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(male narrator)
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No wonder Infiniti of Memphis
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- My guest today on Sports
Files is iconic sports figure,
television analyst and
basketball Hall of Famer,
Dick Vitale.
[theme music]
Dick Vitale has
had an amazing run.
He's as well known
a sports figure
as the athletes themselves.
In fact, he's probably
more popular than most.
But if you think Vitale is
all glitz and no substance,
then you have no idea who
the real Dick Vitale is.
For years he has been in the
forefront in helping raise money
and awareness about
pediatric cancer.
He also serves on the board of
the Jimmy V foundation and has
made appearances
throughout the country,
using his celebrity to
help out numerous causes.
In simple terms,
Dicky V just gets it!
He also knows how to
fire up his audience,
with a passion and flair
few others even attempt
to replicate.
He is a true original.
His catchphrases are
timeless and he's surely been
impersonated by thousands.
When you hear the words
"Diaper Dandy" or "PT-PE-ER",
or" Dipsy-Doo Dunk-a-roo"
or "It's awesome baby",
you know it's Dicky V.
Today, the fun side and
the serious side of the iconic
Dick Vitale.
And he's next on Sports Files.
[theme music]
Dick, first of all,
great to have you in Memphis.
Happy Father's Day to ya.
- Well, thank you.
I think Father's Day is
certainly very special.
I've been getting Tweets from my
grandchildren and my daughters.
You know, you take
that responsibility.
A lot of guys don't
understand, you know,
it's probably easy bringing a
child in the world but taking
care of that child and
nurture them and having the
responsibility to raise
them with lots of love.
I know I miss my father so much.
My dad really set an example for
my family in every way possible.
I can't remember him missing a
day's work because of a headache
or the flu.
And he worked.
I mean, pressed
coats in a factory.
The more coats he pressed,
the more money he got paid.
Came home, we ate dinner.
I learned more at my dinner
table than any class I ever had.
I learned about love.
I learned about family.
I learned about togetherness.
I learned about adversity.
And then he put a
security guard uniform on.
You're from Jersey.
And he would go to the Bergen
Mall in New Jersey and he would
walk the mall from 6:00 to
12:00 as a security guard.
That was his life.
Up at 6:00 in the
morning, go to the factory,
press coats, eat dinner
and go walk the mall.
And if you don't think that
affected me to learn about
discipline and learn
about family and love,
it really impacted me big time.
So, I miss my dad.
- Values as well.
I lost my dad when
I was 13 years old.
He died at the age of 35.
So, it's very
special, this day, to me,
not having been with him
for many, many years.
Dick, this is quite the
hardware you have next to you.
You've won a lot of hardware.
Of course, being elected in to
the NBA Hall of Fame probably at
the top at that list.
But to be honored by the
AutoZone Liberty Bowl,
a college football game with
the distinguished citizen award.
What do you think
about this honor?
- Well, I'm
really touched by it.
I know when Steve
called me and Dave Woloshin,
they called me about it.
I was touched by it because
obviously they're involved
with St. Jude.
And St. Jude is
so special to me.
St. Jude has been
part of my life.
I can't begin to tell ya.
I lost my eye as a youngster.
I thought it was
the end of the world.
And my mother gave
me a Saint Jude card.
And Saint Jude has been with me
for over 70 years in my pocket.
Saint Jude has been
a part of my life.
It's the Saint..
I'm not here to preach religion.
But in the Catholic religion,
it's all about hopeless times.
You reach out to Saint Jude.
And I know I've reached
out a number of times,
begging and pleading
to have one good eye.
And Saint Jude has
been good to me, man.
Been good to me.
So, when I took a tour today
and went with Steve and the
beautiful people
at the hospital,
taking my wife and I on a
tour of the St. Jude's Hospital,
I was blown away, blown
away by what they have done.
I only would hope and dream
and pray that Danny Thomas could
have been living to see
what this has built in to.
The impact he has had on lives,
generation after generation.
Isn't that a sign of greatness?
- Absolutely.
- To win a
basketball game is one thing.
When you're affecting people's
lives like he has and what he
does because of what he
started, to have the vision.
