Props to Dickie V

[djdan]

I thought Vitale calling the game added an additional element of fun. I also enjoyed his pitch for "National Autistic Day."

 

[Scotch]

Stayed with this game the entire 45 mins. No off tangent rants on nonsense not pertaining to the game. When he does this he is good. The game was too good to let him loose.

Well done Cuse!!!! Another Dome classic.

Good post. Dicky V had a strong performance last night.

 

[longislandcuse]

Vitale and Shulman were FANTASTIC.

 

[LennX6]

I thought he sounded tired.

Ha he is 17 yrs older than me and has 15 xx the energy I have now!
I should sound that tired!

 

[teamco]

There is NOTHING wrong with the world today. As a lifelong Cuse fan I am absolutely floating on air this Sunday morning. Arizona lost, Cuse wins a game they will be replaying as a classic twenty years from now, and we sit on top of the college basketball world today. Feeling the joy big time today.

 

[SmilinBob]

Ha he is 17 yrs older than me and has 15 xx the energy I have now!
I should sound that tired!

I know Lenn just saying that he just sounded a little beat up but yes...props go to his energy for his age.

 

[LennX6]

There is NOTHING wrong with the world today. As a lifelong Cuse fan I am absolutely floating on air this Sunday morning. Arizona lost, Cuse wins a game they will be replaying as a classic twenty years from now, and we sit on top of the college basketball world today. Feeling the joy big time today.

Same here! Like lets stop the season now!

 

[Rocco]

Dick Vitale ‏@DickieV 15h
U better believe there is HOOPS HYSTERIA in Syracuse ! One of the top 5 games I have done in my 35 yrs - pic.twitter.com/cSiojaN7id

Dick Vitale ‏@DickieV 12h
A great day to be a SYRACUSE FAN - # 1 BABY! http://instagram.com/p/j50f3EgrXv/

 

[durhamcuse]

Say what you will about Dukie V. His giddy, child-like passion for the game makes him OK in my book. I finally had a chance to watch the game from beginning to end. During the game, I'm too nervous to watch at times and have to head out to shoot baskets. I play for a while and then make myself shoot 10 straight makes from long range before I can head back. Watching it through makes me realize what a fan of the game Vitale is.

By the way, this Pitt/Virginia game is a dandy.

 

[Millhouse]

Game made his schtick seem appropriate. The Raf must've wept all night from Monmouth vs bucknell

 

[Ghost]

I'm still not a huge fan - but I think he's toned it down a little bit of late. Not much - he's still a spaz, but he's not quite as over the top for 40 minutes non-stop.

 

[Crusty]

Not my cup of tea.

 

[tbonezone]

i heard the "diaper dandy" term bandied about by dukie v but he seemed reluctant to call ennis the best.

 

[LennX6]

Say what you will about Dukie V. His giddy, child-like passion for the game makes him OK in my book. I finally had a chance to watch the game from beginning to end. During the game, I'm too nervous to watch at times and have to head out to shoot baskets. I play for a while and then make myself shoot 10 straight makes from long range before I can head back. Watching it through makes me realize what a fan of the game Vitale is.

By the way, this Pitt/Virginia game is a dandy.

Ha I used to do that when I was a kid. Maybe not 10 in a row or I'd miss an entire half.
Seriously, I was doing that during the Jimmy Lee / UNC game in 1975.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Dick Vitale ‏@DickieV 15h
U better believe there is HOOPS HYSTERIA in Syracuse ! One of the top 5 games I have done in my 35 yrs - pic.twitter.com/cSiojaN7id

Dick Vitale ‏@DickieV 12h
A great day to be a SYRACUSE FAN - # 1 BABY! http://instagram.com/p/j50f3EgrXv/

You guys are right... What an ass--- hole

 

[anomander]

say what you want about Vitale, but his passion, and overall kindness as a person has won me over. I watched him try to go take a piss before the game, and it took him a legit 20 minutes to make it from the announcer table to the locker room. He literally stopped and handed out autographs to EVERY fan that asked, as well as took pictures with every fan that asked. I don't care who you are not many people do that. His passion for the sport shines through. I truly believe he is as nice of a person in real life as he portrays in public. He's also a good follow on twitter. His passion has won me over, plus how many 80 something year old do a live tweet at a Billy Joel concert?

