Kendrick Perkins made headlines this week for the fight he and JJ Redick had on Tuesday’s edition of First Take. Redick accused Perkins of inserting race into the MVP debate in the NBA. Perkins maintains that he was simply pointing out the fact that 80% of the people voting for the award are white.
First Take has often been accused of manufacturing storylines and outrage in order to draw viewers both on air and online. Amin Elhassan said that those criticisms of the show may be valid, but he doesn’t think that is what was motivating Perkins.
“There’s another layer to all of this. So, ESPN hires former athletes, not because they know the game better than anybody else,” he said on Thursday’s edition of The Dan Le Batard Show. “Some of them do, but the main reason you hire former athletes, beyond the name brand recognition they come in with, is because you want to know what players think.”
Elhassan clarified that in his eyes, it isn’t a bad thing. It is smart to give viewers insight and let them see and hear what the guys at the very top of their respective sports think about the executives, teams and players they deal with. If a player-turned-analyst is willing to say something on television, there is a good chance that guy isn’t alone in that opinion amongst his peers.
He pointed to an episode of NBA Countdown in 2019. Celtics legend Paul Pierce said that he was just as good as Dwayne Wade and if he played with LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal, he would have three titles, too. Elhassan noted that is how many players think and even if fans laugh at the assertion, they should be aware that there are plenty of players who were not as good as Pierce was that think they were better than Wade.
“What Kendrick Perkins said – reckless, incorrect, all that stuff. But there are a shit ton of players who think like that, man,” Elhassan said, relating his point back to the argument between Perkins and Redick on First Take. “That’s not an out-there opinion.”
Fox News remains in the headlines for a multitude of reasons, and will eventually have to find its way through a trying time.
As the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit continues, nearly daily headlines show the network engaged in peddling falsehoods centered around the 2020 presidential elections.
In primetime, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has continued to show previously unseen video footage from the January 6th Insurrection at the Capitol and has received strong criticism for his characterization of the events, calling the riot “mostly peaceful chaos”, claiming the intruders were mere “sightseers” and not insurrectionists.
Keith Olbermann discussed Carlson at the top of his latest Countdown with Keith Olbermann podcast, noting one of the more undercovered aspects of the documents released reveals Carlson called a story written by Holocaust denier David Cole “a good piece”.
Olbermann then noted that Fox News has been plagued by previous scandals and there is a common theme on how the network exits the headlines.
“Fox ‘News’ is on the ropes. Tucker Carlson is on the ropes. Both may very well escape intact. Fox has before,” Olbermann said. “It survived the Roger Ailes rape scandal, it survived the Bill O’Reilly harassment scandal, it survived the Glenn Beck anti-Semitism scandal.
“However, it survived the Glenn Beck anti-Semitism scandal by firing Glenn Beck. It survived the Bill O’Reilly harassment scandal by firing Bill O’Reilly. It survived the Roger Ailes rape scandal by firing Roger Ailes. If it survives the combined Dominion and January 6th video scandals, it will do so by firing somebody.”
The former cable news host is not the first person to question Carlson’s future with the network. Former Fox News contributor Jonah Goldberg questioned Carlson’s motive as he “doubles and triples down” on the insinuation that January 6th wasn’t as bad as authorities have made it out to be.
“Maybe he thinks he’s un-firable,” Goldberg posited. “Maybe he’s playing a stop-me-before-I-kill-again game with Rupert (Murdoch), trying to get himself fired so he can make himself a martyr.”
As documents continue to release from the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox News, a rather interesting nugget came out from the deposition of Rupert Murdoch: Fox Business considered purchasing the rights to The Apprentice.
During his deposition, Murdoch was asked if the potential purchase was “a way to satisfy Mr. Trump” and a way to “bring him in the tent”, which Murdoch denied by simply stating “No”.
“You have a lot of crazy ideas in business. We talk about it, we do something, or we don’t do it,” Murdoch said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Fox News came under fire from Trump and his campaign team in the days and weeks after the network called the state of Arizona for challenger Joe Biden. Trump railed against the decision, before floating unproven claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him.
The consideration of purchasing The Apprentice — which aired on NBC from 2004 until 2017 — would have given the network a competitor to CNBC’s re-airs of Shark Tank.
“Trump would want a fortune but maybe it’s worth it,” Murdoch wrote in a message uncovered in the lawsuit.
It is unclear if Fox Business intended to purchase the rights to previously aired programs or intended to produce new episodes. However, Murdoch had shared that he had “second thoughts” about the potential deal because “Trump would turn it into a full-time campaign vehicle”.
A previously released email showed that Murdoch believed Trump’s businesses were “ruined” and that the former President’s brand had been “poisoned” by the January 6th Insurrection.
