Dick Vitale All-Access Special airs tonight on ESPNU

The Dick Vitale All-Access show will air tonight at 6 p.m. on ESPNU prior to the Duke-North Carolina he will call for the 40^th time in this storied rivalry.

The sports network is calling the half-hour piece a “never-before-seen-look” at Vitale, one of the most recognizable voices in sports television and Lakewood Ranch resident.

ESPN cameras followed the basketball icon around the past two months and filmed Vitale at some of his favorite spots, including the Broken Egg restaurant in Lakewood Ranch.

They also videoed him playing with his grandchildren in his Lakewood Ranch home and moving around the area going from Sarasota to Lakewood Ranch as many onlookers treated him like a national hero.

Cameras also followed Vitale for a typical college basketball work week, which included NC State and North Carolina game on January 26^th and two days later as he announced the St. John’s at Duke game with Brent Musburger.

When he is not hanging with family and or calling games, Dickie V sets up his self made office at the Broken Egg in Lakewood Ranch where he works to raise money for the Jimmy V Foundation in his fight against pediatric cancer.

The All-Access Dickie V will also re-air next Wednesday at 5 pm and 6:30 and at other to be determined times.

ESPN comes to Bradenton to film Dick Vitale special

ESPN will be in town with cameras rolling this week as part of a special it is doing on Dick Vitale, Lakewood Ranch's most famous citizen and college hoops guru.

The television network is filming a documentary half-hour piece on Vitale for a program called "All-Access with Dickie V" to air on ESPNU on February 7th prior to the Duke-North Carolina game basketball game.

On Friday, the ESPN crew and Vitale will be at the Broken Egg Breakfast and Lunch Restaurant in Lakewood Ranch between 9 and 9:30 am and spend most of the morning there. It is located on 6115 Exchange Way.

ESPN and Vitale will be at the Broken Egg in Siesta Key on Thursday at 9:30 am and later that morning at the Broken Egg in Lakewood Ranch.

The public is invited to meet Dick Vitale personally, receive an autograph and take photos with him. They might get a chance to see themselves on the ESPN special that will air nationally.

"Dickie V" eats at the Broken Egg in Lakewood Ranch nearly every day and considers it his home away from home.

The Broken Egg helps Vitale raise money for the V Foundation for Pediatric Cancer Research through private donations and sales of various items, including books. Some of the families touched by Vitale have eaten breakfast with him at the restaurant and shared their emotions.

Rudd leads USF and provides ESPN with highlight reel

Right now Victor Rudd might be the most famous player on a USF men’s basketball team, which is starting to get a lot of attention.

The 6-7 swingman scored all of his 24 points in the second half Wednesday night to lead the Bulls to 64-49 victory over St. John’s. The win gives USF (11-8 overall) a 4-2 Big East Conference, which is their best start since joining the league in 2005.

Rudd knocked down 5 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc, but his so-called “shot heard round the world” (at least ESPN’s world) was a thunderous dunk. It earned him a spot in ESPN’s top 10 highlights for Wednesday night.

The recognition has been a long time coming for Rudd, who transferred to USF from Arizona State. His 24 points was the fifth best total for a half in USF history.

Ironically Rudd missed all five his field goal attempts in the first half, but during warm-ups prior to the second half his shot started to fall and it give him confidence.

"When I got back out there in the second half I made every shot in warm-ups, so I felt good," Rudd said. "To get my first shot off and going from that it gave me a lot of confidence.”

Rudd started off the season strong, then struggled and found himself coming off the bench. It might have provided a spark and no one feels better than Bulls head coach Stan Heath.

"I've seen a change, especially with the attitude, just working and being a more complete player since the New Year," USF head coach Stan Heath said. "Those things that he's doing today, we see that in practice and we're just like, 'Man, I want to see that in a game.' It took him a while and hopefully this is a coming-out party that he'll be consistent like this.”

The Bulls lead the Big East in scoring defense, allowing 57.6 points per game. They are second in rebounding defense and third in 3-point field goal defense (30 percent).

Back in the blogging saddle; Allen Sack said it best

Back into blogging after missing a week or so to concentrate on series regarding how the NCAA mistreats college athletes and then pre-season football tab.

On that series note, don't let what is happening at Miami fool you into thinking college football players are living a country club existence. They often work 18 hours a day on their job of playing football and going to class.

A lot take under the table handouts, but for many its to survive because as has been documented by the NCAA itself scholarships do not over full cost of attending college not to mention medical benefits;__ which most players have to pay for on their own unless they have a Pell Grant or can qualify for some financial assistance.

Allen Sack (above) said it best in comparing the current state of the NCAA with prohibition.

The problem is up top. With many football and basketball coaches making $1 million upwards the balance is out of whack.

That's more than most college presidents make and players are not naive like they might have been 20-30 years ago.

Things are only going to get worse unless the NCAA changes its ways or the FBS (formerly I-A) football programs bolt and form their own organization, which they already have in a way with the BCS.