 

[longislandcuse]

say what you want about Vitale, but his passion, and overall kindness as a person has won me over. I watched him try to go take a piss before the game, and it took him a legit 20 minutes to make it from the announcer table to the locker room. He literally stopped and handed out autographs to EVERY fan that asked, as well as took pictures with every fan that asked. I don't care who you are not many people do that. His passion for the sport shines through. I truly believe he is as nice of a person in real life as he portrays in public. He's also a good follow on twitter. His passion has won me over, plus how many 80 something year old do a live tweet at a Billy Joel concert?

Yup. He's a legend. Nothin but love for Dickie V.

 

[SarasotaPaul]

say what you want about Vitale, but his passion, and overall kindness as a person has won me over. I watched him try to go take a piss before the game, and it took him a legit 20 minutes to make it from the announcer table to the locker room. He literally stopped and handed out autographs to EVERY fan that asked, as well as took pictures with every fan that asked. I don't care who you are not many people do that. His passion for the sport shines through. I truly believe he is as nice of a person in real life as he portrays in public. He's also a good follow on twitter. His passion has won me over, plus how many 80 something year old do a live tweet at a Billy Joel concert?

I live near him. Not close enough to have a house the size of a city block like he does, but close enough. See him occasionally and he is as nice as you imagine. He has a childlike passion for the game but also a passion for helping others. Though not always a fan of his announcing, I have first hand seen the work he puts into researching anything and everything about college hoops. Tons of retirees here in Sarasota Florida from all over the northeast and midwest and he can tell you about any of their teams.

We eat b'fast sometimes at the place he spends hours at very morning he is in town. Knows Syracuse (he loves JB and even knows me now, for which I am honored and in disbelief), saw him talk about Ohio (those scumbags), Minnesota, Uconn, Villanova, and on and on. Never saw him at a loss about any team. You can see him light up when someone approaches him and engages him in conversation.

He an wonderfully nice man.

 

[BuffOrange]

His obsession with this statue is a little weird.

 

[Cowtown]

say what you want about Vitale, but his passion, and overall kindness as a person has won me over. I watched him try to go take a piss before the game, and it took him a legit 20 minutes to make it from the announcer table to the locker room. He literally stopped and handed out autographs to EVERY fan that asked, as well as took pictures with every fan that asked. I don't care who you are not many people do that. His passion for the sport shines through. I truly believe he is as nice of a person in real life as he portrays in public. He's also a good follow on twitter. His passion has won me over, plus how many 80 something year old do a live tweet at a Billy Joel concert?

Thanks for this, anomander, & SarasotaPaul. That's a good look at who the guy really is. I mentioned in another thread that his enthusiasm for the game means he loves whatever teams he's announcing for that day. And while his gushing effusiveness and self-promotion can be annoying - "He's a PTPer - that's a prime time player, baby ..." , there are worse in the game. For example, I thought the pair of Ian Eagle and Greg Anthony doing the SU/WF game was noticeably inconsistent. They pooched facts, mis-stated rules, and seemed generally unsure of themselves, and pretty much droned throughout the game.

And no matter whether anyone likes him, Vitale does good work away from the game:

http://www.dickvitaleonline.com/community/dick-vitale-gala.html

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...ale-host-charity-auction-v-foundation-tuesday

While I'm something less than his biggest fan, I'd still be honored to have a coffee with the guy and trade a few stories with him.

 

[Frozen]

I don't know if this was mentioned on this board yet, but I thought it was quite hypocritical of DV when he said how great it was that Rodney Hood transferred from Mississippi State to Duke...then later on he mentioned that Sulaimon almost transferred out of Duke, but that would have made him a quitter, and quitters never win.

