricPWJohnson — 12/7/2010 @ 12:43 pm

    — Spoken by someone that truky knows whereof he speaks.

    Icy Texan (ed9a26) — 12/7/2010 @ 8:40 pm

  28. “truly”

    Icy Texan (ed9a26) — 12/7/2010 @ 8:40 pm

  29. I’m sorry to being late to this thread.

    I never knew or met Don Meredith, but when I was a kid, he was my hero. After all, he was the QB for the Dallas Cowboys.

    I never heard the boos from the fans, because I never attended a Cowboys game. I only heard what was on the radio because my father listened to the games.

    I do remember the Ice Bowl from the radio because of my father’s reaction.

    I also remember that my father was a friend of Walt Garrison. Walt Garrison considered Meredith as one of the best players to ever take the field.

    I don’t know why Meredith quit football at an early age, but I know I will never forget that Jeff and Hazel’s boy meant something to me.

    Ag80 (e828a4) — 12/7/2010 @ 8:56 pm


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