A bevy of media outlets have asked Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for access to the January 6th security camera footage from the Capitol that was given to Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Apparently, no one ever asked Carlson.
During an appearance on The Glenn Beck Program, Carlson was asked by the radio host if other outlets — or even the journalists inside Fox News — had asked to view any of the more than 40,000 hours of footage given to him.
“When you got all the tapes, did Fox News, the news department, can they have access to that?” Beck asked. “Would they get access to that, do you think? I mean, what do we do with these tapes now?”
“That’s a good question,” Carlson said. “We work independently, we work for the same company. You’ve worked here, you know. But they really are in different silos. I can say that no one from any news organization that I’m aware of, and I can’t speak for my producers, but that, as far as I know, no one ever asked.”
Beck then asked if he could have access to the footage, with Carlson saying he believed everyone should have it.
“I personally think that everyone should have access to them. I’ll put you in touch with my producer who’s been dealing with the speaker’s office for sure.”
Carlson continued by saying that “everybody in the world, including my UPS delivery guy” has his phone number, and “not one working journalist” has asked for the footage.
Tucker Carlson has been the most talked about media personality in America this week. The Fox News prime time host was given thousands of hours of footage from January 6th, 2021 at the Capitol and shared never-before-seen video clips to the nation.
Carlson was right to point out that many of these tapes should have been made public long before they appeared on his show. The biggest point I took from his reporting was more about the hypocrisy of the media, and the uniparty, “Get Trump” approach of the January 6th Committee, that was clearly nothing more than a partisan clown car.
And while it’s provided much content for talk radio this week, it also has been misinterpreted by some. Those who want to review Tucker’s tapes, also handpicked from thousands of hours of footage, and come away with the conclusion that this was just a bunch of hooligans who happened to stumble in the Capitol Building, who were “mostly peaceful”, are sounding a lot like MSNBC circa Summer 2020.
Remember the “mostly peaceful” George Floyd protests? Yeah, the ones where billions of dollars in damage occurred in 140 American cities across the country. Well, I want to make sure we don’t end up playing the same card as them.
And let’s drop the semantics. I know the Summer of Love, as some sympathizers called it, was far worse in scale than January 6th. But if we’re going to try and walk the line of insinuating that Tucker’s tapes suggest the day was “mostly peaceful” then we cede all ground to the left on the issue of violence, property damage and law and order.
And there’s no reason for us to do that.
Granted, there are still many unanswered questions around January 6th. If we had an honest, bipartisan January 6th Committee, we may have gotten some of those answers. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet. But the notion that the bulk of Americans, heck the bulk of Republican voters, are living through Joe Biden’s presidency and thinking long and hard about the events of January 6th, 2021, is simply out of touch.
That might be the case in MAGA-ville, it’s not in Realville, to quote the great, late Rush Limbaugh. And I say all this as an enthusiastic two-time Trump voter. The “MAGA bubble” is becoming everything they rightly criticized the liberal press of being: out of touch.
Americans are hurting economically. We’re hurting culturally. Socially. We’re more divided than ever, despite Biden’s predictably empty promises on the campaign trail about unity. America is in decline. And you’ll be hard pressed to find a single thing Joe Biden has done to make it better.
The battle for the future of America is bigger than a few unsympathetic goobers who decided to waltz into the Capitol through a broken door or window on January 6th, 2021.
If the broader point some want to make is about corruption in our oversized government bureaucracies, along with the media’s wild hypocrisy around the day, and how they still use it for political purposes to this day, that’s a worthy conversation to have. And that will only be fixed by a Republican winning the White House in 2024, however this issue won’t help Republicans get themselves back in control of the executive branch.
But to view this through the lens of, “Well, that day wasn’t actually that bad”, is a loser argument for the vast majority of Americans, and becomes a talking point no better than CNN’s “Fiery, but Mostly Peaceful” headlines from 2020. Good riddance to both.
If you work in the sports media industry you’ve likely heard someone along the way utter the phrase “don’t bury the lead“. I’m usually good about following that advice but I didn’t do that at our 2022 BSM Summit.
We introduced the greatest tandem in sports radio history, Mike Francesa and Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo and it was a special half hour. Mike and the Mad Dog were reunited after seven years apart and every individual at the event knew they were witnessing something magical on stage. I created a Mike and the Mad Dog Award for the event, which went to Felger and Mazz, who were the absolute right choice to win it. Even Chris remarked ‘that’s the right call‘.
