Athletes - Dick Vitale

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	Athletes - Dick Vitale

Dick Vitale, also known as "Dickie V", and "Mr. College Basketball" (born June 9, 1939 in East Rutherford, New Jersey) is an American sports broadcaster who is well known for his spirited style of broadcasting, primarily on ESPN and its family of cable television channels.

Coaching

High School Coaching

After his graduation from Seton Hall University, Vitale planned on becoming a teacher and coach. Vitale took his first job as a coach at Mark Twain Elementary School in Garfield, New Jersey in 1963. Eventually, he moved through the high school ranks 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.

College Coaching

Vitale then took a job as an assistant coach at Rutgers University. In 1973, he was called by the University of Detroit to become its head coach, where he took the team to the NCAA tournament in 1977.

NBA Coaching

He then coached the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association for the 1978-79 season, leading them to a 30-52 record. Vitale was fired from the Pistons near the beginning of the 1979-1980 season, after the Pistons started 4-8.

Broadcasting

He joined the fledgling network, ESPN, until another coaching job became available. He called the first college basketball game in the network's history on December 5, 1979. Since 1979, Vitale has called more than 1,000 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 Atlantic Coast Conference.

Catchphrases

He is well known for covering the biggest games with his rare form of energy, coining terms like "diaper dandy" (a star freshman), a "PTPer" (a prime time player), and "Maalox Masher" (the end of a close game). 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!".

Trivia

Vitale is blind in one eye.
Vitale was a finalist for election to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
Vitale and Nessler also provide the commentator voices for EA Sports' NCAA March Madness video game series.
Vitale votes on the Associated Press Top 25 mens' basketball polls, and the annual Naismith Award and John Wooden Award.
In 2004, Vitale released an 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
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[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Dick Vitale ]

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