AUDIO: Dick Vitale Spot on Baton Rouge Radio Got Very Heated

Dick Vitale joined Jordy Culotta and T-Bob Hebert on the Off the Bench show on ESPN’s Baton Rouge affiliate — you can download it here. The interview got very heated, though it eventually calmed down as the respective sides did not necessarily agree, but reached an understanding:

There’s honestly no way to do this radio spot justice with a write-up. Like, even if you think you can imagine it, Dickie V. going on a protracted rant off the top before he’s even asked anything is something to behold. He has a genuinely fascinating perspective on this, in which he a) believes the players should be paid, at the very least in endorsements, but b) has an odd distinction where he thinks the report of Will Wade on an FBI wiretap is incontrovertible evidence that he’s dirty, but on the other side of the coin takes Rick Pitino at his word that he was ignorant of Adidas paying Louisville recruits. He explains it all and gives you a glimpse into his thought process but it’s difficult to agree with his conclusions.

One of the big firework moments begins at the 9:40-mark when they are kind of talking over each other, and then it crescendos into an irate Dickie V. yelling about being a guest on the show and being accused of defending hypocrisy. The other funny — I guess funny may be the wrong word for it — moment was around the 13:50-mark when they said, “How much did Duke pay for Zion, in your opinion?”

Anyways, you should listen to the spot because even as there was a supreme amount of tension, it wound up in an amicable spot in the end.