So, to recap: If you transfer into Duke, you are making the right decision and if you transfer out of Duke you are a quitter.

 

[Marsh01]

Hey may be annoying as an announcer but here is all you need to know about him as a person. I think I may have told this story before so excuse me if anyone has heard me tell it.

Back in the fall of 2002 he was a guest speaker at Syracuse I-Day (Insurance) and one of my partners was on the board and in charge of him getting back and forth to the airport. At the time my father drove a Lincoln town car so when it was time for him to go back to the private airport in Syracuse where he flew in and out of I was the driver.

He sat in the back seat and there were a couple of other people in the car with us. At first he asked if he could borrow a phone because he needed to make some calls. Nothing major, just getting back to some people. Then he settled in for the 15 minute ride. We all chatted about hoops (I actually got into a discussion with him on why John Chaney was in the hall of fame and not JB). In my visor above my head my father used to keep a picture of my son when he was a baby. Vitale saw it and asked who it was. I told him it was my son. He asked for the picture and gave it a nice autograph. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a $5 bill and said "put this in his piggy bank."

We also talked baseball on the way because it was playoffs and the Yankees were playing the Angels in a big game that night. He can say all he wants that he is a Rays fan but this guy bleeds Yankee blue. So we get out of the car and are saying goodbye to him and he pulls us in close and says "boys...I am really worried about the Yanks tonight."

Then as he was saying goodbye to me he reaches for my hand and slaps my stomach (which at the time was enormous) and says "keep eating that pasta big Chris."

Really really good guy.

 

[HakAttack]

i heard the "diaper dandy" term bandied about by dukie v but he seemed reluctant to call ennis the best.

Are you serious? He's been on the Cuse bandwagon all season. Check the UNC game. He also was starting to call Ennis a "diaper dandy" but then corrected himself and then called Ennis a "PTPer, Prime Time Performer."

Lots of respect from Dickie V for the Cuse.

 

[orange79]

Hey may be annoying as an announcer but here is all you need to know about him as a person. I think I may have told this story before so excuse me if anyone has heard me tell it.

Back in the fall of 2002 he was a guest speaker at Syracuse I-Day (Insurance) and one of my partners was on the board and in charge of him getting back and forth to the airport. At the time my father drove a Lincoln town car so when it was time for him to go back to the private airport in Syracuse where he flew in and out of I was the driver.

He sat in the back seat and there were a couple of other people in the car with us. At first he asked if he could borrow a phone because he needed to make some calls. Nothing major, just getting back to some people. Then he settled in for the 15 minute ride. We all chatted about hoops (I actually got into a discussion with him on why John Chaney was in the hall of fame and not JB). In my visor above my head my father used to keep a picture of my son when he was a baby. Vitale saw it and asked who it was. I told him it was my son. He asked for the picture and gave it a nice autograph. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a $5 bill and said "put this in his piggy bank."

We also talked baseball on the way because it was playoffs and the Yankees were playing the Angels in a big game that night. He can say all he wants that he is a Rays fan but this guy bleeds Yankee blue. So we get out of the car and are saying goodbye to him and he pulls us in close and says "boys...I am really worried about the Yanks tonight."

Then as he was saying goodbye to me he reaches for my hand and slaps my stomach (which at the time was enormous) and says "keep eating that pasta big Chris."

Really really good guy.

He is the best. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a couple Jimmy V dinners in NYC (h/t CTO), and when he spoke - wow. The passion, the personal level on which he spoke - goosebumps. And then he walked around talking with as many people as possible. After that, I could never say a bad thing about him. Can he lay it on a bit thick at times? Sure. So can I. But what he has done as an ambassador for college basketball and for raising money for cancer research? Amazing human being.

 

[Knicks411]

Vitale and Shulman were FANTASTIC.

I only saw the about OT on tv, but in general, Shulman is great. Vitale is Vitale, I think he gets a tough rap from time to time but you have to know what to expect when he does a game. Shulman is a pro.