Myron Cope's Terrible Towel

If you were among the millions who watched the Super Bowl, you couldn't miss the "cheeseheads" rooting for the Packers or their rival fans twirling yellow towels to fire up the Steelers. I suppose there's a cool story behind people wearing a giant slice of cheese on their noggin, but that'll have to wait for another time.

I'm here to share the story behind "Myron Cope's Official Terrible Towel."

Simone and Kyndall gave me one for Christmas, officially welcoming me to Steeler Nation. I took it over to my brother-in-law's house today to watch the game, but it wasn't until the fourth quarter, when Pittsburgh was trying to rally, that it dawned on me that I didn't know squat about Myron Cope.

A quick look at the label confirmed it was made of 100 percent cotton and that it was "Hecho en China." (No surprise there.)

Next, I did a Google search for Myron Cope and discovered all sorts of interesting things. Of course, longtime Steeler fans would know all this but, hey...

-- Cope was the voice of the Steelers for 35 years and the first football announcer inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
-- He was a Pittsburgh native and his given name was Myron Sidney Kopelman,
-- According to Wikipedia, "He was known for his distinctive, nasally voice with an identifiable Pittsburgh accent, idiosyncratic speech pattern, and a level of excitement rarely exhibited in the broadcast booth"
-- He'd use Yiddish phrases like "feh!" and "yoi!"and "double yoi!"
-- It was his idea, to build support for a 1975 playoff game against the Baltimore Colts, to urge fans to bring a black, gold or yellow dishtowel from home and wave them throughout.

And the best part?

"In 1996, Cope gave the rights to The Terrible Towel to the Allegheny Valley School in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The school provides care for more than 900 people with mental retardation and physical disabilities, including Cope's autistic son. Proceeds from the Terrible Towel have helped raise $3 million for the school."

How cool is that?

Cope retired in 2005 and died in 2008 at the age of 79.

The Steelers may have lost today's game but I'm pleased to say that, in death, Myron Cope picked up a new fan.

Photograph: wikipedia.org