Post by 01- PirateDave on Mar 2, 2015 10:34:22 GMT -6
A call to give Dick Vitale one more Duke-North Carolina game
Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
BY RICHARD DEITSCH Posted: Sun Mar. 1, 2015 Updated: Mon Mar. 2, 2015
Let’s get this out of the way at the top: Jay Bilas is ESPN’s top college basketball analyst and should be assigned to the network’s biggest games. In fact, it’s a move that should have happened a couple of years ago.
As a commentator, Bilas is prepared, thoughtful and decisive. But what separates him from other analysts—and it’s one of the reasons Bilas has rightfully been praised by viewers and writers—is his willingness to challenge his sport’s establishment. He’s been a public advocate for student-athletes, and was particularly outstanding when he used his large forum to shame the University of Alabama’s athletic department for its handling of women’s basketball player Daisha Simmons.
Last October Bilas entered a long-term marriage with ESPN when the network announced the commentator had signed a contact extension through the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season. As part of that extension, ESPN assigned Bilas to work with Dan Shulman on the top college basketball team.
That gets us to the man Bilas ostensibly replaced: Richard John Vitale. ESPN announced on the same day it extended Bilas that it had also extended Dick Vitale’s contract through 2016-17. The press release came with the usual plaudits and back-patting for Vitale but the subtext was clear: The 75-year-old Vitale was being replaced by the 51-year-old Bilas.
Should one feel bad for Vitale? No. Few networks have championed a broadcaster as ESPN has championed Vitale. He essentially has the network’s top PR managers on speed dial and has been promoted as hard as any talent in the history of the company. ESPN has also let Vitale take every commercial endorsement this side of Chico’s Bails Bond. He’s had a great life, and let’s not forget he still has a great sports broadcasting gig.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Dick Vitale Duke UNC game
Dick Vitale: Duke-UNC has been a 'special part' of my career
by SI Wire But this isn’t a one-way street, either. Vitale was a major figure in building ESPN’s college basketball brand into a powerhouse. His enthusiasm and passion for the game is infectious, and plenty of people tuned into ESPN in the 1980s and 1990s to hear Vitale do his thing. While Vitale’s too often looked the other way when his coaching pals have acted like numbskulls (see Knight, Bob), I appreciated (and continue to do so today) his genuine love of being with fans at the arena. Part of that is Vitale loves his ego being stroked, but a bigger part is that, like Charles Barkley, Vitale genuinely loves people. His work with the V Foundation is also to be commended.
Given that Duke-North Carolina games are generally ESPN’s most-watched regular-season games every year, it was clear Bilas was going to get that assignment this season. Bilas, Vitale and Shulman have been a three-headed booth for that game for the past couple of years. If there’s one college game that Vitale has a historic connection with it's the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina. He has called nearly every such game since ESPN’s inception in 1979, but when it came to this year’s series, he was pulled. Why?
"Jay Bilas was assigned to call ESPN's coverage of Duke-North Carolina before the season started,” an ESPN spokesperson told SI.com this week. “Dick Vitale is an integral part of our college basketball coverage, calling high-profile games throughout the season and bringing his incredible Hall of Fame presence and passion to the sport."
Vitale was deeply bummed about the decision. He knew that Bilas would get some games that used to fall to him but he has long believed the Duke-UNC game defined him and told friends he wanted to do it until he retired. Vitale told me, and he was correct on this, that there is a perception that 70-something broadcasters must always fight about losing a step compared to their younger counterparts. While he knew prior to the season that he was not assigned to Duke-North Carolina, the reality really hit a couple of days before the teams' Feb. 18 game, a 92-90 overtime thriller won by Duke. The game drew 4.1 million viewers, the most for a college basketball game on ESPN this season and the best audience for a Duke-Carolina game since March 2012.
The teams play again in Chapel Hill on March 7 and here’s a request for ESPN to assign Vitale to the game along with Shulman and Bilas. First, it would be a terrific gesture for a longtime employee who helped turn that game into a national watch. Second, the network would get great publicity for giving Vitale a final swan song for the game that defined him. Third, the game is being played on the least-watched night of the week (Saturday) and a stunt (if you want to call it that) could get some extra viewers. It’s also guaranteed to produce some fun pre-game material if you send Vitale into the crowd to talk to students. Adding Vitale to the GameDay coverage would be a nice gesture but would not mean nearly as much as a game assignment.
The truth is there is zero downside for ESPN management changing course. Bilas declined comment for this piece but I can assure you he is fond of Vitale. Same with Shulman. There would be no ego issues or hurt feelings among the on-air people, and Vitale wants to do the game.
“Heck, I'd crawl to Chapel Hill if my bosses assigned me the game,” Vitale told me last week.
The best executives in sports television are the ones willing to change up for the good of consumers. This is a one-off with only positive results for the network. The ball is in ESPN’s court. Do it, baby.
Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
BY RICHARD DEITSCH Posted: Sun Mar. 1, 2015 Updated: Mon Mar. 2, 2015
Let’s get this out of the way at the top: Jay Bilas is ESPN’s top college basketball analyst and should be assigned to the network’s biggest games. In fact, it’s a move that should have happened a couple of years ago.
As a commentator, Bilas is prepared, thoughtful and decisive. But what separates him from other analysts—and it’s one of the reasons Bilas has rightfully been praised by viewers and writers—is his willingness to challenge his sport’s establishment. He’s been a public advocate for student-athletes, and was particularly outstanding when he used his large forum to shame the University of Alabama’s athletic department for its handling of women’s basketball player Daisha Simmons.
Last October Bilas entered a long-term marriage with ESPN when the network announced the commentator had signed a contact extension through the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season. As part of that extension, ESPN assigned Bilas to work with Dan Shulman on the top college basketball team.
That gets us to the man Bilas ostensibly replaced: Richard John Vitale. ESPN announced on the same day it extended Bilas that it had also extended Dick Vitale’s contract through 2016-17. The press release came with the usual plaudits and back-patting for Vitale but the subtext was clear: The 75-year-old Vitale was being replaced by the 51-year-old Bilas.
Should one feel bad for Vitale? No. Few networks have championed a broadcaster as ESPN has championed Vitale. He essentially has the network’s top PR managers on speed dial and has been promoted as hard as any talent in the history of the company. ESPN has also let Vitale take every commercial endorsement this side of Chico’s Bails Bond. He’s had a great life, and let’s not forget he still has a great sports broadcasting gig.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Dick Vitale Duke UNC game
Dick Vitale: Duke-UNC has been a 'special part' of my career
by SI Wire But this isn’t a one-way street, either. Vitale was a major figure in building ESPN’s college basketball brand into a powerhouse. His enthusiasm and passion for the game is infectious, and plenty of people tuned into ESPN in the 1980s and 1990s to hear Vitale do his thing. While Vitale’s too often looked the other way when his coaching pals have acted like numbskulls (see Knight, Bob), I appreciated (and continue to do so today) his genuine love of being with fans at the arena. Part of that is Vitale loves his ego being stroked, but a bigger part is that, like Charles Barkley, Vitale genuinely loves people. His work with the V Foundation is also to be commended.
Given that Duke-North Carolina games are generally ESPN’s most-watched regular-season games every year, it was clear Bilas was going to get that assignment this season. Bilas, Vitale and Shulman have been a three-headed booth for that game for the past couple of years. If there’s one college game that Vitale has a historic connection with it's the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina. He has called nearly every such game since ESPN’s inception in 1979, but when it came to this year’s series, he was pulled. Why?
"Jay Bilas was assigned to call ESPN's coverage of Duke-North Carolina before the season started,” an ESPN spokesperson told SI.com this week. “Dick Vitale is an integral part of our college basketball coverage, calling high-profile games throughout the season and bringing his incredible Hall of Fame presence and passion to the sport."
Vitale was deeply bummed about the decision. He knew that Bilas would get some games that used to fall to him but he has long believed the Duke-UNC game defined him and told friends he wanted to do it until he retired. Vitale told me, and he was correct on this, that there is a perception that 70-something broadcasters must always fight about losing a step compared to their younger counterparts. While he knew prior to the season that he was not assigned to Duke-North Carolina, the reality really hit a couple of days before the teams' Feb. 18 game, a 92-90 overtime thriller won by Duke. The game drew 4.1 million viewers, the most for a college basketball game on ESPN this season and the best audience for a Duke-Carolina game since March 2012.
The teams play again in Chapel Hill on March 7 and here’s a request for ESPN to assign Vitale to the game along with Shulman and Bilas. First, it would be a terrific gesture for a longtime employee who helped turn that game into a national watch. Second, the network would get great publicity for giving Vitale a final swan song for the game that defined him. Third, the game is being played on the least-watched night of the week (Saturday) and a stunt (if you want to call it that) could get some extra viewers. It’s also guaranteed to produce some fun pre-game material if you send Vitale into the crowd to talk to students. Adding Vitale to the GameDay coverage would be a nice gesture but would not mean nearly as much as a game assignment.
The truth is there is zero downside for ESPN management changing course. Bilas declined comment for this piece but I can assure you he is fond of Vitale. Same with Shulman. There would be no ego issues or hurt feelings among the on-air people, and Vitale wants to do the game.
“Heck, I'd crawl to Chapel Hill if my bosses assigned me the game,” Vitale told me last week.
The best executives in sports television are the ones willing to change up for the good of consumers. This is a one-off with only positive results for the network. The ball is in ESPN’s court. Do it, baby.