We’re going to get free towels again as we arrive at The Coke on Thursday, courtesy of Service Electric. We got them earlier in the year as a promotion as well. Whose idea was this, anyway?
In 1975 Myron Cope, journalist and radio broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers, noticed players on the sidelines encouraging the Three Rivers Stadium crowd by waving their towels over their heads. In the run up to the 1975 NFL playoffs, Cope urged fans via his radio show to bring yellow hand towels to the playoff games. During the 1975 playoffs he coined the name, Terrible Towel.
From 1975 to 1978 Steelers fans purchased yellow hand towels at local stores. Eventually, Cope trademarked the Terrible Towel, and with the help of a local department store had them made and printed. In 1996, Cope gave the rights to The Terrible Towel to the Allegheny School in Coraopolis, PA. The Allegheny School cares for over 900 people with mental retardation and physical disabilities, including Cope’s autistic son Danny. To this day, sales of The Terrible Towel benefit The Allegheny School.
It’s cool though. I’m all in favor of promotions and anything that gets the crowd involved in the game. However, every time I see a Rally Towel—or Homer Hanky or the like–I always think of the Allegheny School, and Myron and Danny Cope.
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
PCN, the public-affairs channel seen only on Pennsylvania’s cable systems, has at least one and possibly two interviews with Myron in its library. Those of you who don’t/can’t watch that channel, will be stuck to buy the (25 dollar) video(s).
Myron Cope got the idea for the “Terrible Towel” from “Babushka Power” which was a 1974 idea of Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince to have women wave their babushkas (a silk-like scarf worn on their heads) to help start a Pirates rally. The Pirates won the NL East that year but lost to the Dodgers in the NL Championship series. Unfortunately, “Babushka Power” only lasted a year or two.
Pittsburgh Pirates fans also had something back in the 60’s called the “Green Weenie”, a hot dog rattle meant to bring good luck to the Pirates and bad luck to the opposition. Uh oh, baby rattles. Hmmm!
I actually owned one of those green, um, rattles at one point. I don’t know what happened to it, though…
Strangely enough I do have a Babushka! haha