Talk about a great 74th birthday present for Dick Vitale.
The ageless one will be in Salisbury, N.C. tonight for induction in the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.
Vitale told Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times:
“It’s an honor that blows me away,” Vitale said. “When I look back at my career, I pinch myself. … It’s just beyond belief. To be selected by your peers is quite a thrill, and I’m just honored beyond belief.”
Beside Vitale, Mitch Albom is going into the Hall on the writer’s side. Dan Patrick is being honored as National Sportscaster of the Year and Peter King is the National Sportswriter of the Year.
For Vitale, quite a career for a guy who I thought was espn’s low-cost answer to Al McGuire, who in my opinion invented the genre. For Albom, much deserved. A master of the craft.