College Basketball Gets a Little Quieter

Having ranted at great length about the awfulness of Dick Vitale's caterwauling during games broadcast on ESPN, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that he's having vocal cord surgery. In his own words:

The past six weeks have been very emotional for me and for my family as we've visited some of the most outstanding throat specialists. Fortunately, I am currently under the guidance of Dr. Daniel Deems in Sarasota, Fla. and he is an outstanding ear, nose and throat specialist. Dr. Deems strongly recommended that I visit Dr. Steven Zeitels, who is recognized as one of the premier throat and voice specialists in the nation.

Dr. Zeitels serves as the director for the Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. After an examination, it was determined that I had lesions on my left vocal cord and that they should be surgically removed. Dr. Zeitels said his goal is to have me back sitting at courtside in early February.

While I think he's long since sunk into self-parody, and he actually detracts from the games that he calls at this point, I do not bear the man any personal ill-will. It's got to be absolutely maddening for him to be unable to do the job that he so obviously loves doing. I wish him a full and complete recovery.

But, if I might speak directly to him for a moment: Dick, buddy. Get well soon, but when you get back, please consider, I don't know, not screaming quite so much. It'll be better for your voice, and better for my sanity.

Think about it, won't you?

Tags

More like this

Brent Musberger is the single worst announcer in sports. "That's a bold assertion," you say. "I find that hard to believe. I mean, he's famous." Allow me to explain: Musberger generally calls games for ABC as part of a two-man announcing team. Musberger is the "play-by-play" guy, and the other…
Today may be the best day of the year. It's the start of college basketball season, with my Duke Blue Devils (yeah, yeah, forward me your hate mail - I'm not a bandwagon fan, i've been a fan since I was 14) taking on Boston University on ESPN at 7:30. Duke is the overwhelming preseason choice for…
Judge Orders Surgery For Teen Wrestler: MyFoxPHILLY.com I have to be honest here. I don't know for sure what I think of the latest developments in the Mazeratti Mitchell case. As you may recall from a couple of days ago, Mazeratti Mitchell is a 16 year old wrestler in Philadelphia who suffered a…
I'm a bad basketball fan. Duke played North Carolina last night, and I didn't watch. The Blue Devils are the #2 ranked team in the nation, the Tar Heels are the defending national champions, it was a back-and-forth game that went down to the wire, and I didn't watch any of it, other than a short…

I wish him a wonderful and full recovery........starting at the end of March :-)