Vitale gets standing O in return: ‘My Super Bowl’
Dickie V is back, baby!And fans at Clemson showed him just how much he was missed while he battled cancer.Vitale returned to transmitting for the first time in almost 2 years for Saturday night’s Duke-Clemson match on ESPN and got a prolonged ovation from fans, coaches and players at Littlejohn Coliseum at tipoff.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated”Tonight, we celebrate the return of a true legend,” Clemson’s in-arena commentator stated
, the applause
from fans developing with his every word. “For over four decades, his enthusiasm, energy and apparent voice have defined the game we enjoy. After a two-year battle with cancer, he’s back where he belongs. Courtside, calling the action and motivating us all.”Invite back to college basketball, the ACC and Clemson, the one and just Dick Vitale.
“Vitale, clearly overcome by feeling, waved back to the crowd in action.”
I wish to say thanks to all the people, “Vitale said later on in the game.
“The reception here has been truly off the charts. I’m sorry for being so emotional. I can’t tell you how fired up I am to be here. … This resembles my Super Bowl. To be able to sit courtside and do a game, it beats the hell out of chemotherapy and radiation.”And I wish to state to all cancer patients out there: Please, believe favorable and have faith.
And keep fighting and fighting.” play 1:31 Emotional
Dickie V on his return: This is my Super Bowl Penis Vitale gets psychological about his first game back revealing after 4 fights with cancer malignancy, lymphoma, singing cable and lymph node cancers.Vitale got to call rather a game in his return, as Clemson handed No. 2 Duke its very first
ACC loss, 77-71. The 85-year-old Vitale revealed he was cancer-free on Jan. 8. He had actually battled 4 various types of cancer in the past 3 1/2 years. Most recently, he went through surgical treatment in summer season 2024 after a biopsy of a lymph node in his neck showed cancer.Vitale’s last game task was April 3, 2023, when he called the worldwide broadcast of the San Diego State vs. UConn championship game game for ESPN.His go back to calling games had actually been postponed due to a mishap at his home. He previously was set to call the Duke-Wake Forest game on Jan. 25, which would
have actually been his very first time on air given that 2023, however he announced that he had been hospitalized after a fall at his Florida home.Vitale joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season, just after ESPN’s launch, and called the network’s first significant NCAA basketball game on Dec. 5, 1979. He has actually gone on to call well over 1,000 games, and in September
2024, he was inducted into the Broadcasting+Cable Television Hall of Fame.