But I learned quickly that although the intention was right in honoring the industry’s current top performing show, when you have legends in the room and they’re in their element, the last thing you want to do is overcrowd them. The connection Mike and Chris had on the air became the gold standard by which we measure successful sports talk shows, and they didn’t need an award created to deliver a special moment, just two mics and 20-30 minutes of stage time.
As I began thinking about the 2023 BSM Summit, I knew there was an opportunity to build on what we started last year with Mike and Chris, and after talking to a few people who I trust and respect, the decision of who we would recognize became crystal clear. I believe it’s important to honor the greats in our business because those who leave a permanent mark on our industry deserve it. The man we’ve selected has spent more than five decades on your television screen calling the biggest games, and producing some of the most iconic moments sports has to offer. He’s worked with the best of the best inside the booth, has helped elevate the presentation and execution of in-game content for ABC, NBC and Amazon, and his call of the Miracle on Ice, the US Olympic hockey team’s 1980 gold medal win over Russia remains one of the best calls in the history of sports.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored and privileged to share that Al Michaels will join us on Wednesday March 22nd at the 2023 BSM Summit for our awards presentation, where we will present him with BSM’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Michaels is one of America’s most respected sports broadcasting voices, known for his exceptional work on Monday Night Football (1986-2005), Sunday Night Football (2006-2022) and Thursday Night Football (2022-Present). He’s called the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals, Hagler-Hearns, the Olympics, the Indy 500, Horse Racing’s Triple Crown races, College Football and Basketball games, Golf, and more. He’s even held roles as the voice of the University of Hawaii, the Cincinnati Reds, and the San Francisco Giants, and was in the booth in 1989 when an earthquake rocked the Bay Area during Game 3 of the A’s-Giants world series.
The Brooklyn native turned Los Angeles resident has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and owns a ton of hardware including five sports Emmy’s, three NSMA Sportscaster of the Year honors, the 2013 Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award distributed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the 2021 Ford C. Frick Award given out by the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Though his trophy case may be full, we’re excited to add another to his collection to show our appreciation and respect for the impact he’s made on the sports media business.
A quick reminder, the BSM Summit takes place on Tuesday March 21st and Wednesday March 22nd at the Founders Club at the University of Southern California. Tickets are on-sale at BSMSummit.com.
Be advised, we have started adding sessions and times on the website. As always, the schedule is subject to change. Our final agenda will be posted by the end of next week. In addition, attendees will receive an email by next Friday with details of who will be in attendance. We hope to see you there.
According to The Puck, Blaze Media, a prominent right-wing digital media company founded by Glenn Beck in 2010, has secured a new round of funding from investors, including the DeVos family. The company merged with CRTV in 2018, creating a more prominent platform focused on conservative-oriented digital content. Since then, Blaze Media has shifted its focus from television to online streaming, podcasting, conservative news, and commentary, becoming a significant player in the digital space.
With a new leadership team, The Blaze has been profitable and expanding its streaming products, offering content from some of the biggest names in conservative media. While some conservative digital media companies have struggled, Blaze Media has capitalized on favorable market conditions and strategic investments to grow and thrive.
Conservative digital media has followed two business models, with companies relying on Facebook algorithms and programmatic advertising struggling. In contrast, those leveraging like-minded influencer distribution streams and subscription dynamics have thrived. Blaze Media has successfully implemented the latter approach under new CEO Tyler Cardon, who overhauled the site.
In 2020, the site had 450,000 subscribers paying $102 annually, suggesting around $45.9 million in revenue. This success could position the company for a significant sale, benefiting Glenn Beck and the DeVos family.
Last March, Dick Vitale utilized a whiteboard to communicate his Final Four picks to fans on social media through his VBDI (Vitale Bald Dome Index) ratings system. Normally, he would voice these picks, but a diagnosis of precancerous vocal cord dysplasia left him on vocal rest for an extended period. He ended up having two separate surgeries on his vocal cords and had to use the whiteboard so he could communicate with others.
Vitale had recently completed a bout with melanoma and was facing lymphoma – all while trying to maintain a positive attitude amid a global pandemic and uncertain future. Inside, he was acutely aware that he was “going through hell,” but remained hopeful that he would one day return courtside to receive a dose of the best medicine possible: calling college basketball games on ESPN.
At times, the madness of being away from the game felt unbearable, but it was through “passion plus pride plus perseverance,” along with the support of his family, friends, colleagues, and fans, that he emerged filled with gratitude and excitement to return to doing what he loves.
OK maestro man start the music & let’s see who the VBDI says will be in the Final 4 & finally who will cut the nets down as 2022 NATIONAL CHAMP! pic.twitter.com/fbc6MK7PhB
In 1993, Jim Valvano took the stage at the inaugural ESPY Awards from Madison Square Garden in New York to accept the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. Throughout his career around the game of basketball, Valvano served as a player, coach, and broadcaster, forming one-half of the dynamic on-air duo the “Killer Vees.” He and Vitale, whose pseudonym is “Dickie V,” were often regarded as having similar broadcast styles imbued with exuberance, candor, and passion.
