Yeaahhhh!!

[Hagbard Celine]

Even though I dislike Dick Vitale and his Duke favoritism, he got the freshman correct this week! :smile:

The Charter OAK...AKA Emeka OK4!!! (http://espn.go.com/dickvitale/BestofWeek020128.html)

[Anonymous]

what favoritism, he didn't mention Duke at all in that link?

[Hagbard Celine]

No, he didn't mention them in the column.

He mentions them, in fact he often speaks incessantly about them, in every game he broadcasts. Therein lies the favoritism.

That, and saying things like "Jason Williams is the best point guard in the world, at any level." Right.

[Anonymous]

He likes talent and gets excited about it, no matter what team it is.

If Duke happens to have more talent, then they may get more praise.

[DukeBlue]

Vitale is paid handsomely TO TALK ABOUT THE TEAMS THAT ARE PLAYING. Since ABC and ESPN show quite a number of Duke games, SINCE THEY ARE THE TOP-RANKED TEAM IN THE NATION, Vitale is paid much of the time to talk about them. Plus, they do have the best player in the NCAA, an almost universally-accepted opinion. Thus, Vitale talks about him. Not to mention that over the past 5, 10, 15 years, basically since Vitale has been employed, they have been the winningest team in the nation, and have gone something like 106-10 in the ACC the past 5 years. Throw in the fact that Duke's players almost all graduate, don't get arrested, and use multi-syllabic words in interviews. Oh yeah, they've got a decent crowd, too. All of these things just happen to be Vitale's criteria for things to talk about.

He's always gushed incessantly over the teams that are playing, and has always kissed the butts of the winning programs and their coaches. Over the past several years, that happens to be Duke. If Duke happens to hit hard times like 1995, he will (and did) turn his Duke act down and start gushing about the flavor of the week.

Occasionally, he does talk about a non-spotlight player or program. The last 3 games he's worked, he's mentioned Joe West from Xavier, who will probably have Vitale to thank for publicizing him and making him a 1st-round NBA pick.

[DonkeyPunch (Banned)]

Yeah, that and he's on his knees in the Duke lockerroom after every game.

[PK]

DukeBlue - you have a point, but I am going to guess from your handle that you have a slight Duke bias of your own. Next time Vitale is broadcasting one of your games against a lesser known opponent, listen carefully. You will discover that he knows all about the Duke players and he knows all about the best player on the other team. The rest of the other team might as well not have names. This was obvious to UCONN fans a couple of years ago when Ray Allen could do no wrong, but no other UCONN player was worthy of mention. Seems like some of those other players went on to beat the unbeatable Duke stars of 1999, who BTW did not all graduate.