Dick Vitale's Mount Rushmores of College Basketball: Solid Gold Prime Time Performers From My Four Decades at ESPN
328Dick Vitale's Mount Rushmores of College Basketball: Solid Gold Prime Time Performers From My Four Decades at ESPN
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Overview
One day, I was sitting with a bunch of my buddies and, as usual, the conversation was all about sports. We began to battle back and forth about whether anyone would supplant Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time in the world of basketball. It has been generally felt by many experts that Jordan has not had anyone equal his stature. The fun began as I said, wait a minute, what about King James, LeBron James!
Then the battle began.
Names came flying out, fast and furious. Jordan and LeBron, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, The Big O, Larry Legend, Magic Johnson. The hits just kept on coming. It was an intense back-and-forth, baby!
Well, that gave me an incredible idea. I went to bed that night, tossing and turning, thinking about picking the best of the best in my four decades behind the microphone at ESPN.
Then I simply said, I will call it my Mount Rushmores, the best four in various categories, Yes, the best coaches, players, etc. I think you get the picture.
I enlisted the help of Hall of Fame writer Dick “Hoops” Weiss and former ESPN research guru Howie Schwab to help come up with categories for our All Mount Rushmore teams. Together we developed this concept and I put together my lists for each group.
My friends, let the debates begin. I know you can make a case for different people in several categories. That’s the fun part, like being at a sports bar and debating who you liked more.
I could have gone with a number of people for coaching and playing honors. At the end, I made some tough decisions.
I do want to be very clear that all of my Mount Rushmore players and coaches are only from my era at ESPN, which began on December 5, 1979, when I worked the very first major college basketball game on ESPN, which was between De Paul (Number One in the Nation!) vs. Wisconsin. That is the only reason I did not include greats like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and the legendary John Wooden. They were just before my time at ESPN. I have the utmost respect and admiration for those guys!
I hope you enjoy my latest book. It was a lot of fun putting these All-Mount Rushmore teams together.
As with most of my projects, this book is really special to me because all of my proceeds from the sale of it will go to the V Foundation for pediatric cancer research. Please spread the word, as we must all unite to help kids battling cancer.I would appreciate it so much if you would make a donation by telling friends about this book and by going to: www.dickvitaleonline.com. All donations will go through the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781945907388 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Nico 11 Publishing & Design |
Publication date: | 10/15/2018 |
Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 328 |
File size: | 51 MB |
Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Dick Weiss has worked for the Philadelphia Daily News, New York Daily News and Blue Star Media since 1970. He has covered 46 NCAA Final Fours and co-authored 14 books with basketball personalities like Rick Pitino, John Calipari and Dick Vitale. Weiss has received the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Hall of Fame, the Bert McGraine Award from the Football Writers of America and the College Football Hall of Fame, the first Big East Media award, the preseason NIT award, the Edwin Pope award from the Orange Bowl and the Lew Klein Award from the Temple Journalism Hall of Fame. Weiss was recently inducted into the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame and is a member of the College Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame (Delco Chapter). He is a past president of the Football Writers of America Association and the U.S. Basketball Writers' Association. He and his wife Joan, an editor and author, reside in Havertown, Pa.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Bob Ryan
Opening Thoughts
Dick Vitale's Mount Rushmores of...
Coaching Royalty
All Impact Players
All March Madness
All Big Shots
All Lock Hall of Famers
All Mr. March
All Frank Lloyd Wright Coaches
All Dipsy Doo Dunkaroos
All AT&T Long Distance
All Thomas Edison Point Guards
All Human Erasers
All Windex Glass Eaters
All Bob Vila
All Velcro Defensive Stoppers
All One and Dones
All Prep Phenoms
All Passport
All Versatile
All Little Big Men on Campus
All Marco Polo
All Building Blocks
Players We Wish We Had Seen More Of
All Traveling Men
All Supporting Cast
All Golden Voice
All Zebra
Acknowledgments
About the Authors