(July 4, 2008)--Dan Cook, the San Antonio sportswriter who popularized the phrase, "The opera ain't over ‘til the fat lady sings," has died at 81.
Cook's career in San Antonio journalism spanned more than 50 years, during which he became one of the state's top sportswriters and sports columnists.
The San Antonio Express-News, for which Cook worked for 51 years, reported that he died Thursday night after a long illness.
Cook was also the sports anchor at KENS-TV in San Antonio for 44 years, from 1956 to 2000.
Most of those years, the station was owned by the Express-News.
Cook first popularized the phrase, "The Opera ain't over ‘til the fat lady sings," while discussing an NBA playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Washington Bullets on a 1978 newscast.
The Yale Book of Quotations later concluded it was first quoted in print in 1976, attributing it to Texas Tech sports information director Ralph Carpenter.
The Yale book called it a variation on an old Southern saying.
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