After Lee Corso’s first show on ESPN in 1987, host Tim Brando recalls, the soon to become icon said, “Hey sweetheart, I’m going to be the Dick Vitale of college football.”
So it has come to pass.
And unlike his hoops counterpart who wore out many viewers long ago, Corso never has. Even as he became hard to watch after his stroke in 2009.
Saturday will be Corso’s last appearance on Game Day. On the banks of the Olentangy where the whole donning the headgear of his pick to win the big one started.
That day it was Brutus Buckeye. If his 431st unveiling is not a Brutus Buckeye bookend, it would be an upset of major proportions. So it says here.
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Here’s an answer for Trivia Night at the local tavern.
Whom did Corso beat out to become Louisville’s football coach in 1969?
The fella was then OC at West Virginia.
A guy by the name of Bobby Bowden. Who a year later was named head in Morgantown, and the rest is history. At Lee Corso’s alma mater.
During his four year stint in Louisville, Corso rallied the fanbase, made us laugh and went 28-11-3 on the gridiron.
Among those ties was an unsatisfying 24-24 battle in something called the Pasadena Bowl. The ’72 postseason game was played in front of a smattering of fans scattered about the Rose Bowl.
Corso’s best season here was the 9-1 campaign in ’70, finishing in the Top 20 in the polls of the day, AP (Media) and UP (Ostensibly Coaches, but more likely their SIDs).
Then Corso was off to Indiana for an undistinguished stint. After a less than stellar campaign at Northern Illinois, another with the Orlando Renegades, Corso was available to meet his calling the following year at ESPN.
Where he indeed became pigskin’s Dick Vitale. Maybe more.
That first headgear happening was in ’96.
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At some point along the way, mid to late ’90s more than likely, Lee Corso was in town for a Cardinal game. To cover it. Or be feted. Or both.
Unlike another former coach, Lee Corso was accessible and willing to chat.*
*A different approach than Howard Schnellenberger, who blew me off when I tried to interview him because he’d never heard of LEO.
A smile came to his face when I told Corso I was a tutor during his reign, charged with guiding OL Dennis Brundula through a European poli sci course.
“Brundula, huh, that wasn’t the easiest of tasks.”
His smile broadened when I shared how Brundula would see me on campus and turn and walk in another direction. How I proofread his term paper, such as it was, on “Soccer.” True.
When I mentioned how DB and I had a session the morning of the spring game, and my charge was to explain dialectical materialism, Corso broke into full laughter.
“I’m sure that went well.”
One other thing I’ve got in common with Lee Corso, the fella who once dropped an F Bomb live on Game Day before a Houston/ SMU game.
We both use Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils.
— c d kaplan
Yeah, I recall those UofL Corso teams well; I was a fraternity brother of a bunch of those guys, including John Madeya. And I too played an informal tutor role for one of the players, star running back Howard Stevens, in a Psychology Dept. “Perception” course we shared. But Howard was whip-smart and a great guy; we’d meet at the library before tests and go over my atypically meticulous notes–I think he ended up acing the course! And by the way, let me correct your obvious typo; our “kissing-your-sister” Pasadena Bowl appearance was in 1970 rather than ’72. I know because I was one of the VERY rare Cards fans in attendance…our little group in the midst of the massive Rose Bowl looked like a couple of piss ants in the bottom of a gallon jar! But it was a fun trip for sure–Corso let me ride in one of the team buses out for the one of the team’s pre-game excursions to Disneyland. Them was the days!
Thanks for the correction.
This is correct about the Pasadena Bowl year. I clearly recall my disbelief, and how downtrodden I was over us not getting a bowl bid after the 72 season. Our best ever to that point in history, if I am not mistaken.
Speaking of The Pipe, I have a funny story about him, and his lack of a sense or humor.
After a string of 3 win seasons, in 1988 U of L finally broke through with a 8 – 3 campaign. There were more bowls by this time, but once again it appeared we were going to get snubbed (we did). Schnellenberger was working it as hard as he could and calling in markers with no results. I was the parts department manager at Middletown Marine at the time, and with the boating season over and things slow, one Saturday afternoon I decided to call the football office to see if anyone would answer to ask if their was anything fans could do to support the cause. (A long shot, I know, but I needed to let off some frustration). Someone did answer and it went like this.
Phone answered: “Cardinals football.” (In a deep gravelly voice impossible not to immediately recognize)
Me shocked and astonished: “Oh coach! They got you in there answering the phone on a Saturday?”
(He didn’t get the joke.)
The Pipe: (barking out the words) “I GOT MYSELF IN HERE ANSWERING THE PHONE ON SATURDAY!!!!”
Me thinking: (Oh shit. He didn’t get the joke. He seriously thought I meant Bill Olsen put him on the schedule to answer the phones on Saturday)
I explained why I called and his tone totally changed and he became vary gracious, thanking me multiple times for calling. He explained their wasn’t really anything the fans could to to improve our chances of getting a bid. We had a short but very pleasant conversation, and goodbye. He must have thanked me for my support three times.
I hung up and laughed my ass off for about 10 minutes. 😂
He was a focused man. Not prone to the easy laugh.
The Cards almost pulled out a win in that Pasadena Bowl with a score on a trick play near the end of the game. The play was called back on a penalty; two forward passes if I remember correctly.
The Corso years were a lot of fun. So many stories, like when he “threw in the towel” against Memphis State. The next season, the Cards got some payback against the Tigers in the “Astromud” of the Fairgrounds.
I can remember in later years, Corso talking about that ’72 season when they were not invited to a bowl game. He said that the Cards were too good. Nobody wanted to play them.
I had forgotten about that late score being called back, and how I thought we had won, and how unfair it seemed to me when the TD was nullified. I can still feel the disappointment and the weird feeling I felt about the game ending in a tie. I tried to be happy that we had not lost, but could not shake the disappointment that we had not won, as we all thought we had until the dirty yellow laundry soiled the field. Those memories are vivid now that you reminded me. I was watching in my grandparent’s living room on their color TV. We had just gotten one that summer, but they had theirs well before we did. My grandfather was an engineer at WHAS Television. I was 12 years old at the time, and Corso’s teams are what got me hooked on college football. To this day it’s still my favorite spectator sport. Lee Corso is who made me a college football fan. Him, and those U of L teams of his.