Dan Cook
{{Short description|American newspaper sports writer (1926–2008)}}
{{other people|Daniel Cook}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Dan Cook
|image = Dan Cook pic.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1926|8|12}}
|birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2008|7|3|1926|8|12}}
|death_place = San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
|nationality = American
|other_names =
|known_for = "The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings"
|occupation = Sports writer
Sports telecaster
}}
Daniel John Cook Jr. (August 12, 1926 – July 3, 2008) was a sports writer for the San Antonio Express-News for 51 years.{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/04/sports/Obit-Dan-Cook.php |work=International Herald-Tribune |date=2008-07-04 |title=San Antonio sports icon Dan Cook dead at 81}} He is most notable for making the phrase "the opera ain't over till the fat lady sings" into common use. Described as a "sports icon", Cook started working at KENS in 1956 and continued to work at the television station until 2000.{{cite news|work=San Antonio Express-News |title=Dan Cook's career highlights, controversy |first=Kevin |last=Frazzini |author2=Michael Knoop |url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA070408.15A.dancook.timeline.46c9a68.html |date=2008-07-04 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} For most of these years, the TV station was owned by the San Antonio Express-News.{{cite news |work=San Antonio Express-News |title=San Antonio sports journalism icon Dan Cook dies |url=http://www.chron.com/disp/discuss.mpl/deaths/5871371.html |date=2008-07-04}}
Career
After beginning his sports writing career at the Houston Post,{{cite news|title=He was always so humble |work=San Antonio Express-News |first=John |last=Whisler |url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA070908.1A.cookfuneral.40c724c.html |date=2008-07-09 }}{{dead link|date=September 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Cook worked at the San Antonio Express-News from August 14, 1952, until he retired on August 3, 2003. In early 1956, he first made national headlines when, acting on a tip, he confronted a suspect in a Houston robbery and in the process wound up himself arrested and charged with armed robbery.{{cite magazine |magazine=Time |title=The Press: Stop the Presses |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,937316,00.html |date=May 7, 1956}} (He would later be exonerated when the suspect confessed to the original crime.) Cook wrote his first sports column for the San Antonio Express-News on November 29, 1956. During his newspaper career, he became in charge of editing the sports column in 1960 and held this role until 1975. Outside of the Express-News, Cook continued his sports career on the radio and television.
=The phrase=
In 1976, Ralph Carpenter of Texas Tech University coined "the opera ain't over until the fat lady sings". The phrase became common use after Cook and Dick Motta used it during the 1978 NBA playoffs.{{cite news |work=The Dallas Morning News |title=Sports Today |first=Harless |last=Wade |date=1988-10-11}}
=Honors and awards=
Personal life
Cook was born and raised in Houston, Texas.{{cite news |work=San Antonio Business Journal |title=Dan Cook: The fat lady still isn't ready to sing |first=W. Scott |last=Bailey |date=2002-03-29 |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2002/04/01/story8.html}} He graduated St. Thomas High School in Houston and attended the University of Houston for two years. He was married and had three children.
Death
Partial bibliography
- {{cite book |first=Dan |last=Cook |title=The Best of Dan Cook, 1956-1990 |publisher=Corona Publishing |date=November 2001 |isbn=978-0-931722-15-8 |pages=245pp}}
References
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Category:American sports announcers
Category:Sportswriters from Texas
Category:American television personalities
Category:Writers from San Antonio