Lotta Dickie V haters. Yeah yeah, I know all about the ACC/Duke and UNC - ok So What? He's been an INCREDIBLE ambassador for the game of basketball. Incredible fund raiser for Coaches / Cancer charity AND he is usually quite supportive of UF basketball and made a point to always VALUE Billy when he was our coach. Haters gotta hate I guess Bless you Coach, love ya and all you have done. Hope to see you fit, well, and doing your crazy behind the mic this year!
He was a guest speaker at the UF basketball camp I attended in high school - very inspirational in person, though I acknowledge he can be irritating to listen to at times. I also sat directly in front of him at the 96 Orange Bowl and chatted him up for a couple hours. If I remember correctly, his daughter was attending and dating the Notre Dame backup QB. Great guy who loves life and basketball. Prayers for him and his family.
Amen!! Dicky V is College Hoops!!! I know he can be annoying but no doubt he loves basketball and helping out with the jimmy v foundation.
Years back, Coach Spurrier was playing in the Duke charity golf tournament in Durham. The Triangle Gator Club managed to have him speak to us in his hotel lobby. He talked for a few minutes. While he was talking, Dick Vitale walked by and stopped and talked to us too. I think Coach Vitale spoke longer and with far more enthusiasm than Coach Spurrier. You can't find a more genuine person on the planet than Dick Vitale. Unbelievably real and caring person.
I was shocked to find out how many people don't like Dickie V calling games. To me, anytime he is calling a game, it just raises it up a notch in excitement. I love the guy. I think the biggest crime is that he doesn't get to call NCAA tournament games. One of my favorite Dickie V calls...
There are certain people on this earth that just find fault. They complain about announcers constantly. I honestly think it's fair to say that college hoops might not be where it is without Dickie V. He is like Keith Jackson was in football. If you heard his voice then you know the game mattered. Prayers for Dickie V on a full recovery.
Like him or not, Dicky V is the best hype man College Basketball has ever had. I rubbed his bald head after we beat Shaq and LSU at home when we were something like 6-18, one of my best bball memories. Thought and prayers for a speedy and full recovery
Don't know how old everyone here is but Dickie V is the soundtrack to my childhood fandom of college basketball. Kids can be emotional and when he hyped up "the other team" it made you even more invested in the game. Of course when he hyped up the gators you loved him. He was a hype man with substance behind the hype. Keith Jackson in college football or "Al, Frank and Dan" from Monday night football were comforting to hear and were a fixture in their own right for me but Vitale got you at a visceral level. Things I appreciate as an adult that are lacking from today's game.
Is he annoying? Yes. Does he make the same points over and over again to the point of nausea? Yes. Is he way too loud and over the top? x100 But is he genuine, good-hearted, enthusiastic, and the opposite of the blow-dried narcissist who just wants to be on TV and cares nothing about the game? So very much. How can anyone root against Dickie V?
God bless you Dickie V. and I pray that He gives you the strength to beat lymphoma a second time. Dickie V. is quite a bit older than me, but I have beaten lymphoma twice now although last year it almost beat me. My guess is Dickie V. has B-Cell lymphoma. If it had been T-Cell lymphoma, he could have had a stem cell transplant to prevent the cancer from coming back. That doesn't work with B-Cell lymphoma which has a tendency to come back after you enter remission. I went 11 1/2 years between my battles. To say I was shocked when it came back is an understatement.
I was at that game as well. I say a couple of rows behind the LSU bench Shaq was huge from my vantage point
From one crazy Gator to Dickie V, the original Diaper Dandy, hoping that you are around for a long time!