Less than a year before what ultimately became one of the most well-known award speeches of all time, Valvano had received his diagnosis of metastatic adenocarcinoma. Taking the stage, he gave the audience takeaways on how to approach their lives – including laughing, thinking and expressing emotions responsible for getting one to cry – and shortly thereafter, received a signal that he had 30 seconds to go in his speech. Valvano, however, neglected the plan, instead stating words that have endured the test of time: “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”
As Vitale laid supine in a hospital bed, those words remained in his subconscious and kept him going during a particularly burdensome and critical health battle. Over the preceding two years, Vitale overcame immense hardships, which began with battling melanoma, a form of skin cancer. To treat this disease, Vitale had to undergo surgery for its removal along with four additional cosmetic surgeries. In August 2021, Vitale announced that following a PET scan (positron electron tomography), his doctor declared him cancer free, and subsequently thanked people for sending him prayers and well-wishes.
“My greatest inspiration was all the prayers and all the messages from people I hadn’t heard from in years,” Vitale said. “….You need that support. I know I needed it because there were times I was laying in that hospital and my family would leave, and tears would flow. [I was] thinking, ‘Would I ever get out of here? Would I ever see my grandkids graduate college?’ It’s tough; it’s a really vicious disease.”
Recently I had a battle vs MELANOMA & I am excited to report that my medical staff has reported that I am cancer free after multiple surgeries . I hope u take a moment & PLEASE LISTEN TO MY MESSAGE ! @TheVFoundation @jksports @ESPNPR pic.twitter.com/WxbG8CBOF0
In his youth, Vitale played Little League Baseball but faced immense levels of scrutiny from his opponents and their parents because of blindness in his left eye. The cause, he estimates, was poking it with a pencil at the age of 4 or 5, causing it to appear that he was looking elsewhere. Toeing the rubber on the pitcher’s mound and being taunted by those in the stands engendered irreparable harm, and thinking back on it, he still feels the pain from that day.
Although he had surgery to straighten his left eye in 1984, he is still blind and sees entirely out of his right eye. The decision required Dr. Conrad Giles to operate on both of his eyes, risking a permanent loss of vision, but the pain and suffering that came out of the encumbrance were difficult to bear and led him to take the risk. During the midst of the 1979-80 college basketball season – his first on ESPN and in sports media altogether – a viewer had called to complain about Vitale being on television because of it, calling him a “one-eyed wacko.”
The peremptory and heinous actions of bullies compelled him to receive the surgery and urge others to show compassion towards others. Vitale persevered through the situation, as he originally decided to quit television and called Steve Anderson, the executive overseeing college hoops, to inform him of his decision. Luckily for college basketball and sports fans everywhere, Vitale reversed course and has been a fixture of the sport,
Three years after his surgery, a car crash caused a bone fracture below his right eye, leading him to wear an eye patch and ruminate over whether he would ever see again. Luckily, Vitale did not lose his vision, nor his love for basketball and broadcasting. Through trials and tribulations, he is at the top of his craft, surviving changing regimes, emerging technologies, and a dynamic media landscape simply because he communicates the game to viewers in a way few else can.
“I had a great mom and dad, and they were uneducated [and] had a fifth-grade education – but they had a doctorate of love,” Vitale expressed. “….My [parents] used to always say to me, ‘Richard, big deal. One eye – you can do anything that anybody else does. You’ve got something they can’t hold back. Your energy; your passion; your enthusiasm – someday, you’re going to make in something.’”
–
Two months after being declared cancer free, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, resulting in six months of chemotherapy and additional steroid treatment. Vitale initially planned to continue working as a college basketball analyst on ESPN during this time, a job he held since the network’s inception in 1979, but he then had to pull the plug when it was discovered he had precancerous vocal cord dysplasia. Resting his voice was no easy task considering it had been the instrument through which Vitale articulated his thoughts, opinions, and feelings on college basketball with unmatched poise and command.
Sorry due to discomfort from surgery I I’ll be limited on social media . Love ALL of u that have sent me ???????????? & ❤️❤️❤️ It was a 3 hr surgery Dr Zeitels said was tough but got what he needed vs Dysplasia & ulcerated lesions / must do 4 week voice rest .@ESPNPRpic.twitter.com/uDjfbGXmzU
On Nov. 8, 1979, Vitale received a visit to his home by Bill Davidson, the owner of the Detroit Pistons. Little did Vitale know that the moment would mark the end of a 16-year coaching career, taking him from high school to college to the NBA. Vitale started coaching following a brief stint working in accounting, utilizing his business administration degree from Seton Hall University; yet his precipitous rise as a head coach kept him engrossed in the sport and allowed him to experience much success.
From 1958 to 1971, he was a high school basketball coach – first at Garfield High School and then at East Rutherford High School – and led the latter program to two New Jersey state championships. Simultaneously, he was a sixth-grade teacher, balancing the responsibilities of instructing students in the classroom and athletes on the court.
Nonetheless, he was still actively looking for jobs as an assistant coach or graduate assistant elsewhere, always looking to find chances to grow and make it to the NBA. From the day he was fired by the Pistons, Vitale desperately wanted to land another coaching job, especially after posting a 78-30 overall record in four years as head coach of the University of Detroit Mercy Titans.
When he was coaching at the University of Detroit Mercy following two years as an assistant at Rutgers University, Vitale advocated a winning formula of “passion plus pride plus perseverance,” qualities that are evinced in his ebullient and vivacious broadcast style today. He also found ways to convey life lessons to his players and helped the team beat top-ranked opponents and make the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.
As the team entered the round to play the University of Michigan Wolverines, Vitale noticed NBC broadcasters Curt Gowdy and John Wooden watching his team practice on the court. He was then approached by Scotty Connal, a producer for the network, and asked the broadcasters to come to the locker room following practice. Vitale then gave a three-minute talk to his team about “greatness” and described Gowdy and Connal as its epitome, leaving them both flattered and convinced that he could one day be a commentator.
Connal departed NBC in 1979 to assist in the creation of a new television network called ESPN, a combination of four letters Vitale initially thought sounded like a disease. After initially declining an offer from Connal to call the first-ever college basketball game on the network – a matchup between DePaul and Wisconsin – he accepted the position at the suggestion of his wife, Lorraine, even though he still wanted to coach.
“I got very lucky that Scotty called me back 10 days later and said, ‘I’m going to give you one last shot, Dick. You’ve got nothing to do; why don’t you do the game and just have fun?,’” Vitale recalled. “….The things that have happened in my career – I’m blessed; I pinch myself; I’m lucky; I’m fortunate. I’ve just had an incredible ride.”
He considers himself fortunate to have received that phone call and rhapsodies of positive feedback, with Connal and other viewers recognizing his deft knowledge of the game and innate zealousness and excitement.
It was his genuine persona of being passionate and forthright that partially lost him his job with the Pistons, as he had told Davidson he would be unable to win and took the blame for the team’s 30-52 record in the 1978-79 season. He was offered another job in the organization, to which he declined with the hope of returning to coach at the collegiate level.
“Bill Davidson treated me like royalty,” Vitale said. “He kept saying, ‘Dick, you want to get it done now. We know it’s going to be five years at least.’ I said, ‘Oh man, I can coach until I’m blue in the face. We can’t beat Kareem; we can’t beat Dr. J.’ It was frustrating.”
On the day he was fired by the Pistons, Vitale never thought he would be a member of various different halls of fame (14 of them on last count), receive roles in commercials and movies or become one of the most recognizable and distinctive figures in sports broadcasting history. Every time he arrives at an arena, it is evident that Vitale feels the spirit of the game radiate from the court. He embraces the enigma, anticipating the action while staying ready to potentially witness something or someone for the first time.
Throughout his four decades in sports media, Vitale has covered basketball Hall of Famers such as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Mullin and Patrick Ewing, serving as an erudite voice on a soundtrack documenting the start of legendary careers. While he does not have the ability to jump, run or shoot a basketball, Vitale shares a spot in Springfield, Mass. and is hardly picayune in comparison to the players. His skills and style, filled with honesty, catchphrases and esoteric knowledge, are nonperishable and appeal to audiences no matter their background, acumen or proficiency in basketball parlance.
“I’ve seen so many people today try to develop these niches,” Vitale explained. “I watched John Madden, Terry Bradshaw, Chris Berman [and] Stuart Scott. They were real; they were genuine. That was them; that’s who they are. I’ve always felt I’ve always been me.”
On his first broadcast, Vitale did not arrive until there were 20 minutes remaining to game time and worked alongside Joe Boyle. It was his first time broadcasting a game on television, and in an interview years later, Boyle expressed that Vitale had not changed. His effusiveness and alacrity for basketball and broadcasting keep him well-informed and motivated to improve, prepare and develop synergy with his colleagues and viewers.
