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Turn out the lights -- RIP Don Meredith

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by MileHigh, Dec 6, 2010.

  1. Blitz

    Blitz Active Member

    RIP, Dandy Don.
    You and Cosell and Frank were the best there ever was on MNF.
    Cosell's halftime highlights were awesome, too.
    Condolences to the family.
     
  2. Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.

    Corky Ramirez up on 94th St. Well-Known Member

    I was born the year before Meredith came back the second time, in '77. I obviously don't have any memories of listening to him as a kid, but I do have a bunch of games on DVD. He, Cosell and Gifford were the best (and even with Keith Jackson that first year).

    MileHigh ... I have that entire '73 game on DVD and Meredith never uttered that quote. I think that's just something that someone made up and it took off. Same as "The Bronx is burning" ... Cosell never said that during Game 2 of the '77 World Series. In fact, no one ever said that.
     
  3. Wendell Gee

    Wendell Gee Member

    I started watching MNF in the early 80s, so I only had a few seasons with Meredith. And yet, if you ask me about MNF, my first thought is hearing him say "Turn out the lights, the party's over" near the end of a 49ers-Rams game.

    RIP.
     
  4. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Yep. Same here. Didn't get to see much of him, but I liked what I heard.

    RIP.
     
  5. printdust

    printdust New Member

    If you remember, Keith Jackson was on the first broadcast, not Gifford. Meredith and Cosell were the originals. And no one has copied them yet.
     
  6. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Does anyone know why Meredith became a recluse? Seemed like such a jovial, happy-go-lucky guy in the booth, it would seem he'd be happy remaining in the public eye.
     
  7. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    I don't think he liked the spotlight as much as people thought. He was featured in one of those NFL Films Lost Treasures documentary where they showed him filming a commercial. Steve Sabol mentioned that he was a lot more reserved than his public image.
     
  8. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Another huge part of my youth is gone. As someone mentioned above, MNF was absolutely appointment television. In that era where highlights were so hard to come by, if your team made it onto the halftime highlights your night was made.

    Nowadays, seeing a highlight is simply a matter of turning on ESPN News.
     
  9. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    You have to be pretty old to understand how big and important MNF was in the early days, and how outrageous the Meredith/Cosell banter was.

    (And I don't mean to spoil the party, but the middle finger/No. 1 line was fed to Meredith by someone in the truck).
     
  10. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member

    Twenty lengths ahead of Craig f'n Morton.
     
  11. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    Often imitated but never really duplicated in my opinion.
     
  12. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Really sad. Gotta be tough being the last of the era.

    I can't long for Don Meredith because he was before my time, but the current incarnation of MNF is so uninteresting that I find myself longing for Dennis Miller.
     
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