The vision I feel
when I look at that,
I feel like a no body.
'Cause, man, what he
did is something special.
- But you have
affected lives, Dick.
And I want to talk about what
you have done with obviously
your great friendship
with the late Jim Valvano,
what you do for cancer research.
And it's so dear to your heart.
So, yes, you may be calling
basketball games and making a
lot of people happy with the way
you call a game but you've done
a lot of things
for a lot of people.
- Well, I appreciate that.
I think it's important
in life to give back.
I think celebrity-hood has given
me an opportunity to open up
doors to where I can get
the CEOs and the presidents,
people that can make instant
decisions in donating money and
giving money.
And it's really something I try
to utilize in a positive way.
And I try to use celebrity-hood
in a positive way.
And we've been blessed that
we've raised we like to think
some good dollars
with the V Foundation.
I'm a member of the
board of directors.
We've raised over $120 million
that's utilized in all kinds of
research of breast
cancer, lung cancer,
you name it, prostate
cancer, right down the line.
But my specific gala through
the V Foundation is for kids.
It's all about pediatrics.
I've said it once.
I'll say it again.
There is very little being done
to help kids with dollars for
research in cancer.
Only four percent..
It breaks my heart
when I hear this.
Only four percent of every
dollar raised for cancer
research goes to pediatrics.
And that is sad.
That is sad.
It's got to change.
That's got to change.
The kids, that's our future.
Seeing these
youngsters battle this disease.
We had at my gala..
I introduced to the crowd..
The crowd was
filled with greatness.
You name the coaches.
John Calipari was there.
Bob Huggins.
Jim Larranaga.
Over the years, we had
Calipari, Pitino, Donovan.
You name them,
they been with us.
Heisman Trophy
winners have been with us.
Vinny Testaverde
has been with us.
This year we had
Jameis Winston with us.
We've had Kenny Chesney.
We've had Magic Johnson.
I mean, we've had greatness.
But I told the crowd
this year, I said,
"You know, with all the
greats that are here,
and I think every one
of you for coming.."
Because they all
come free of charge.
They all pay their own way, pay
their own expenses and many of
them give us thousands
and thousands of dollars.
I mean, thousands.
So, I told them, I said, "Now
I'm going to introduce a team
that to me is what
courage is all about."
I brought up ten youngsters.
And I told them about each
one because I get to know them.
A name doesn't mean much to the
people here but Jake Turaska.
Jake Turaska was told,
"You will never walk.
"You will never talk.
"And most likely, you're
going to lose your life
to Neuroblastoma."
Today Jake is 16 years old.
And I'll tell ya he's an
outstanding baseball player.
- God bless him.
- One of the best in our area.
And I introduce Jake.
Then I introduce the young guy.
You see him and you
just want to hug him.
Seven years old,
Josh, the cutest smile,
light up a room.
Josh did 1,600
doses of chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy.
And he can't do enough to
want to help other kids.
And it just blows me away.
And I introduced all
these kids to the crowd.
And obviously was
tears in the crowd,
standing ovation, over 900
people that paid $1,000
a person.
And we raised $2.38 million.
But that's not enough.
- Well, Dick, as you've said,
you've used your celebrity
for good.
But there was a point, you
didn't know you were going to be
this celebrity.
Let me go back to the late '70s.
I was in high school.
I remember you
'cause I was a, you know,
budding sportscaster.
I wanted to be a
sportscaster since I was a kid.
So, I followed sports.
I knew that you were the
head coach at the University of
Detroit, now Detroit Mercy.
I'm looking at your numbers.
79 and 29 in four years.
26 and 3 in that fourth year.
Why did you become an AD?
And then eventually
you went to the Pistons.
I'll talk about
that in a second.
But why did you
get out of it there?
- Well, you know,
I made a mistake.
I shouldn't have
went to the NBA.
I belonged in college.
Jimmy Valvano used to always
say never mess with happy.
If one is happy,
don't mess with it.
And I knew too many
people mess with happy.
The happy with it but you're a
free agent and you can get more
money going somewhere else.
They take the cash.
And cash is not
always the answer.
