As a sports -loving society, we are quick to turn on a legend.
Dick Vitale has been back in the broadcasting booth for just two weeks, and fans who claim to love him already require him to be posted to pasture.
Vitale made his triumphant return to ESPN on February 8 when Duke played on Clemson, where he got a standing ovation. It was the 85-year-old’s first match in two years after fighting-and beating-four types of cancer over a four-year period.
But during the calling of Kentucky in Alabama on Saturday, Vitale drew less than sliding reviews on social media, often in the form of concern for his well -being.
If the contrarical taken on Vitale is that he should not work with games, here is my double -contrast: get off his back. Let him do what he loves.
Let an icon ride into the sunset – don’t just throw him in the general direction.
Vitale is truly a love-home or-hate-skin-figure, such as Bill Walton or Gus Johnson, with his well-worn catch phrases and stylized delivery. If you have heard of “diaper dandies” since before I was born and you are tired of it, I can not say that you should not be.
An online critic complained that Vitale was walking off the subject to discuss St. John’s coach Rick Pitino during Sec-Showdown-No. 4 Alabama won the 96-83-but that is not because Vitale is 85. That’s exactly what he does. He’s talking about His guysJust as he has long been known for his affection for Duke.
And spare me the handwriting about Vitale and removes opportunities from younger announcers. Saturday’s game could have been handled by only Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes, but instead ESPN adds a third chair for Vitale. No one dropped a job. In fact, most announcers who work today are probably looking up to him.
Even more important is that Vitale beat cancer four times in four years. That battle does not end with a doctor’s final “All Clear”, followed by instructions to sit at home. College basketball is Vitale’s life. Getting back on the air is not just working for him – it’s a statement: Cancer did not keep me down.
It’s not as if he will call NCAA tournament games. He takes temporary assignments when he can handle them. And if you really believe that destroying your viewing experience, yes, that’s what the mute button is for. I use it on Tom Brady all the time.
Vitale deserves better than hecking by some dozen keyboard warriors and desired the air. He gets this tail song because of what he means for college basketball.
And how gravelly his voice can be now now, Vitale gives something that most standard announcers do not do: undamaged passion and joy.
“There are very few people in sports that I have made a total of 180 on, and Dick Vitale is one,” New Republic Editor Meredith Shiner published on . “The joy is rare and underestimated. Glad to have him back. “