“To me, the real pros are your play-by-play guys,” Vitale said. “Those are guys trained… and really have that great ability [and] getting in and out of commercials. I’m there just to tell you what is happening in the world of basketball and in the game taking place. With that, if I do it with lots of energy, enthusiasm and preparation – I’ve always tried to be prepared – my style is unique and different, but it’s always been me.”
Vitale is a beloved figure in the world of sports; however, part of the essence of his job is in critiquing teams and individual players. Sports media pundits and viewers have lauded Vitale for his candor and honesty regarding issues of contentiousness, always approaching the situation with objectivity and integrity. Moreover, he does not waver when it comes to elocuting topics of exigence that simply have to be spoken of. He has gained respect through this approach rooted in probity, augmenting his credibility by being able to support his analysis with facts compendiously and unequivocally delivered in the sport’s vernacular.
“The one thing I’m proud of – and not many guys can say this – I’m going on my fifth decade and there have been all kinds of changes at ESPN, yet I’ve always been there,” Vitale stated. “Our business is very, very situational. It’s not really objective; it’s subjective.”
Despite March Madness being broadcast by CBS, Vitale will still be a critical part of ESPN’s studio coverage throughout the tournament and will broadcast the semifinal and Final Four championships for ESPN’s international feed. In fact, he received an offer made by CBS Sports to call a game or two of the tournament, an offer ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro gave Vitale permission to accept.
Yet he declined out of fidelity to ESPN, the network that gave him his start in the industry, and wants to end his career having worked exclusively for the company. Aside from the tournament itself, Vitale will call the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship Game tomorrow (6 p.m. ET) and the first game of the semifinal tonight (7 p.m. ET) with Jon Sciambi and Kris Budden live on ESPN and streaming on ESPN+.
“I think it’s the greatest three weeks in sports,” Vitale said. “….Everyone seems to catch that basketball fever during that time.”
–
As Dick Vitale sat in his doctor’s office, he was optimistic that he would be cleared to deliver an acceptance speech at the 2022 ESPY Awards 72 hours later. Even though he had been deemed cancer-free in April 2022, he still faced a battle in recovering from precancerous vocal cord dysplasia.
Vitale had not spoken for a period of five-and-a-half weeks in recovering from the surgery, but Pitaro told him that they would bestow the award on him anyway and have him at the ceremony.
Following tests to determine the progress of healing following surgery, Vitale wrote on his whiteboard: “Please give me permission to speak at the ESPYS.” While Dr. Steven Zeitels, a world-renowned throat specialist, surmised it was not 100% healed and instead at approximately 70%, he considered making an exception to allow Vitale to express his gratitude and thanks in front of a national audience.
Making that exception, however, required the doctor to speak to Pitaro on the phone about the conditions Vitale would be placed under in order to attend. Once Vitale called Pitaro, Dr. Zeitels expressed that Vitale could not do any pre-event or post-event media availability, nor attend the ensuing celebration since it would require he raise his voice to be heard by others.
Vitale would be allowed to speak for a maximum of 20 minutes and then remain silent thereafter, a shortcoming that he did not care about so long as he would be permitted to address the crowd.
Three days later, Vitale was at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. and introduced on stage by former ESPN president George Bodenheimer, sportscaster Chris Berman and actor Jon Hamm. He vividly remembers feeling nervous waiting to go on stage and speak, questioning how he would sound or what he would say. Once he stepped back in front of the microphone, he was in his element and back among his colleagues, subsequently addressing his gratitude and the ongoing uphill battle he faced.
“When I started, it was an unbelievable reception and the warmth of the crowd just got my adrenaline going,” Vitale said. “Everything I thought I was going to talk about, I just talked from my heart.”
Throughout the speech, Vitale spoke about the blend of passion, pride and perseverance and related it to the crowd, which included famed athletes including Russell Wilson, Lindsey Vonn and Stephen Curry. It is the winning formula Vitale has utilized since his days as a college coach, and one that motivates him to broadcast college basketball at 100 years old and declare someone “Awesome with a capital ‘A.’”
“I guarantee you’ve had passion in what you’ve done; you’ve had pride in what you’ve done; and you’ve preserved. I don’t care who you are – in life, we face challenges…. You’ve got to be able to respond. I was so pleased he allowed me to speak there. Getting that standing ovation before and after gave me goosebumps.”
–
In November 2022, Vitale made his return to broadcasting in a matchup between the University of Kentucky Wildcats and the Michigan State University Wolverines. He worked alongside versatile play-by-play announcer Dan Shulman and thanked viewers on the broadcast for their support through the adversity he faced.
In the midst of calling a matchup a few weeks later between the Baylor University Bears and Villanova University Wildcats, Vitale received a two-minute standing ovation from the crowd, moving him to tears.