I mean, if you're
making a good living.
And when the job came
open with the Pistons,
I was shocked, you
know, and stunned.
I got offered the job.
I was like in my thirties.
And it was an ego trip, too.
I mean, financially, here it is.
I mean, 1970.
I'm teaching the sixth
grade, coaching the high school.
Seven years later, I'm in
the NBA as a head coach.
I'm sitting there in awe.
I mean, you got Jerry
West on the other sideline.
Jack Ramsay.
I want to get my autograph
book and go get autographs.
Man, it's unbelievable.
But really, my
personality belonged in college.
You know, we see now
Billy Donovan has moved on.
Freddie Hoiberg.
But as opposed to when John
Calipari or Pitino or myself or
the late Jerry Tarkanian,
we didn't go to good teams.
We didn't go to teams that
really had the personnel to win.
Billy and Fred right now
are going to teams
that have a chance.
Then you've got a Kevin
Durant and a Westmore.
You got a chance to win.
You go with Derrick Rose..
You guys
obviously know well here.
But Derrick Rose and
company down there in Chicago,
you got a chance to win.
And I just..
I couldn't handle losing.
Best thing to ever happen
to me was getting fired.
Because had I
stayed in coaching,
I firmly believe I would
have never made it to 50.
Because I really
couldn't handle losing.
I couldn't lose.
I tore my heart out.
- But you went from that
situation where you were out of
a job.
You coached some
college and the NBA.
You were trying to
figure out what to do next.
This fledgling company
ESPN asks you to do games.
And it took a while.
You didn't become
Dicky V for a few years.
- Nobody knew us.
Nobody watched TV.
- But were you..
You could not have been the
broadcaster you are today when
you first started, right?
Did you even like it?
- Well, I liked it.
I liked the idea.
But I was still
thinking about, you know,
coaching in
college until one day.
I didn't
understand what he meant.
I got hired first of all.
It's amazing how
something can change your life.
My last game I ever
coached as a college coach,
ever coached.
We played at Rupp Arena
and we played
the University of Michigan.
And they were number
one in the country.
It would be like, I
guess, equated to -- Oh,
I don't know.
A Memphis playing when
they're super at Tennessee.
We were playing.
We're the little guy, basically
the eyes of the public.
And Michigan is the giant.
Their full budget is
bigger than our whole budget.
But there were are.
We win 21 in a row that year.
We beat the likes of
Michigan State and Arizona.
We had great teams.
We beat Marquette in
fact at Marquette,
Al McGuire's team that won the
national title two-and-a-half
months after we beat them.
But anyway, we were good.
I had three NBA players.
We were good.
And we wanted to play Michigan.
We couldn't get
them on the schedule.
Finally when
appearings came out,
one of my assistants
comes running in and he says,
"Coach, you're not
going to believe this.
If we get to the Sweet
Sixteen, we play Michigan."
I called a team meeting.
Got them in there.
All you guys, all you do is
bitch and moan how much you want
to play Michigan.
Alright.
You want to play them?
Roll down appearance.
There they are.
Sweet Sixteen.
- There's your
momentum right there.
- Now we go and we played.
And the day before at practice..
There's three
people at practice.
Two I recognize right away.
One I have no idea.
The two I recognize --
John Wooden and Curt Gowdy.
You're a broadcaster.
Curt Gowdy is as big as it gets.
I'm saying to myself,
"What are they doing here?"
The third guy comes
up to me and he says,
"We've decided because
as David and Goliath,
"we're going to televise the
game on NBC and Mr. Gowdy is
"going to do the play by play
and John Wooden is going to be
the analyst."
Oh, my God.
I was like a little kid.
John Wooden!
So, I bring my team
over to meet him.
We take a picture.
And then I give a talk, a five
minute talk about greatness.
I told my players.
I said, "I'm going
to define greatness.
"Greatness is right here.
"Coach Wooden, ten
national titles.
"Curt Gowdy with every award
imaginable as a broadcaster.
This is greatness."
Little did I know we get beat.
Heartbreaker, last
minute, we lose.
Unbelievable game.
Well, I get fired by the Pistons
November 8, 1979.
