Dick Vitale Blog

February 18, 2012

Dick Vitale — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:48:08 +0000

I had a great time calling the St. Mary’s-Murray State game. The fans at Murray State were so hospitable and so nice. The school treated me like royalty and it was a blast.

I was so impressed with the Racers and Racer Nation. What a great atmosphere! Coach Steve Prohm’s team played terrific defense ands Isaiah Canaan was the star of stars, showing his great shooting range and penetrating for baskets too.

Then I had a great time at Tom’s Cafe for dinner. I had a super meal there and everyone was so kind.

Bracket Busters was truly memorable for me. My wife and I had a great time and it was something I will not forget.

Thanks to AD Mr. Ward and his staff for making me feel so at home. Murray State was awesome baby with a capital A!

February 15, 2012

Dick Vitale — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:12:14 +0000

I had a great time at the UPS shoot at my house. I enjoyed working with the whole crew, led by Nicole the producer and Lance the director. The commercial on logisitics will air during March Madness and will include coaches Geno Auriemma of Connecticut, Butler’s Brad Stevens, Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer and others.

February 12, 2012

Dick Vitale — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:09:59 +0000

I saw the number one team in America twice last week. The Wildcats had a surprising blowout city win over a top 10 Florida Gators team. John Calipari’s club has a stifling defense and it did a great job stopping Florida’s perimeter game. The Cats actually made more trifectas than Billy Donovan’s team.

Rupp Arena is such a special place as Big Blue Nation responds to the Wildcats. My four favorite places in college basketball are Rupp, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Phog Allen Fieldhouse and the Museum, as I call it, down in Chapel Hill.

Then I saw Kentucky prevail in a hostile environment at Vanderbilt. Calipari said he wanted a challenge and he got one in the second half. His Cats responded and held Vanderbilt without a point over the last few minutes.

Anthony Davis showed once again why he is so special. He is a game-changing player on the defensive end, forcing opponents to change their offense. I remember that was said about Georgetown’s All-Solid Gold super star Patrick Ewing. He was worth 15 points a game before a contest even started. I feel Davis is the same way with his length and shot-blocking ability. His presence on the floor has a major impact, wearing on the minds of the opposition.

It was a good week for Big Blue Nation, baby!

February 9, 2012

Dick Vitale — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:19:29 +0000

Duke at North Carolina another classic. It was an instant classic. So dramatic as Austin Rivers, the diaper dandy for Duke, hits an unbelievable three at the buzzer to give Duke a scintillating win 85-84. The game was dominated by North Carolina. It looked like they were on their way to a W as they were up 10 with 2 minutes left. But you couldn’t tell that to the gutty kids at Duke who kept battling back. And the three ball, oh how big the three ball was. There was no way in the world Duke had a shot to win this game unless they made a minimum of ten three’s, and they responded, knocking down 14. Tyler Zeller was brilliant in the first half, had 19 points, but in the second half, Duke did a great job keeping the ball away from Zeller. Yes, it is a loss that will hurt big time when North Carolina thinks about it, as that baby should have been tucked away. But they allowed Duke to hang around and hang around instead of applying the knock out punch. When I look at my career, and I have done 40 of the Duke/North Carolina games, this one will be one of the three best in my mind. #1 is the game in 1992 when Duke was undefeated and went to North Carolina. Eric Montross was bleeding and playing his heart out and ultimately when it was all said and done, North Carolina gave Duke its first loss of the season. That Duke team featured superstars Bob Hurley, Grant Hill, and Christian Laettner. It was such a memorable moment for the people at North Carolina that they rushed the court and you know they don’t rush the court very often in Chapel Hill where they expect to win. The second most memorable for me was in 1995 when a Duke team that had struggled all year challenged a North Carolina team led by Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace. It was a double overtime classic that North Carolina was able to win at Cameron Indoor Stadium. #3 for me was this game, as Austin Rivers will go down in Duke and North Carolina anals as an impact diaper dandy who made a major, major difference in the rivalry. He scored 29 points and played with swag and a world of confidence. His dad, Doc Rivers, was jumping up and down in the stands. It looked like he was even happier when his son hit that three than when the Celtics won the World Championship.

February 5, 2012

Dick Vitale — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:30:09 +0000

Saturday night in Columbia, Missouri was really special. It was a game that epitomized the passion and emotion of college basketball.

Kansas against Missouri in the border war, over 15,000 fans in attendance and a great finish.

Kansas was up eight with 3:25 left to play. It looked like Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk would get a big win.

Marcus Denmon had other ideas, scoring nine straight points. Missouri got to the winner's circle, 74-71.

The big question after the game was simple ... will we ever see this rivalry played again at Missouri?

The teams will meet in an emotional showdown later this month in Lawrence. With the Tigers moving to the SEC, Kansas has said it doesn't want to continue to play this series.

The Border War is great for the fans, the players, and of course, TV people like me. It is so sad to see rivalries going away in college hoops.

Why can't teams like Missouri and Kansas meet once a year in non-league play. You see Louisville and Kentucky facing off.

There is excitement galore with Clemson and South Carolina, Florida against Florida State and Georgia against Georgia Tech.

Let's hope cooler heads prevail down the line. I hope we see Kansas and Missouri hook up on the hardwood for many years to come. It just won't happen right away in Columbia.

