On Super Bowl Weekend it’s easy for a casual sports fan to become distracted enough by the hype and hyperbole to forget about other sports and events of significance. But I’m far more passionate and detailed-oriented than most, and if you’re reading this I suspect you’re a bit closer to the right side of the curve as well.
So I’m sure you’ll allow that this space is focused more on the fact that we are being blessed with the presence of two brilliant veteran sportscasters who combined have lived–and lately, more like endured–176 years on Earth of which a combined 62 years have spent in broadcasting and both have been involved in the world of basketball since the before I was born–and yes, I’m going to make you Google that if you’re truly curious.
Last night ESPN welcomed back to its rotation of college hoops analysts the legend that effectively put them on the map in that world which the ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Steve Reed joyously reported on:
He’s back, baby!
ESPN’s Dick Vitale received a standing ovation Saturday night at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum in his first game back as a commentator since recovering from his fourth bout with cancer. About 30 minutes before Clemson faced Duke, Vitale was greeted by a roar from the crowd as he arrived on the floor from a tunnel and began to make his way to his courtside seat to call the game. Clemson’s PA announcer chimed in with his best Vitale impersonation, saying “Dickie V, you’re awesome, baby!”
The 85-year-old Vitale appeared emotional as he waived to the crowd as they stood and cheered for nearly a minute. Vitale hadn’t called a game for ESPN in two years. He has battled four types of cancer over the past four years, including vocal cord cancer. However, Vitale announced in late December he’s cancer-free after his fourth bout with the disease in just over three years.
He confessed to Steve Wiseman of the NEWS AND OBSERVER that services the Raleigh-Durham area how it meant all the much more for his comeback to be in a game that featured the team he christened as the Dookies, who have dominated the game for much of his tenure and provided ESPN and him countless moments of excitement and high ratings over the year:
Vitale said he wanted to work a Duke game to see Blue Devils freshman Cooper Flagg play in person as a college player for the first time. He watched Flagg as a high school player in Florida and is impressed with his college play thus far. Flagg leads No. 2 Duke (20-2, 12-0 ACC) in scoring (19.5), rebounding (7.8), assists (4.1) and blocked shots (1.3). Vitale offered three comparisons for Flagg: LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant.
So it was all the more exciting and stunning to see this result emerge from Dickie V.’s first encounter with who he sees at the player of the 2030s and beyond which FOX SPORTS reported on last night:
Viktor Lakhin scored 22 points, Clemson held player of the year candidate Cooper Flagg in check for most of the game and the Tigers defeated No. 2 Duke 77-71 on Saturday night to snap the Blue Devils’ 16-game winning streak. Flagg’s slip proved costly with 14 seconds left, resulting in a huge turnover with the Blue Devils trailing by two. Chase Hunter scored 14 points and Ian Schieffelin added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Clemson (19-5, 11-2 ACC). The Tigers ended the Blue Devils’ chances of an unbeaten regular season in the Atlantic Coast Conference and denied the Blue Devils (20-3, 12-1) an opportunity to take over the top ranking in the country for the first time in the coach Jon Scheyer era.
There will likely be better days ahead for Flagg and Scheyer, and it appears that at least a few more await Vitale. And if he actually needs a goal, he might find one in at least sticking around long enough to equal the accomplishment which an ESPN colleague of his will achieve this afternoon which ESSENTIALLY SPORTS’ Pranav Kotai wrote about yesterday:
At the age of 90, Hubie Brown signed an extension with ESPN back in 2023. Tomorrow will mark his final day in the booth after two decades as a broadcaster. Let’s not forget that he has completed 52 years with the NBA as well. His hooping career began in 1958 and even began coaching teams. He would continue coaching until 2004 and then began his broadcasting journey at the age of 71.
“We are going to give Hubie one last shot on a game. He deserves that. We think the world of him.” ESPN president Burke Magnus confirmed special plans for a perfect send-off for the legend. Appropriately, he will be teamed again with top ESPN NBA voice Mike Breen, with whom he shares a history being associated with the New York Knicks. Brown coached them during the Bernard King era from 1982-87 where he injected necessary signs of life into an otherwise demoralized franchise, making them relevant and competitive for the first time in a decade, and allowing folks like Breen to actually grow up loving the team.
His swan song will take place in Milwaukee as the resurgent Bucks take on the disappointing 76ers and will return him to the city where he began his NBA career on a team that had just won what was to be their only championship until they finally added one in the atypical 2020-21 season when they clinched in July. And while Brown has himself been blessed with reasonably good health, he’s returning to the microphone having endured arguably as much pain and emotional torture as what Vitale has been beset with in recent years. SPORTSKEEDA’s Evan Bell made special note of that earlier this week:
Two years ago, Brown’s youngest daughter died at the age of 57. Then, in early June, Brown lost his wife after afive-year battle with dementia. Most recently, Hubie Brown’s 54-year-old son (Brendan, a one-time Knick assistant coach and broadcaster himself) had a fatal heart attack in November.
“Grieving makes you grow up,” Brown said. “Grieving on a daily basis. … We’re just running a tough period of time right now, but every day you wake up and you realize the sacrifices that she made from her career to being a mom, getting four kids through college and all the moves and then all of the aggravation of coaching at every level.
No matter who winds up winning and losing today, whether in reference to Brown’s Bucks or those two football teams that will take the spotlight in the early evening, there’s arguably going to be no one deserving the term “champion” more than Hubie Brown, in much the same manner than Dick Vitale earned that title yesterday.
There’s both pretty…well, awesome, baby.
Courage…