All Dick Vitale wanted was the strength and spirit to live for his wife and daughters. He also wanted to live to announce another basketball game. On Tuesday night, Vitale makes his college basketball announcing comeback on ESPN at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
INDIANAPOLIS -- The feet are pounding on the bleachers and the crowd is screaming so loudly the headphones can't buffer the roars from Dick Vitale's ears. The energy. The magic. Those games. They seemed so far away.
As Vitale laid there battling lymphoma earlier this year, after a fight with melanoma, the 83-year-old known in college basketball circles as ESPN announcer Dicky V, would think about those games and how much he loved them."They used to tell me all the time, 'Richie don't you dare ever say, 'I can't,'" Vitale said."'Can't' can't be part of your life.
In Indy on Tuesday night, Vitale makes his college basketball announcing comeback on ESPN, calling the Kentucky-Michigan State game in the"It's going to be very emotional for me," Vitale said."I hope I don't cry."Vitale's end of basketball announcing and his start of fighting for his life began after a scare with melanoma in August 2021.Vitale started itching so badly that he was bleeding. Then his urine and stools changed colors. Vitale went to doctors for tests.
But with this cancer, Vitale had a chance. It could be cured. And he was going to fight for that. It was one of the toughest things Vitale has ever battled. He started eight months of chemotherapy in October.
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