College basketball! You gotta–*cough*, love this game! Super, scint–*gag*–OHHH!!!–*lung emerges from throat*.
Yes, it’s unfortunate (and I think I’m genuine in saying that), but Dick Vitale will not be cutting off Dan Shulman’s sentences for a few weeks now. Vitale has lesions in his vocal chords and will need some surgery and rehabilitation before he gets behind the mic again. I did wonder why Vitale sounded like he had just finished broadcasting a Duke game at the beginning of every game he called so far this year, but didn’t really read that much into it; maybe he was just getting old.
But no, Vitale is quite whippersnapper-ish for his age, and he’ll be back in February if all goes to plan.
And in case you were wondering what a “lesion” was (and I’m not going all MD on you, hardly, in fact), it’s merely abnormal tissue found in or on the body. They can come in all shapes and sizes, so it could be safe to assume that Vitale has given his throat such a run for its money that this was bound to happen.
Get well soon, Richard. College basketball needs you almost as much as you need It.
Letter To My Fans {Dick Vitale, espn.com}
Um, not to get any Vitale fans all riled up, but docs sometimes call small amounts of cancerous cells “lesions.”
Hope they’re not though.
Oh we need you back Dicky!!!!! Because players stay for a maximum of four years, I think its safe to say that Dick Vitale is the Face of College Basketball. The game simply wouldn’t be the same without him.
The Face itself.
I couldn’t agree more.
While Vitale has many critics, there’s no doubt about the fact that he is the ultimate ambassador for the game. It also has raised the question: is the NCAA Tournament broadcast on CBS better without Vitale? Or could/would adding him bring it to another level? I’ll bring that up in March, for sure.