The best line from the series from this perspective was Allen Sack's analogy that today's NCAA with its rules resembles what the government tried to do with prohibition.

Here is a look back at that classic statement, which ESPN basketball guru Jay Bilas tweeted as something he thoroughly enjoyed.

“This is like prohibition and outlawing alcohol merely led to an outbreak of the worst kind of crime in the nation’s history with Al Capone, Chicago and the mobs,” Sack said. “What we have here is a system out of control where most nice, regular, good people say it is corrupt and therefore athletes are violating rules because they don’t believe the people who run this thing are really honest."

Raheem Morris: Bucs are "Youngry"

Is Raheem Morris becoming the master of the cliche or maybe just looking to replace Jay Leno or one of those other late night talk show hosts someday.

The Tampa Bucs head coach may have had the phrase of the year last season when he coined the phrase "Race To 10" referring to his desire to his young team turn around a three win season from a year ago and win 10 games.

People laughed and some in the media ridiculed him, but they got their 10. Now Morris is at it again and this time no one is laughing.

He called his Bucs team "Youngry" in an ESPN article which has to be the quote of the pre-season so far.

Real simple, the youngest coach in the league is coaching the youngest team and it's hungry, the coach says.

The average age of the starters on the depth chart the Bucs released this week is 25.9 years-old and of those 22 thirteen are 25 or under.

Winning 10 games, but failing to qualify for the playoffs has made his team hungry and they are still young.

So take it to the bank the Bucs are "Youngry"

Dick Vitale fest set for Friday at Cafe Gabbiano

Dickie Vitale at it again

The legendary college basketball commentator never seems to run out of ideas or energy to raise money for those cancer fighting kids he has symbolically adopted all over the world.

This Friday night he is hosting a dinner party to top all dinner parties (if that is possible with this guy) at Café Gabbiano in Siesta Key Village.

Vitale says for $95 a person can enjoy a seven course meal, including wine with the proceeds going to his Vitale Gala, which raises money every year for pediatric cancer. The first 200 persons to sign up will get in.

“Peter and Susan Migilaccio (Gabbiano owners) are donating their restaraunt and food and for this cause because they want to help people battling cancer,” Vitale said. “We will have parents there who have lost their children to cancer in honoring Payton Wright, the daughter of Patrick and Holy Wright and Adrian Littlejohn, the son of Anthony and Ivette Littlejohn.”

Anyone who desires to attend should call ahead for reservations at 941-349-1423. All proceeds will be used to benefit cancer research, Vitale said.

Washington could play in Thursday's ESPN game

Local fans hoping to get a glimpse of hometown hero Fabian Washington in the Baltimore Ravens pre-season opener this Thursday night on ESPN may have to wait until kickoff to see if he is going to play.

The former Bayshore High standout is coming off ACL knee surgery and Ravens head coach Jim Harbaugh doesn’t want to risk anything with his starting cornerback though he has looked impressive during camp and has made what appears to be a speedy recovery.

Washington started 10 games last season before being shelved with his injury. He wasn’t expected to play again until close to the regular season opener. But he has been practicing well and showing the speed and agility that made him first round pick out of Nebraska in 2005.

Harbaugh said the 27 year-old Washington could play, but he is not sure whether he wants to risk injury in the game against the Carolina Panthers. Kickoff is for 8 p.m.

“He’s ready to go. It’s just a matter of whether we want him to go. I think we’ll take him out during pregame and see how much work we get done, and we’ll just decide. But, we’re not going to push it, I can tell you that,” Harbaugh said in his Tuesday press conference.

Naturally Washington said he wants to play, but will go along with whatever Harbaugh decides. He has been practicing with the first team defense the last three days. The Ravens have really been banged up in the secondary.

Boe Brand now a 3-star prospect

Southeast High receiver Boe Brand recently picked up his first stars, which means he is now an official highly touted recruit. The 6-1, 160 pounder received 3 stars from ESPN, which believes he has the talent to be a success at the next level.

ESPN loves his hands and quickness and calls him an explosive athlete who can take off after the catch or use hi speed to get open. The big question is his durability.

Brand is a popular prospect in the Big East Conference. He has been offered by Big East schools USF and Rutgers and his other BCS offer is from Illinois. He has also been offered by UCF, Bowling Green, FIU and Kent State

During the recent 7 on 7 tournament at IMG, Brand showed a knack for getting open and using his leaping ability to go over the top of defenders to make a catch.

Former Southeast star receiver Peter Warrick, who starred at FSU and was a first round draft choice for Cincinnati, believes Brand is a big time prospect and has all the tools to make an impact on the major college level.

The biggest criticism of Brand is his lack of weight. Listed at 160 pounds, ESPN says he is one of the “skinniest” receivers it has seen in years. However, weight is not much of a factor at that position for a college, which has time to get him bigger. They can redshirt a player for a year, get him in the weight room and beef him up.