Dennis Cometti is gone, but one of the golden voices of Australian sports broadcasting will live on for as long as the game itself.<\/p>\n
For Cometti, who died after an illness aged 76, was a man who encapsulated some of sport\u2019s greatest moments with \u201ccentimetre perfect\u201d precision\u2014moments that will be on an endless re-run in the years ahead.<\/p>\n
Even sports fans born today, tomorrow and into the future will come to know the dulcet tones of Cometti who could call any sport but particularly revelled in Australian football.<\/p>\n
He was the soundtrack of so many generations, and that will roll on into the future, even with his sad passing after an illness he had battled for the past two years.<\/p>\n
When anyone talks about Collingwood defender Heath Shaw\u2019s \u2018smother of the century\u2019\u2014his epic rundown of Nick Riewoldt in the 2010 Grand Final replay\u2014they will recall Cometti\u2019s off-the-cuff assessment: \u201cHe came up behind him like a librarian. He never heard him.\u201d <\/p>\n
When the Western Bulldogs celebrate their 10-year anniversary later this year of their droughtbreaking 2016 premiership, it will be accompanied by Cometti\u2019s famous line as Tom Boyd\u2019s long bomb goal went through: \u201cA stadium holds its breath, it\u2019s a goal…and the western suburbs erupt\u201d.<\/p>\n
When Buddy Franklin enters the Australian Football Hall Of Fame and one day becomes a Legend, it will come with footage of his run down the wing, with Cometti extolling the freakish athletic prowess of the Hawthorn star<\/p>\n
When Swans fans look back on the 2012 flag, they will have two gems.<\/p>\n
The first, Cometti\u2019s almost breathless description of Lewis Jetta outsprinting Cyril Rioli down the wing: \u201cThis is a main event in any stadium in the world \u2026 Lewis Jetta wins the gold medal.\u201d The second, a perfect full spot on the game, with his call of Nick Malceski\u2019s match-winning goal: \u201cIs that the Grand Final? Sydney are premiers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
And when anyone watches Kieren Perkins\u2019 off-the-canvas 1500m gold medal swim at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Cometti\u2019s cadence will live on: \u201cThe greatest moments in sport come when they\u2019re least expected – and that\u2019s what makes them great \u2026 this is rare gold, this is the best kind of gold.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a media career spanning five decades on television and radio, Cometti was renowned for his wit, exceptional timing, and his accuracy which made him a national treasure.<\/p>\n
His quirky one-liners became fan favourites, so much so they became known as \u201cCometti-isms.\u201d <\/p>\n
He famously described a 1992 Grand Final snap from West Coast\u2019s Peter Wilson as \u201clike a cork in the ocean\u201d and once said Eagle Guy McKenna was \u201cas cool as the other side of the pillow.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he always made the calls fun, endearing him to generations of sports fans across the country. That\u2019s partly because he saw his chosen vocation as fun.<\/p>\n
As he told the Herald Sun when he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2020: \u201cI\u2019ve had fun. I always went to the footy optimistically, I always felt good about it. I mean, what a job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the time Saint Jason Gram lost his strides in a tackle, and Cometti delivered the perfect line: \u201cA strip-o-gram\u201d.<\/p>\n
Heath Shaw says his act of ingenuity in the 2010 Grand Final replay was matched almost perfectly by Cometti\u2019s call of the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt (the call) has stuck with me forever. It probably made it even more special by the perfect timing and the perfect line to match the moment,\u201d Shaw told Code Sports.<\/p>\n
Former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said Cometti was a national treasure, saying: \u201cHe had no peers, he was a legend. We were blessed to live in an age where we have had (Bruce) McAvaney and Cometti.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longtime colleague and friend Bruce McAvaney said the passing of his great mate feels like he \u201clost something truly precious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I think about Dennis, one of the first things I think about is the amount of joy he brought to all of our lives,\u201d McAvaney said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many times did he make us laugh and smile? We would sit there and think, how did he think of that? He leaves a legacy that is undeniable, unique, and authentic. In many ways he was the benchmark for all of those that are following in his footsteps. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a nation who prides itself in having so many of the all-time great sport commentators, and he was up there with the very best of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps the most impressive thing about Dennis is that through his calling, he made footballers famous. That\u2019s a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said Cometti\u2019s final television call for Channel 7 – in the 2016 Grand Final – perfectly summed up the Bulldogs\u2019 fairytale flag success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are privileged that so much of his greatest work calling our biggest games is easily available for all fans, and thank you Dennis for illuminating footy and your contribution across the country to bring that excitement into homes,\u201d Dillon said.<\/p>\n
Cometti was the grandson of Italian immigrants who had come to Australia seeking a new life, initially on the Goldfields of Western Australia.<\/p>\n
He played 38 games for West Perth in the late 1960s and early \u201870s and spent some time on Footscray\u2019s playing list when his media career briefly brought him to Melbourne.<\/p>\n
He started as a disc jockey on Perth radio in 1968 before joining ABC radio in 1972 where he stayed until 1985.<\/p>\n
During his time at the ABC he also coached West Perth for three seasons from 1982 to 1984.<\/p>\n
He started with Channel 7 in 1986, calling VFL\/AFL football and serving as Seven News Perth\u2019s main sports anchor.<\/p>\n
He also covered three Summer Olympics (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000), and remained at the network until he joined Channel 9 between 2002 and 2006 to call football.<\/p>\n
He returned to Channel 7 in 2007 where he again paired with McAvaney.<\/p>\n
Cometti had several radio homes including stints with 3AW and Triple M, with his last radio call coming in Melbourne\u2019s 2021 Grand Final win over the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
He won numerous awards during his broadcasting life including an Order of Australia in 2019, 11 Australian Football Media Association accolades as best caller, and was made an inductee in the Australian Football, Sporting Australia, MCG Media, Australian Football Media and WA Hall of Fames.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dennis Cometti is gone, but one of the golden voices of Australian sports broadcasting will live on for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-517663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}