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Dick Vitale's Living a Dream: Reflections on 25 Years Sitting in the Best Seat in the House
The popular college basketball lead analyst for ESPN recounts his quarter of a century with the network and the many great players, coaches, and moments he's covered in the process.
275 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 30, 2024
Awesome Baby..!! Since I live in the same part of Florida, Sarasota, as Mr. Vitale, I’ve gotten to see him a couple of times. Over the years. I always write him a check to The V Foundation for cancer Research. This book was just like listening to him cover a college game — energetic and exciting. I’m praying he beats his own current battle with cancer and will be announcing more games down the road. That would be Awesome Baby..!!
January 26, 2018
very good
November 26, 2019
25 years of “It’s Awesome, Baby” where Dick Vitale tells his perception of college basketball.
December 18, 2020
If you like listening to Duck Vitale, you’ll love this book. Written in his voice, baby, he recounts special memories and talks about sports. A fun read. Like having him over for coffee.
July 19, 2014
I received a free copy of this book from an Express Employment seminar.
Yo, it's Dickie V, baby! He beat the ziggy and became a PTPer at ESPN! It's awesome, baby!
Anyone who understands that statement has heard Dick Vitale call games on ESPN and ABC. He first came on the network in 1979, and has been there ever since. He wrote this book in 2003 to celebrate his 25th anniversary on ESPN. Even he recognizes that he wouldn't have been hired by any other network. He didn't fit the mold. Ironically, he probably wouldn't be hired at ESPN today. Everyone is buttoned down. Dick Vitale is an entertainer. Someone once said, "I didn't talk to Dick Vitale for 6 months. I didn't want to interrupt him." Reading this book 11 years later, I noticed some things that were very prescient. He has an entire chapter on LeBron James, talking about what kind of an impact he would have on the NBA. As I was reading this, ESPN had 2 networks simultaneously discussing his decision to return to Cleveland. (It might have been 3, but I don't get ESPNEWS.) Dickie V got that one right. He wasn't so good at predicting other things, though. On page 219 he says, "[T]he greatest role models are those who have done things the right way an made good decisions their entire lives--baseball stars like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez[.]" If he were writing that today, A-Rod wouldn't be on there.
He also laments a lot of the changes in college basketball, especially players who opted to skip college and go straight to the NBA. He wrote this before the one and done rule, which states that a player can't enter the draft until after his first year in college. This was also before the lawsuit by Ed O'Bannon and other former college players saying that they are owed money for the NCAA's use of their names and likenesses in video games and other marketing materials. He would have a lot to say about that. He does talk about his personal life, and how things have worked out for him and his family. A bit dated, but all in all a good book.
Yo, it's Dickie V, baby! He beat the ziggy and became a PTPer at ESPN! It's awesome, baby!
Anyone who understands that statement has heard Dick Vitale call games on ESPN and ABC. He first came on the network in 1979, and has been there ever since. He wrote this book in 2003 to celebrate his 25th anniversary on ESPN. Even he recognizes that he wouldn't have been hired by any other network. He didn't fit the mold. Ironically, he probably wouldn't be hired at ESPN today. Everyone is buttoned down. Dick Vitale is an entertainer. Someone once said, "I didn't talk to Dick Vitale for 6 months. I didn't want to interrupt him." Reading this book 11 years later, I noticed some things that were very prescient. He has an entire chapter on LeBron James, talking about what kind of an impact he would have on the NBA. As I was reading this, ESPN had 2 networks simultaneously discussing his decision to return to Cleveland. (It might have been 3, but I don't get ESPNEWS.) Dickie V got that one right. He wasn't so good at predicting other things, though. On page 219 he says, "[T]he greatest role models are those who have done things the right way an made good decisions their entire lives--baseball stars like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez[.]" If he were writing that today, A-Rod wouldn't be on there.
He also laments a lot of the changes in college basketball, especially players who opted to skip college and go straight to the NBA. He wrote this before the one and done rule, which states that a player can't enter the draft until after his first year in college. This was also before the lawsuit by Ed O'Bannon and other former college players saying that they are owed money for the NCAA's use of their names and likenesses in video games and other marketing materials. He would have a lot to say about that. He does talk about his personal life, and how things have worked out for him and his family. A bit dated, but all in all a good book.
January 16, 2013
Really disappointed with this book. I bought it at a John Maxwell Simulcast and was expecting a leadership book with some sports metaphors. Not a simple recounting of Sports trivia and name dropping. Probably a good book for a basketball nut who reads but close to worthless for me.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews