Dickie V signed for 2 more years with ESPN

[IMind]

It's amazing what one incident will do. I still don't like him because of the way he treated Lawrence Funderburke (and his Duke infatuation). It wasn't even the tirade that he got blasted for that got me... he was all over the him before that even happened. It was just incredibly petty. Most likely he was all over him because he dared to transfer out of Bobby Knight's Indiana program. I can't believe that was over 20 years ago.. *goes into a corner and cries quietly*

 

[dennismenace]

Can't it be both?

Duke is generally good, and Dickie V calls that like it is. But he's also way over-the-top in his praise of K, the Duke program, its culture, its fans, going out of his way to mention Duke even when he's calling completely unrelated games. He is a Duke homer; the team just also happens to be good.

Just my opinion but if you are were Phil Rizzutto and working for the Yankee station it is OK to be somewhat a cheerleader. When you are a network announcer and you lack being objective (either negative like maybe Billy Packer and Uconn) or positively (Vitale and Duke) it is irritating. Much rather listen to a more objective announcer on network tv. I do think he can be funny at times but the schtick to me kind of wears thin. I laughed when the John Madden comparison came up; my wife is not a fan but only Vitale and Madden ever used to get her goat when she heard them ranting from another room...........she would say "who IS that!!!" "it's so irritating.....!!!! LOL.

 

[Fishy]

Vitale is one of the great people in the game - if he wants to work 100 more years, I'm good with that.

 

[jibsey]

A little story. When my daughter was in H.S. mid 90's she did an internship at ESPN and worked with the sportscenter people in how they prepare the broadcasts. She was and is not a sports fan and doesn't know anyone by name (except at that time Shaq) who they were doing a highlight reel for. So one day she comes home and says "the most amazing thing happened, this old guy came on for a remote, and didn't stop talking for 15 minutes straight without shutting up, and he was so exited, it was amazing." She had worked with a lot of the anchors who were all very nice but I guess Dickie stood out. It was a fun thing for her to do but she said she would never want to work there, not her thing.

 

[boog204]

Vitale is one of the great people in the game - if he wants to work 100 more years, I'm good with that.

I agree... I could give a rats ass if he at times comes across as a homer. Fact of the matter is that the guy loves college basketball, loves his job, and since I was a child has made a college basketball a bit more entertaining. I've muted him before when he was verbally blowing Coach K, but I have also gotten extremely happy when he has praised the crap out of UConn. I have no idea why he bothers some of you so much. Are you there to watch the game or critique the broadcasters? I don't really care if the broadcaster knows the players names or does an effective job breaking down a flex offense. I want my color guy to get excited to help get me more excited. Vitale has always done that.