Dick Vitale to Have Throat Surgery, Out Till February

With that headline, there is a delicious-looking platter of irony sitting right in front of me, that I could easily enjoy and feed off for a solid 1,000 word post. But I have a heart and no matter my thoughts on Dick Vitale, surgery is a big deal and I wish him the best. The surgery will have him out until February, which could cause him to miss the first UNC-Duke game on Feb. 6. No matter what you think of the man, that game would not be the same without Vitale. Maybe he'll make a Willis Reed-like return just for that match-up (and then get lambasted for Duke-slobbering before the scar disappears). He wrote a letter on his Web site about the condition, which was a bit melodramatic, but used the opportunity to raise some more money for the Jimmy V Fund, which is admirable. Get well, Dick (seriously), I'll have to bite my tongue until you return.

Oh, and despite the title, URL and general subject matter of this blog, it will be active until February, in spite of this news.