Days later, another standing ovation occurred in the midst of the SEC Tournament game between the University of Kansas Jayhawks and the Indiana University Bloomington Hoosiers. He felt strong emotions during these moments, recognizing how far he had come – but also despondent that there are some people who do not treat others with respect and instead spawn animosity and contentiousness.
Throughout the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vitale was posting daily motivational tips to help people in difficult circumstances. Moreover, he frequently expresses gratitude pertaining to his upbringing, family and career – never losing sight of how fortunate he truly is. He wishes more people would take the time to follow the “Golden Rule” of treating others in the way you want to be treated and believes this simple action could make the world a lot more bearable.
“The violence and the hate just tears my insides out,” Vitale said. “Innocent people being senselessly taken out – it’s just crazy. If we [only] all treated one another with love. I do loads of motivational speeches, and I try to share that all the time. Extend a hand to people.”
Vitale surely extends a hand to others in society through his work as a philanthropist. Whether it is creating an endowment at University of Notre Dame or awarding scholarships to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, he is always looking to find ways he can help and be a positive force in the world.
Although he enjoys his work as a broadcaster, his primary goal is utilizing his platform to raise awareness and funds for cancer research in order to help oncologists find treatments and a cure. He serves on the board of directors for the V Foundation for Cancer Research alongside Bodenheimer, Pitaro, Jay Bilas and other figures across a wide variety of different industries.
The foundation was founded by Valvano in partnership with ESPN before his death in 1993 and holds an annual weeklong campaign on the network, which includes the “Jimmy V Classic” basketball event. The foundation will hold its 30th anniversary gala from Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C. on June 3 to be hosted by North Carolina State University Athletics Director of Content Strategy, Jeff Gravley.
Furthermore, Vitale hosts an annual gala to raise awareness and funding in order to fulfill Valvano’s dream of beating cancer, something he says is essential and must be expediently carried out. In the last 16 years he has held the event, Vitale has raised $55 million for kids battling pediatric cancer, and the foundation as a whole has raised over $310 million. It has its own endowment to cover operational expenses, ensuring all of the money donated gets reinvested into achieving its mission of defeating this disease. This year’s event is set to take place on May 5 from The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Fla.
“People don’t realize what a cancer patient goes through,” Vitale said. “That’s why I have so much respect and admiration for all these families that have to deal with it with their kids. I try to raise as many dollars as I can for kids battling cancer because people have no idea…. It’s a constant battle and a challenge, so you need that support.”
With March Madness quickly approaching, Vitale is throwing “Dickie V’s Super Sixteen Basketball Bash,” a contest through which he will host one lucky winner and a guest at his home on Friday, March 24 to watch a Sweet 16 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament game together.
The package comes complete with airfare, two nights in a hotel, transportation to and from his home, dinner with Vitale and his wife and a special “Dickie V” care package. The winner will be drawn this upcoming Wednesday, March 15, and all proceeds will benefit the Dick Vitale Fund for Pediatric Cancer at the V Foundation. Those interested in entering for a chance to win can visit “V.org/supersixteen” for more information.
For now, Vitale has no plans of slowing down, energized to raise awareness and money for children battling cancer, along with commentating on college basketball games on ESPN. He is ready for an exhilarating finish to the college basketball season through which he will continue to promulgate the game, learn new things and work with distinguished colleagues. Quite simply, Vitale is grateful to have been able to return to this position, and surely does not take it for granted – enjoying the ride and keeping his foot steadily on the accelerator.
“The moment I don’t get excited about getting out and doing a game and being courtside, no one’s going to have to tell me,” Vitale said. “I’ll know when the party’s over, and it’ll be a very down moment because I’ve loved every moment of it.”
The world of cable news entered the news cycle itself during the week ending Feb. 19, due to the Feb. 16 edition of CNN This Morning.
As part of her announcement of her candidacy for the Republican nomination for President earlier that week, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley recommended a “mental competency test” for those over the age of 75 holding or running for public office.
Commenting on this report with fellow anchors Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow, Don Lemon said, “All the talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s the wrong road to go down. [Haley] says politicians, or something, are not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when is a woman is considered to be in her prime? In her twenties and thirties, maybe forties.”
Lemon was held off the air at CNN following those comments thru Feb. 22. While the hubbub made the news on other media outlets including the broadcast network evening news shows, did it translate into added viewers for the newly-formatted morning program formerly known as New Day?
The answer, unfortunately for CNN, was no.
