Cannon Firing Line
Bye Now: The Passing of a Legend
By Ellis G. Cannon
PSR Publisher

This particular column is very easy-yet very difficult-to write.

The passing of Myron Cope was sad on many levels. While largely off the air in recent years, he remained a presence in Pittsburgh media. Those who define eras, and mediums, have that type of impact.

The same will be true going forward without him. If you listened to him, or worked in this line of business, for it to be otherwise is impossible. He dropped hints, he gave advice and he offered suggestions which you thought of regularly. That will not just end.

Indeed, there are a handful of people on my mind during my on-air responsibilities: mostly family, but also a few others. Myron was one.

Perhaps that's linked to my being an evening talk show host and member of Steelers radio network. But not entirely.

It considerably predates those, although it would be insincere to offer they are beyond our awareness, if for no other reason than because the man defined both for decades. Anyone having even a remote connection to them now should be mindful of the expectations and responsibilities they bring, in large part because of the foundation he laid.

No, this goes back to the 70's, a time we endlessly romanticize, whether it be the Steelers, great funk or Evel. It goes back to Uncle Nick's porch and Henry and Dad and you. It was about the radio far more than the television. It was making sure you left a few minutes every day for Myron that night.

I'm sure it was the same for many of you.

It was about feeling a sense of community with Myron as the ringleader who brought us together. Didn't matter what the subject was, it was about listening, sharing, arguing, learning and, yes, being entertained.

We all have stories and memories. You know the highlights as well as I do. We lived, and re-lived them and remain with us.

At the risk of being provincial-no, indeed, BEING provincial-people outside of Pittsburgh don't understand quite as well. Not just because we loved him, and he at times us, but because when visitors note Pittsburgh has a feeling of a "town," a collection of neighborhoods, they quickly point to the mills, the blue collars and the immigrants. All true.

But don't forget the sense of community, which among more of us than perhaps we even know, has a shared bond with sports.

Myron was a central part of that for many of US. He tied US together, without US even knowing him - or each other.

That's why and how people become legendary and why their memories live on. And why I would think of him, and will continue to, when the microphone goes hot, wondering what he was thinking of my work if was listening. Whether I was holding up my end of the deal. Whether I was reaching the standard and upholding the responsibility. Whether I was good enough.

I could share personal stories, or things I learned, from Myron once my career veered inexorably toward that which he dominated. We're not going to do that here. Let's instead take the moment to reflect on something much more important, something much larger.

What he gave US.

"Ellis Cannon's Sportsline Pittsburgh" airs weeknights from 6-8 p.m. on FM Newstalk 104.7. Ellis is also a regular contributor on "#1 Cochran Sports Showdown" aired Sundays at 11:35 p.m. on KDKA-TV.