Vitale comes up big in his 'Super Bowl'

B

ouncing around with the vitality of one of the children he loves so much, Lakewood Ranch’s Dick Vitale was delivering at peak performance.

“This is my Super Bowl,” he said in the cavernous and yet sold-out ballroom of The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota. “This is my national championship.”

Vitale, of course, was talking about his 2017 Dick Vitale Gala, his 12th annual event May 12 benefiting the V Foundation and pediatric cancer research.

Although he is 77, Vitale looks forward, talking about the 2018 Dick Vitale Gala, followed by the next, and the next, and the next. He said he has no intention of stopping.

Vitale said he will be working to fight cancer “until my last dying breath.”

On this night, though, he had to take care of the business at hand, and that meant raising money for children fighting cancer.

The crowd was told three things would happen by the end of the night. They would laugh, they would think, and they would cry.

In the immortal words of Jim Valvano, The V Foundation’s namesake, “That’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day.”

The tears did flow. Vitale’s voice cracked as he talked about former Lakewood Ranch residents Patrick and Holly Wright, who lost their daughter, Payton, to brain cancer at age 5 in 2007. It was just one tragedy that has turned raising money for pediatric research into an obsession for Vitale.

Other emotionally painful moments were part of the event as well. ESPN’s Chris Berman was being honored at the gala, but he was not in attendance. His wife of 33 years, Katherine Berman, died May 9 in a two-car collision in Connecticut. Berman’s presence was still felt. He sent a message, announced by former ESPN President George Bodenheimer, saying he was donating $130,000 to the V Foundation — $100,000, because it’s a “nice number,” and $30,000, representing $1,000 for each year he worked with the late John Saunders at ESPN.

Saunders had been the gala’s emcee for the past 11 years but died last year on Aug. 10. ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi did the honors this year. Vitale told stories about Saunders at a pre-gala press conference, relating how he loved children and how he spent his time at the gala giving hugs to those who were fighting cancer and telling them how strong they were.

On another occasion, perhaps sorrow would have been a dominating force. Not on this night, though. Inspiration always fights its way through when Vitale is involved.

Chills shot through my body when I heard Berman’s gift announcement. For a man going through an unspeakable tragedy to find room in his heart for a gift of that magnitude and meaning, well, it affects everyone.

By the end of the evening, after special sports packages were auctioned, cars were raffled, and Berman’s gift was announced, the gala raised more than $3 million for cancer research. Incredible.

It’s important.

Vitale, as promised, made everyone think. Only 4 cents out of every dollar donated to cancer research goes to pediatrics, a staggeringly low number. Why do we value children less in this regard?

And, yes, laughter was a big part of the gala as well.

Vitale was introduced by University of Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self, who began his speech by listing some of Vitale’s career accolades before diving into some less prestigious traits, like being unable to finish a complete sentence.

When it comes to entertaining, Vitale is second to none. He told Urban Meyer, Ohio State University’s football coach, that he would be sitting near the front of the stage at next year’s gala because University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh was going to be honored.

Vitale’s passion always draws the big names. Besides Berman, this year’s honorees were University of Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly and West Virginia University men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins.

Thinking ahead, as he does, Vitale has the guests all lined up for May 11, 2018. In addition to Harbaugh, the next gala will honor Florida State University men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton and ESPN broadcaster Mike Greenberg.

Personally, I can’t wait to see what Vitale does to top this year’s event.

I know he will.