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When March Madness Hits, No One Is Madder Than Vitale

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

When it comes to his picks for the Final Four, Vitale isn't playing his cards close to the vest.

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By ANTHONY CORMIER

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: March 18, 2009

LAKEWOOD RANCH - It is the eve of the NCAA Tournament and Dick Vitale heads to the "office," which doubles as a table at the Broken Egg restaurant in Lakewood Ranch at the border of Sarasota and Manateee counties.

Once there, the phone will not stop ringing.

An interview with a Miami radio station. Fox Sports this afternoon. An ESPN panel later that night. Even his own Web people have a question.

It is go-time for college basketball, which means it is go-time for Vitale. America is filling out its brackets, dropping five bucks in the office pool, checking the RPI ranking of dark horses like Siena (No. 66, for the record) and turning to the indispensable, dipsy-do voice of the sport for advice.

And the famed ESPN basketball commentator is eating it up.

Vitale practically glows.

The Egg is a favorite haunt for the East Manatee resident, and he is there Wednesday answering calls, making predictions, always talking, always working, always selling a game that made him rich and famous.

Even at 69, the hoops sermon spills from him at machine-gun pace. Gotta have good guard play. Watch out for the Tar Heels. The Big East was stacked. The top seeds are legit.

He is going faster than usual, which, for Vitale, is no small feat. And, in this mix, there is the lunch crowd at the Egg to deal with.

Most of whom — wouldn't you know it — are all college basketball experts. Everybody has a Final Four lock, a Cinderella, a reason to think Vitale is dead wrong.

"Go Cardinals," says the woman to his right, who flashes an "L" with her thumb and index finger and is sure that Louisville will win.

"Gotta go with Carolina," Vitale says back.

"What about Cleveland State over Wake Forest in the first round?" asks the man ordering coffee one table over. "There's an upset for you."

"Cleveland State? Only if they pick up LeBron James," Vitale says. Then: "Hey, that was a good line. 'Only if they pick up LeBron James.' Somebody write that down before I forget it. I'm going to use that on ESPN tonight."

He laughs to himself, and the phone rings.

Can he do an interview at 5?

Of course he can. It's March Madness, baby.

ADVICE FROM VITALE

Filling out an NCAA Tournament bracket is a little bit science, a little bit art and a lot of luck. Lakewood Ranch resident Dick Vitale is here to help.

The ESPN basketball guru offered his picks Wednesday, but he makes no promise of success. Here is a look at highlights from Vitale's bracket:

UPSET CITY

The biggest surprises in Round 1 are Arizona (12 seed) over Wake Forest (4), and Maryland (10) knocking off California (7). He also sees Marquette and West Virginia beating higher-ranked teams to make the Sweet 16. Vitale: "The Big East is tough this year."

NO SURPRISE

The Final Four is hardly shocking. Each top seed — Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Connecticut and Louisville — should advance to the April 4 semifinals in Detroit. Vitale: "Those are the best teams in America."

WINNER, WINNER

The Tar Heels may have lost in the ACC Tournament, but they will not lose in the Big Dance, Vitale says. They are loaded with veterans who could have gone to the NBA last year but returned for a shot at the title. Vitale: "I don't think Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson had any other reason of coming back this season than cutting down the nets for North Carolina."

ONE TO WATCH
If a player emerges to take an underdog deep into the tourney, it could be Florida State guard Toney Douglas. In a one-and-done bracket, a hot hand can drive a team farther than anyone thought. Vitale: "I like the kid Douglas. He can really score. And he could be dangerous in this thing."

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