Dan Cook

About Dan Cook

Daniel John Cook, Jr. (1926 - July 3, 2008) was a sports writer for the San Antonio Express-News, where he worked for 51 years. He is most notable for popularizing the phrase "the opera ain't over till the fat lady sings." Described as a "sports icon", Cook also was a sports anchor at San Antonio television station KENS from 1956 to 2000. For most of these years, the TV station was owned by the San Antonio Express-News.

He first said the phrase "the opera ain't over till the fat lady sings" on a 1978 newscast discussing the NBA playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Washington Bullets. The phrase was then attributed to Bullets coach Dick Motta, who had borrowed it during Washington's successful 1978 title run.

The Yale Book of Quotations later concluded that it first appeared in print in 1976, attributed to Texas Tech sports information director Ralph Carpenter, and was a variation on an old Southern saying.