February 2, 2012

Dick Vitale — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:06:36 +0000

The University of Connecticut basketball team just lost its fourth game in a row. This is the defending national champs who were preseason rated #4 in America and picked by many to be the best in the Big East. The question is, what is wrong offensively with this athletic team. When I asked Jim Calhoun, he simply said, “I am perplexed, as we should be much, much better.” Last night they lost to Georgetown and nothing changed. Four straight losses and now they get ready to play at home to break that losing streak on Saturday against Seton Hall. And then they have two road games versus Syracuse and Lousiville. Wow, it doesn’t get easier. The big question will be, will Connecticut play itself out of the NCAA tourney for this season. It will be interesting to see how this develops. A change in the lineup certainly didn’t help, as he inserted freshman Ryan Boatright in the starting lineup to give the team speed and quickness. Georgetown had an answer and was too tough, as they played exceptionally defensively and had a great performance from Hollis Thompson to go to 17-4 and be one of the surprise teams in the Big East.

January 31, 2012

Dick Vitale — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:37:14 +0000

It has been a real hectic four days as I have been followed by the cameras of ESPN. That’s right, for the All Access Dickie V show, which will be shown on ESPNU February 8th at 6:30 pm right before Duke plays UNC. It is in honor of my 40th Duke/UNC game I have announced. Obviously those games have been very special to me and I have great great memories from them. It has been a tremendous experience having the cameras following me around. It has been hectic, not for me, but for them. They have had a tough time keeping up with my schedule. They followed me working out with my grandkids in tennis, basketball, baseball and lacrosse. For dinner at Le Colonne in which I had a meeting egarding the V Gala in May. Joining us were event chairs Joe and Mary Barbetta, John and Barb Moran, Craig and Joellen Mettille, and John Strasser and Pam Valvano Strasser. They have also joined me on the road doing games. Thursday they went with me to North Carolina versus North Carolina State. They got a chance to see me behind the scenes with coaches Roy Williams, Mark Gottfried and company. Then they made the journey to Cameron Indoor Stadium with me for Duke versus St. John’s. I had the pleasure of working with Mike Patrick for the Carolina game and Brent Musburger at the Duke game. They spent many a hours at the Broken Egg Restaurant. They watched as I marketed and sold merchandise to raise money for cancer research. In all, it was an incredible few days. It certainly got emotional at times talking about all the memories and all the great things that have happened during my tenure at ESPN. ESPN has certainly become a second family. The people have been so phenomenal to me and have allowed me to live a life that has exceeded any of my dreams. The show was produced by David Kraft from ESPN and his staff.

January 23, 2012

Dick Vitale — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:20:00 +0000

I hope that people remember all the great things Joe Paterno was about. Joe Paterno represented all that was good about the world of coaching. Yes he was about integrity, loyalaty and making certain his players pursued their dreams but never forgot the importance of academics. He had a high graduation rate and was the winningest coach of all time in college football. Coach Paterno passes away at the age of 85. Yes, a legend with a capital L and an icon with a capital I. He was all about what was good in intercollegiate athletics. At the end there was certainly the scenario involving Sandusky and the alledged child abuse. I beg you to please remember all the good that he brought to intercollegiate athletics and specifically to the world of football. The man was a flat out winner who loved his players, school and team. And most of all, he was all about family. Yes, Joe Paterno will be sorely missed. He was one of a kind. A statement came from his family, “He died as he lived…he fought hard until the end, staying positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching but he never believed he had to leave Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his players, his university and his community.”

January 22, 2012

Dick Vitale — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:39:51 +0000

It was shocking Saturday in college hoops. Think about all the drama and surprises. For example, Syracuse went to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame ranked #1 in the nation, 20-0, but they left with a big L. One of the reasons, Notre Dame played inspired basketball, made big shots, and had balance offensively. But also hurting Syracuse was playing without their 7′ center Fab Melo. But credit the Irish for a gutty performance. What about the Duke Blue Devils? A 45 game home winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium came to an end at the buzzer as Mike Snaer hit a three pointer for Florida State to spark Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles to a big win over the #4 ranked Blue Devils. What a week its been for Florida State. Last week they blew out North Carolina and now go on the road to beat Duke. You think about big moments. Missouri goes on the road to face #3 Baylor and now Missouri will move up the rankings as they posted a 89-88 W behind the play of Ricardo Ratliffe. Yes, surprise after surprise, We had in prime time Saturday two struggling teams. Louisville who lost 5 out of their last 7 games and Pittsburgh on a 7 game losing streak playing in Pittsburgh. Lousiville was able to prevail and to win, as Pittsburgh suffered their eighth loss in a row. College basketball completely amazes you week in and week out. And now sitting alone as the only undefeated team in America is Murray State, coached by diaper dandy coach Steve Prohm. What a way to start your coaching career.

January 20, 2012

Dick Vitale — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:41:35 +0000

I had a blast shooting a Diew Mountain Dew commercial in Connecticut today with Mike and Mike and Erin Andrews. The Diet Mountain Dew team, led by Emily Silver, have been absolutely fantastic to work with. The “Fuel the Frenzy” campaign will be running throughout the college basketball season. Diet Mountain Dew is “Awesome Baby, with a capital A!”