Turn Out the Lights, The Party's Over

For "Dandy Don" Meredith, that is:

Don Meredith, the Dallas Cowboys and SMU quarterback and Monday Night Football icon, died Sunday evening in Santa Fe, N.M. He was 72.

Meredith died at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, a hospital spokesman confirmed this morning. The Meredith family's attorney, Lisa Fine Moses, said his wife, Susan, and daughter Mary were at his side.

Meredith had battled emphysema in recent years and suffered a minor stroke in 2004. [...]

Already famous in his native Texas, he quickly became a national celebrity through his work on Monday Night Football, starting in 1970. Millions tuned in each week to hear Meredith's quick wit, homespun stories and needling of intellectual booth-mate Howard Cosell. 

To people like me who didn't grow up as Cowboys fans he'll probably best be known for his work with Monday Night Football:

His profile increased after he threw his last pass. Meredith teamed with timid Frank Gifford and acerbic (Howard) Cosell as announcers for ABC's Monday Night Football and later was featured in television commercials for Lipton Tea.

Meredith was acclaimed as a broadcaster less for his insight than for his homespun sense of humor and penchant for country music, which prompted his immensely popular rendition of, "Turn out the lights, the party's over ..." whenever the outcome had been determined.

He was a character, and made listening to Howard Cosell a little less annoying.