A week later the phone rings.
It said, "Dick, you're not going
to remember me but my name is
"Scotty Connal.
"I've just been named the
head of a new network,
ESPN."
He said, "I was the third guy.
"I was the head of NBC sports.
"I was the third guy with
Mr. Gowdy and Mr. Wooden.
"And when we left
the arena that night,
he said, "John Wooden and
Curt Gowdy said to me.."
Said, "Scotty, I think
that guy -- interview him,
"he'd be great at TV.
His personality."
He says, "So, I want
to give you a chance.
I want you to do our very
first game on this new network."
And to tell you
the truth, I said,
"No, I have no
interest, no television.
"I don't want no television.
I want to coach in college."
- Didn't your
lovely wife urge you on?
(Dick)
She's the one that threw me out.
She actually threw me out of
the house because my wife..
Let me tell you this.
I was watching Luke and
Laura on General Hospital.
I was so down, man.
I was down and depressed.
My career exploded.
And all of a
sudden you get fired.
No body calls you back.
You can't get calls.
You can't get anybody to
call you and return calls.
It was depressing.
And then, all of a sudden he
called me back a week later.
And my wife said,
"Go do the game.
"Stop feeling sorry.
"You're not the
first guy to be fired.
You're not the last guy."
I went and I did that game.
It was like a
fresh breath of air.
It was unbelievable.
I never thought..
So, Scotty kept saying to
me, "Don't go to coaching,
Dick."
He said, "There's something
you connect with people.
"You connect.
There aren't that many guys
announcing that connect."
He said, "You connect."
I didn't know.
What are you
talking about "connect"?
He said, "Whether they
agree with you or disagree,
"they react to you.
They react."
Well, 1983, I go to my first
Final Four as a TV broadcaster
for ESPN.
I walk in the arena and people
are coming up for pictures,
autographs.
And Scotty says,
"Didn't I tell ya?
"You connect, my friend.
You connect."
And right then and there, my
life sort of changed because
offers came.
And if you would have told me
from then on I'd have 13 books
I've written, that I've
been on David Letterman,
the Bill Cosby Show
when it was number one.
- You were offered a
sitcom, were you not?
- Yeah.
Well, we had so much fun.
They did a phony kind of sitcom.
But I was offered
an opportunity.
They flew me to
Hollywood to do a sitcom.
And when I got
done, I told my agents.
I said, "I'm not interested."
And they couldn't believe it
and neither could the people.
They met with me a second time.
You know we're talking a lot
different money than what you're
making in television.
And I said,
"I have no desire, none.
"I love what I'm doing.
"I'm making enough money.
I'm happy."
And I realized, you know, you
don't just run for dollars.
And I think too
many people do that.
- We only have a
few more minutes, Dick.
But I want to ask you -- is
there ever a point where you're
just -- leave me alone.
You know, I can't always be on.
I need some time to
myself and my family.
Does that happen to you?
- Absolutely.
But you know, I get so
much time with my family.
People that really know
me, my intimate friends,
know that every day
of my life, my wife,
my daughters, my sons-in-laws
and my five grandkids,
my whole life
evolves around them.
I'll be gone
tomorrow to a party today.
My little granddaughter,
Ava, she's ten now.
She turned ten yesterday.
Papa, Papa, you gonna
take me for my birthday?
I said, "Tomorrow, Monday night,
we're going out and we're going
"to have a great time at the
Cheesecake Factory and go out
for her birthday."
But my family..
A lot of people don't know
this but my daughters went
to Notre Dame.
I was telling
today Steve Erhart..
I said, "A lot of people don't
know it cost me a lot of money,"
because I closed my calendar
from Thursday to Sunday and I
have a lot of offers to
speak making a lot of money,
because I do a lot
of corporate events.
And I said, "I'm not going."
I did not miss, in four years
that my daughter was at Notre
Dame, I did not miss one
Notre Dame home football game.
And I would always take some
couple with me that was good to
me whether it be
from New Jersey,
somebody who was good to me in
my career would be my guest.
And we would go to South Bend,
Thursday to Sunday
and see the Irish.
