College basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale has been the identifiable and lovingly imitated voice of the sport for more than 40 years, yet he was not immune to getting dumped from the game of the year back in 2015, a move that did not go unnoticed.
According to a story by the Sports Business Journal, Vitale was “deeply hurt” when ESPN removed him from calling the North Carolina vs. Duke rivalry game back in 2015.
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The excitable and raucous color analyst had been a staple of coverage for the Tobacco Road rivalry for 35 years.
ESPN replaced him with Jay Bilas, who was promoted to the network’s top analyst role. Critics claimed he was a heavy mark for the Blue Devils, his alma mater. Then-president John Skipper made that decision to broom Vitale for Bilas.
Despite publicly accepting the move, Vitale privately expressed significant disappointment. After all, the UNC-Duke game was a defining part of his career.
“That really, deeply hurt him,” a colleague revealed to SBJ in a lengthy profile of the broadcast legend.
Dick Vitale Tried to Get the Gig Back
How hurt was Dick Vitale over his removal from the Tar Heels-Blue Devils rivalry games? So much so that the pain lingered for a few years.
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Vitale reportedly approached former ESPN President George Bodenheimer on the night of his induction into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame to get reinstated to the game. That was in 2018, three years after Bilas was installed.
“George, is there any way you can help me get back on that game?” he asked, according to SBJ.
It was then that Vitale learned that Bodenheimer wasn’t even with the network any longer.
“Dick was grasping at air,” the outlet reported.
RELATED: Dick Vitale Signs New Contract Extension with ESPN, Gets College Basketball Event in His Honor
All is Well with ESPN Again
According to the profile, Dick Vitale didn’t have long after learning that his plea to be reinstated would go nowhere before he had to pivot to more important matters – a cancer diagnosis.
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He has fought four types of cancer over the past four years but was finally declared cancer-free in December.
Upon his return to broadcasting, any evidence of a fractured relationship with ESPN had clearly disappeared. Vitale signed a contract extension with the network to continue calling games through the 2027-28 season.
ESPN also honored Vitale by naming a new college basketball event after him, the “Dick Vitale Classic,” set to debut in 2026 with top teams like Duke and Texas.
“ESPN has been family to me and has given me a life that has been even better than my dreams,” he said, according to Awful Announcing. “To the Vitale family, ESPN is ‘Awesome, baby’ with a capital A!”
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“They’ve been by my side from day one, and to do this is unbelievable. Long after I’m gone, to still have a game out there with my name attached to it?” he continued. “Wow, that is truly unbelievable!”
Dick Vitale’s journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster, with scares that would have sidelined the spirit of lesser men. From melanoma to lymphoma and vocal cord cancer, Dickie V has faced it all.
And he’s done so with the utmost of grace – even when network decisions didn’t always go in his favor.
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