Dick Vitale is a Hall of Famer

Dick Vitale (Photo from Google search)

I know that I am in a minority here but I have to say this, since I've been waiting for it a long time. Dick Vitale is now a Hall of Famer and, in my mind, it came way late! No one in the college basketball landscape has done more for the sport than Dickie V, and if you don't believe that then you don't know much about the sport. His work has reigned for close to three decades, his love for it is 24/7, his passion is undeniable, his work ethic as good as anyone in the business.

I am truly happy for Dick Vitale, because it is recognition that people such as himself mean something to the sport. Sure, the players and the coaches are the core of the game, but when you think about it, a coach that spends 30 years at one school is mostly helping only that University. Dick Vitale spending 30 years behind the microphone has helped all of college basketball.



For those of you that read this and say "well, I don't like him getting in" I will say this, how many people are there in the Hall of Fame that don't belong in it? If you don't like Vitale entering, don't tune in to watch the ceremony, but you are making a mistake, because he has been a lot more good to the sport than bad. If you saw him yesterday on "Mike & Mike in the Morning" he broke down in tears when talking about it, always putting everyone else in front of him.

And that is fitting, because in the end when you truly analyze this, Dick Vitale has put college basketball in front of himself and even before his employer, ESPN. Think about it. When you think of Jay Bilas, you think ESPN college analyst. When you think of Lavin, Elmore and Phelps, you think of ESPN first. Not with Dickie V, with him you think of college basketball before ESPN and before anything else.

I would have liked to have watched him in his first game on ESPN, when everyone thought that a channel for only sports was nuts. Now, with enough channels for sports to truly make you nuts he is still there, riding the highest wave that there is, talking in his "Vitale speak", because he is one of the people that, behind the scenes and in front of the mike, brought college basketball to where it is today. So, love him or hate him, we should all thank him for having done so much for the sport we all love.