Roger Cossack – ESPN Sports Legal Analyst, Journalist and Speaker

Our Town with host Andy Ockershausen - Homegrown History

Roger Cossack on the most exciting legal moment of his life - "I had my voice, and I had my moment. I lost six to three. Nevertheless, it was . . . my one and only time before the United States Supreme Court, but it was probably the most exciting legal moment of my life. My mother was there, and my son was there and my wife was there." Roger Cossack, ESPN Sports Legal Analyst and Law Professor A Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen, and we're talking and going to talk to Roger Cossack, the 1999 Vanity Fair one of the movers and shakers of Washington radio, TV and broadcast. 1999, do you remember that year, Rog? Roger Cossack: I was going to say that must be another Roger Cossack. A Ockershausen: Vanity Fair of all mag. What happened to Broadcasting and USA Today and so forth? Roger Cossack: No, they never recognized me. A Ockershausen: Sports Illustrated. Roger, tell us now. You are from the West Coast. You're a West Coast guy, but you grace our town and have for many years, and we have really appreciated it. Tell me about your early life on the coast, LA. Roger Cossack: Well, I went to UCLA undergraduate and UCLA law school. A Ockershausen: Where'd you go to school? I mean, to grammar school. Cheremoya Avenue Grammar, Hollywood High and Ricky Nelson Roger Cossack: I went to Cheremoya Avenue Grammar School, but probably the most notable place I went was, I went to Hollywood High School. A Ockershausen: Hollywood High. Roger Cossack: I went to Hollywood High School, and my claim to fame is, is that I sat next to Ricky Nelson. We both sat on the bench for the football team, and neither one of us played too much. A Ockershausen: What a famous, famous, fabulous high school, though. Hollywood High. Roger Cossack: Yeah, it was- A Ockershausen: Was it on Sunset? Roger Cossack: It is on Highland Avenue between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard. It was a great time to go to Hollywood High School. A Ockershausen: Oh my God, yeah. Roger Cossack: It was a fun time to go. A Ockershausen: Celebrity school, right? Roger Cossack: Well, yeah. There were a lot of celebrities who went there. I'm trying to think of some of them. I think, as I told you, Ricky Nelson, but I can't remember any of them now, now but there were some. There were always, you know, pretty girls who were leaving to go be in the movies. That's the way our- A Ockershausen: A lot of friends of mine from ABC Television who lived on the West Coast, their kids went to Hollywood High when they were coming up in the business. It was so important that they get that LA feeling. Why would you then go to school, you went down the road to UCLA? UCLA Undergrad and Law School Roger Cossack: Well, UCLA it was a very good reason, Andy. A Ockershausen: Did your family live down there? Roger Cossack: Well, my family lived in Los Angeles, but- A Ockershausen: West Los Angeles? Roger Cossack: Not so much. We lived in Hollywood, and the reason that I went to UCLA is because, it was a very good reason, was that UCLA, it was and is a public university, and that was where I could afford to go to school. It was inexpensive and it- A Ockershausen: One of the most gorgeous campuses in the free world. Roger Cossack: It's a beautiful place. It was a great opportunity for me to be able to go there. It was very inexpensive, and get a great education. In fact, I loved it so much I stayed six years. There was a couple of little- A Ockershausen: That's irregular. Roger Cossack: Yeah, a couple of little interruptions- A Ockershausen: Roger. Roger Cossack: Which we won't go into, but nevertheless I stayed six years. Then, the UCLA law school let me in and I was able to get a legal education at UCLA law school. A Ockershausen: Did Ricky go with? No, he went into showbiz. Roger Cossack: No, Ricky went on to bigger and better things.