And my daughter who started off
with like six people and then it
ended up with like 30 every
Friday night and Saturday.
All their friends and you
know whw picked up the tab.
It cost me a lot of money.
- Dick, I like to end all our
interviews with something I call
"Five for the Road."
So, I just need a quick answer,
first thing that comes to mind,
simple questions.
Favorite professional
sports team of all time?
- Favorite sports..
Oh, you're kind of tough.
You're kind of tough, man.
Wow, this just floors me.
Favorite pro team,
probably, I would have to say,
uh, growing up as a kid, the
Yankees when they had the great,
great players, man.
When they had all those guys.
- They weren't too shabby.
How about your favorite
pro athlete of all time?
- Favorite pro
athlete, Magic Johnson.
I love Magic for his
passion and pride.
- What's your favorite
music or musician or band?
Who do you like to listen to
when you just kick back and
listen to music?
- I love all kinds of music but
give me Kenny Chesney and give
me Lionel Richie.
- Really?
So, a little country, a
little bit of R and B soul.
- We are absolutely
fanatics, my wife and I,
for concerts.
We go to concerts galore.
Every kind from Josh
Groban to you name it.
Hey, I got a great Josh Groban
story if you want to hear it?
I'll give you a quick one.
Josh Groban.
Wife comes home so we go to
see Josh Groban in concert.
I said, "I'm not
going to see Josh Groban.
"I don't know Josh Groban.
I don't know his music."
And, "No, no, you gotta go."
My daughter says he's great now.
So, I put on
Twitter that I'm going.
I put on Twitter..
I have 700,000 followers.
Hey, tell me about
this guy Josh Groban.
Is he any good?
I'm going to see him.
I get all these Tweets.
He's fantastic.
He does the prayer.
Middle of the
concert, he's singing.
The place is packed.
Twenty thousand people.
Josh Groban goes to the crowd,
"I understand Dicky V is in the
"house and he sent a Tweet out
wanting to know if I'm any good.
Am I any good, Dicky V?"
And then we met with
him after the show.
- And you learned quickly about
Twitter that it gets back to
some people that
you Tweet about.
Favorite movie of all time?
Can be a sports
movie or anything.
- I love "Rocky".
I love the original "Rocky".
- And finally, your
favorite TV show.
What's your simple
little pleasure?
- Ed Sullivan years ago, man.
Give my age away.
- What about in this century?
- My favorite TV show..
I don't watch much TV.
ESPN Sports Center.
- Hey, Dick, it's been
an absolute pleasure.
Thank you so much.
- You're well prepared, man.
You have a chance
in this career.
I wish I had your
looks and I was your age.
I wish I had some
hair on my head.
- The great Dick Vitale.
We'll take a break.
Overtime is next.
- T-O baby!
[laughter]
[theme music]
- We're less than two months
away from college football camps
opening up across the country,
but it's never too early
to talk pigskin.
Last year was the first year of
the national college football
playoff which resulted in Ohio
State winning the first ever
championship, taking
down the Oregon Ducks,
42-20.
With several weeks left before
the end of the regular season,
there was a lot of uncertainty
as to which four teams would
make-up the playoff.
The incredibly
competitive SEC West,
considered by most as the
best top to bottom division in
college football, had a
number of teams in the mix.
One of them was the surprising
Mississippi State Bulldogs.
In Dan Mullen's sixth
season at the helm,
the Bullies shot to number one
in the country for the first
time in school history.
And while the Dogs were unable
to sustain that top ranking,
they did go on to produce one
of their greatest seasons in the
110 year history of the school.
Mississippi State would
finish ten and three,
their second ten
win season ever.
They would also get
an invitation to play
in the Orange Bowl.
Once again only the second time
in school history the dogs got
to play in one of
the major bowls.
Last month, Head Coach Dan
Mullen payed a visit to Olive
Branch and our Sports Files
camera caught up with him.
(off screen male)
How did your spring practice
go and what did
you learn from it?
- Well, you know, I
think it went really well.
Really pleased with
the effort our team gives
and how our guys play.
We got a lot of
inexperienced players.
You know, we got
some guys coming back.
