Dick Vitale Gala continues 'awesome' streak

Choose a favorite word between unbelievable, amazing or breathtaking, or add your own.

Whichever you prefer, it will not do the Dick Vitale Gala justice. No words can.  

At the 14th-annual gala, held May 10 at The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Vitale, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, was attempting to top himself again in terms of funds raised for pediatric cancer research.

The 2018 event raised $3.7 million for The V Foundation for Cancer Research so it was a tall order. This year, Vitale’s goal was $4 million, a massive number by any standard.

I have covered the gala three consecutive years. What sets this event apart, and why I think it is so successful, is Vitale’s dedication, in every sense of the word.

His passion for raising money is no secret. He is also a natural entertainer, making sure all his guests have a good time. He ribbed honoree and Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney for “breaking his heart” when Clemson beat Notre Dame, Vitale’s alma mater, in a College Football Playoff semifinal in December.

Vitale can make anyone smile. He also makes people care about a cause, pediatric cancer, that for some reason gets overshadowed by other cancer causes. It is a tough task to make people care, but he does it with relentless fervor.

“If it was not for foundations and events like this, there would be no hope,” honoree Avery Johnson said. “Doing research and (reading) social media posts every day in the build-up to this event, I could not believe how special The V Foundation is.”

Johnson, a former NBA player and coach, said he lost his mother, Inez Johnson, to cancer in 1998. It is personal for him, just as it is for fellow honorees Swinney and Chris Fowler, and those in attendance who have been touched by the diesease.

“I can’t tell you how much I love all of you,” Vitale said to his All-Courageous team, made of pediatric cancer fighters and survivors, including Lakewood Ranch’s Jake Taraska. His voice shook as he spoke. His eyes glistened.

It was not an act. It is what lives in his heart. It is, as Swinney said, what he has been called to do.

But could he get to $4 million? Packages to be auctioned included a trip to next year’s Kentucky Derby and this September’s U.S. Open Tennis Championship.

In the end, the gala raised more than $4.3 million, clearing the goal with ease. It brings the total raised by the gala in its 14 years to $29.3 million.

Unless you are present, it is difficult to describe the feeling the gala generates. Fowler called it nourishing, and he is not wrong. But it is also more than that. It gives your heart wings. It helps you believe in the impossible. It is catharsis personified as laughs and tears flow in equal measure.

I don’t know if the brilliant minds working to find a full-proof cure will ever find one. But I do know, as Vitale himself said, that dollars work. Without resources, millions of people stand no chance. Vitale gives them one, and you cannot put a price on that.

ESPN president and current V Foundation board member George Bodenheimer, Vitale’s dear friend, said it best.

“One of the things that made him famous was his superlatives,” Bodenhemier said. “From ‘Primetime player’ to ‘Awesome, baby!’ and so on."

He then turned and looked at Vitale.

“Every one of the superlatives you use to describe world-class athletes, describes your efforts to help people who are less fortunate.”