Dick Vitale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard J. "Dick" Vitale (born June 9, 1939) is an American basketball broadcaster and Basketball Hall of Fame-elect. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well-known for his spirited style on ESPN and its family of cable television channels using phrases such as, "It's awesome baby!!"
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[edit] Coaching
[edit] High school coaching
After his graduation from Seton Hall, he planned on being a teacher. Vitale took his first job as a coach at an elementary school in Garfield, New Jersey in 1963. Eventually, he moved up to the high school level to become head coach at Garfield High School for one season, and at East Rutherford High School (his alma mater) for seven, where his teams won two state championships.
[edit] College coaching
In 1970, Vitale moved to Rutgers University, as an assistant coach under head coach Raymond Jones. After two season he was hired by the U. of Detroit to become its head coach in 1972. Vitale took Detroit to the 32-team NCAA tournament in 1977. Vitale had a 78-30 record during his tenure at Detroit, which included a 21-game winning streak during the 1977 season. During that streak, the Titans defeated Marquette, who would go on to win the 1977 NCAA title, on the road in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following the 1977 season, his fifth as Detroit head coach, Vitale was named the university's athletic director.
[edit] NBA coaching
Vitale coached the Detroit Pistons of the NBA for the 1978-79 season and struggled, leading them to a 30-52 (.366) record. Vitale was fired from the Pistons in 1979, twelve games into 1979-80 season, after the Pistons started 4-8.
[edit] Broadcasting
Following his departure as coach of the Detroit Pistons Vitale joined the then fledgling ESPN cable network, originally until another coaching job became available. He called ESPN's first college basketball game on December 5, 1979. Vitale has called close to a thousand games. Vitale, a color commentator, is often paired with play-by-play announcers Brad Nessler, Dan Shulman, or Mike Patrick for ESPN college basketball games, primarily those in the ACC.
Vitale is often criticized for being a "homer" for Duke, especially for Coach Mike Krzyzewski, as well as most teams in the ACC. He is also known for mentioning Duke frequently during broadcasts, even when Duke is not playing. Temple head coach John Chaney once said "You can't get Dick Vitale to say 15 words without Duke coming out of his mouth".[1] He is also called "Duke Vitale" or "Dookie V", a take-off on his "Dickie V" nickname, by detractors for the same reason. Although his bias towards Duke is widely speculated by many, he is also believed to hate Duke's rival, North Carolina.
In November 2006, Vitale signed a contract extension through the 2012-13 college basketball year. The 2008-09 season will be his 30th with the ESPN network.
Vitale was recruited to do color in the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament by CBS, but ESPN would not allow it. However, ESPN's in-studio analyst Jay Bilas was allowed to provide color for CBS's tournament coverage, teaming with play-by-play announcer Dick Enberg.
Vitale votes on the AP Top 25 men's basketball polls, and the annual Naismith Award and John Wooden Award.
Vitale was announced as one of the 2008 inductees into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the sport (after falling just short the previous year). He delivered a tearful acceptance interview.
He phones into Mike and Mike in the Morning every Monday.
[edit] Catchphrases
Vitale is well known for covering the biggest games with his rare form of energy, coining terms like "Diaper Dandy" (an outstanding freshman), a "PTPer" (a prime time performer), "Maalox Masher" (the end of a close game), "Trifecta" (a three point basket), "slap a lapper", "super scintillating sensational!" (exciting play), and "dipsy-doo dunkeroo slam-jam-bam, baby!" (an exciting slam dunk). Also, from time to time he would refer to a player making almost all his shots by saying "call the fire chief cause he's on fire!". Perhaps his best known affectation is to end his sentence with "baby!" He frequently says, "It's awesome, baby!" adding "with a capital A!" for emphasis. Another phrase he uses is "Freeze it!" during an instant replay, when he wants to spotlight a certain play. Vitale's signature style is composed of his catchphrases, voice, and his accent.
- See also: List of sports clichés
[edit] Personal life
Vitale was born in Passaic, New Jersey, the son of Mae, a seamstress, and John Vitale, a security guard and clothing press operator.[2] He is married to Lorraine and they have two daughters. Vitale also has a master's degree in education from what is now William Paterson University. He was close friends with Jim Valvano, who was nicknamed "Jimmy V". Vitale is a Tampa Bay Rays season ticket holder and fan and is frequently spotted by fans sitting in the first row behind home plate at Tropicana Field. He is a native of East Paterson, New Jersey now Elmwood Park, New Jersey. Vitale spends his offseason in Lakewood Ranch, Florida which is just northeast of Sarasota, Florida. He appears once a week on Mike and Mike in the Morning, often mentioning The Broken Egg, a breakfast restaurant on Siesta Key. On December 18, 2007, Vitale was diagnosed with lesions on his vocal cords. He underwent successful surgery and returned to announcing on February 6th, calling the Duke-North Carolina game on ESPN. often using " It's Serendipity, Baby" when things come together.
He is good friends with former NCAA coach Bob Knight.
He will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in the class of 2008 as an ambassador to the sport of basketball.
[edit] In popular culture
Vitale lent his name and voice to the 1994 Sega Genesis game, Dick Vitale's "Awesome Baby" College Hoops. Vitale and Nessler also provide the commentator voices for EA Sports' NCAA March Madness video game series. In 2004, Vitale released a descriptive autobiography cowritten with Dick Weiss entitled Living a Dream. The book has several thoughts and comments on his days with the Pistons and ESPN, and memories of former NC State basketball Coach Jim Valvano. Vitale currently stars in commercials for DiGiorno pizza and Hooters restaurants. He guest starred on The Cosby Show along with friend Jim Valvano as furniture movers in the eighth season episode The Getaway. The character "Rick Vitality" from the DOS PC game Three Point Basketball was a parody of Vitale. In a 2007 episode of the TV series Family Guy Dick Vitale administers an enema to Joan Rivers.
[edit] Benefit for Pediatric Cancer
On May 17, Vitale held a benefit for pediatric cancer and many sports prominent sports figures came out to support the cause including several former NBA players, NFL head coaches and celebrities.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Vitale's "V-File" at ESPN.com
- Dick Vitale Online
- Blindness
- Video from Vitale's benefit for pediatric cancer held May 16, 2008 in Sarasota
| Preceded by Bob Kauffman |
Detroit Pistons Head Coach 1978–1979 |
Succeeded by Richie Adubato |
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