On the morning of Feb. 16 (Thursday), within the 6-7 a.m. ET hour (when Lemon made his infamous remarks), CNN This Morning on CNN drew 307,000 viewers including 59,000 within the key 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research; an additional 103,000 viewers (with 22,000 adults 25-54) for its HLN simulcast. For its entire 6-9 a.m. slot, it posted 361,000 viewers (63,000 adults 25-54) on CNN plus 83,000 viewers (18,000 adults 25-54) on HLN.
This, by far, trailed their cable counterparts, which has put a damper on its reformat. Back on Feb. 16, Fox News Channel’sFox and Friends was tops on cable news with an average of 1.23 million viewers (187,000 adults 25-54) from 6-9 a.m.; 835,000 viewers (123,000 adults 25-54) for solely the 6-7 a.m. hour. MSNBC’s Morning Joe delivered 930,000 viewers (109,000 adults 25-54) from 6-9 a.m. ET.
Lemon’s return to CNN on Feb. 22, which did not feature any on-air apology (he apologized on Twitter just prior to his return appearance), did not improve upon the CNN This Morning ratings. A mere 352,000 viewers (73,000 adults 25-54) for 6-9 a.m. on CNN, and another 88,000 viewers (21,000 adults 25-54) on HLN; 377,000 viewers (89,000 adults 25-54) for the 6-7 a m. hour only on CNN+HLN.
These results are on-par with its recent outputs. The combined figures for CNN This Morning on CNN and HLN were 454,000 viewers (97,000 adults 25-54) for Dec. 26, 2022 thru Jan. 27, 2023, and 436,000 viewers (95,000 adults 25-54) for Jan. 30 thru Feb. 24, 2023. Their morning competitors on cable also performed similarly as their aforementioned numbers within the same time frames:
Bottom line: the extra publicity generated from Lemon’s controversial remarks did not spark a rise for CNN’s mornings nor siphon off from FNC and/or MSNBC.
Cable news averages for February 13-19, 2023:
Total Day (Feb. 13-19 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
Fox News Channel: 1.446 million viewers; 191,000 adults 25-54
MSNBC: 0.727 million viewers; 77,000 adults 25-54
CNN: 0.461 million viewers; 85,000 adults 25-54
HLN: 0.153 million viewers; 37,000 adults 25-54
CNBC: 0.127 million viewers; 30,000 adults 25-54
Fox Business Network: 0.112 million viewers; 11,000 adults 25-54
The Weather Channel: 0.084 million viewers; 15,000 adults 25-54
Newsmax: 0.081 million viewers; 8,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (Feb. 13-18 @ 8-11 p.m.; Feb. 19 @ 7-11 p.m.)
Fox News Channel: 2.183 million viewers; 280,000 adults 25-54
MSNBC: 1.171 million viewers; 110,000 adults 25-54
CNN: 0.544 million viewers; 111,000 adults 25-54
HLN: 0.205 million viewers; 45,000 adults 25-54
CNBC: 0.196 million viewers; 53,000 adults 25-54
Fox Business Network: 0.112 million viewers; 11,000 adults 25-54
Newsmax: 0.109 million viewers; 16,000 adults 25-54
NewsNation: 0.104 million viewers; 19,000 adults 25-54
The Weather Channel: 0.103 million viewers; 19,000 adults 25-54
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:
1. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 2/13/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.530 million viewers
Fox News Channel will broadcast a documentary titled “Sacrifice and Survival: A Story from the Front Line,” which chronicles the rescue of FNC’s State Department correspondent Benjamin Hall after he was severely injured in a catastrophic attack in Ukraine. According to the network, the program will air on Sunday, March 19th, from 9-11 PM/ET, and an extended version will be available on FOX Nation after its FNC debut.
Based on Hall’s memoir, Saved: A War Reporter’s Mission to Make it Home, it is set for release on March 14th. The documentary recounts the catastrophic attack in March 2022, which left Hall severely wounded and claimed the lives of FNC photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova while they were gathering news in Ukraine.
The documentary will showcase never-before-seen footage taken by Zakrzewski, which captures the moments leading up to the attack. Additionally, it will provide firsthand accounts from a range of individuals, such as Hall, his wife, Alicia Meller, Michelle Ross-Stanton (the widow of Zakrzewski), Rick Findler (Hall’s best friend), FNC correspondents Jennifer Griffin, Trey Yingst, and Greg Palkot, as well as Sarah Verardo, co-founder of Save Our Allies.
The program will provide insights into Hall’s extraction from Ukraine, which was a daunting task, and his arduous recovery process with assistance from the Department of Defense, the nonprofit organization Save Our Allies, and FNC’s Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin. Within 48 hours of the attack, Hall was located and evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Afterward, he spent six months at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. His doctors worked tirelessly to rebuild his body before returning home to London in August.