But for us, you know, we
like to have a lot of depth.
We play a lot of guys and
develop and roll guys through an
awful lot.
So, we got some
inexperienced guys.
We've still got a lot of work
to do before we play
the first game.
But we have a lot of time
until we have to play that game.
(off screen male)
What did you try to accomplish
in spring training?
- Well, just that to get
guys ready to go play.
Teach these young guys who
haven't played a whole lot of
football to learn how to
play with maximum effort.
That's really important to me.
And so, you know, if
we get those guys,
they're learning how to play
to the level we expect them
to play at.
(off screen male)
Well, you had a pretty good
year last year.
Ten wins.
How do you build on that?
- Well, we got to get 11,
12, 13 and 14 or 15 this year.
We got to find a
way to get more.
And, you know, I think
with our guys,
we've built the
program to the point where,
you know, we can compete for
championships year in and year
out and we need to do that.
(off screen male)
And you've got
Dak coming back.
What does that mean to you?
- Well, it certainly helps.
Anytime you have your starting
quarterback coming back,
it's going to help, especially
a guy as talented as Dak is.
Doesn't just help on the field.
It helps off the field.
Off season conditioning.
All summer long when we
can't be around the guys,
Dak's going to be
with the guys out there.
And, you know, I mean, pushing
guys and making sure they're
continuing to develop.
(off screen male)
So, um, you had some
good exposure last year.
Uh, Game Day from ESPN,
those guys showing up.
What did that mean to
you recruiting wise?
- Well, you know, I think
it's great for the program.
You know, I think a lot of
these young players that are out
there, they look and they look
at all of our players that are
graduating,
getting their degree,
how they're being developed
throughout their career and
their opportunity to go
on and play in the NFL.
We're putting as many players
in the NFL as any team
in the country.
And so, when you have that and
they can live all their dreams
at Mississippi State, they know
it's a great place to come
to school.
And I think that helps.
(off screen male)
What are your
strengths for this year?
- Well, I mean, obviously we got
a great quarterback coming back.
You know, we got
some guys coming back,
some good leadership on the
team with some great leaders
coming back.
You know, our
guys expect to win.
We've win and we
go to bowl games.
So, guys expect us to win and
go compete for a championship.
(off screen male)
So, what's your message
for the fans this year?
- Keep showing up.
We're on the right direction.
You know what I mean?
We've built this program from a
program where maybe going to a
bowl game was a great season.
Now we're looking to
win championships.
And, you know, we've done it
by selling out the stadium,
having unbelievable enthusiasm,
people wearing the school
colors, great pride.
And we need to do that.
Every game has got to be
sold out next year again.
We've got to have the hardest
environment to play in on
Saturdays and continue to build
on what we've built in the past.
- The Bulldogs will open the
2015 season on September 5th at
Southern Miss, and will begin
SEC play the following week when
they play host to LSU on the
12th at Davis Wade Stadium.
The NBA Draft is taking
place tonight and the Memphis
Grizzlies are set to
select 25th in the first round.
The Grizzlies have no selections
in the second round but a move
is always possible.
In other Grizzlies news, free
agent forward Jeff Green has
exercised his player
option for the 2015-'16 season.
That was certainly expected.
Green will make $9.2 million.
Of course Grizzlies fans are
awaiting the biggest news of the
off season and that is the Marc
Gasol decision which is right
around the corner.
Several national outlets
have reported that Gasol will
entertain offers from
interested parties,
but when it's all said
and done we'll re-up
with the home town team.
We will soon find out.
And that will do it for now.
Remember you can see any of our
previous Sports Files programs
by simply going to
our website, wkno.org.
Until we talk again, have a
great week and we'll see you
next time.
[theme music]
(female announcer)
Production funding
for "Sports Files" is
made possible in part by..
(male narrator)
Infiniti of Memphis has
moved to Germantown
road just half mile north of
Wolfchase Galleria and is proud
to support WKNO for its quality
broadcasting and service
to our community.
Quality and service --
No wonder Infiniti of Memphis
feels at home on WKNO.
CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED
BY WKNO, MEMPHIS.