I used to love him ages ago, but the schtick gets old. I guess that is true of any announcer (felt the same way about Berman and Madden). The two things that do bother me is a) the excessive Duke love and b) the blind eye
he turns to cheating programs and coaches. I think the only coach I can recall him having a problem with is Dave Bliss.
That said, I do think he is sincere and knows the game. He probably really is so enthusiastic and positive that it is hard for him to be critical.
I'd like to see him paired up with someone who would call him on his bs ("Aw sjhit Dick, not Duke agaaain" "Sure Dick, Calipari is great. How come I can't find his Final 4's in the record book...").[/QUOTE]
1. You'll be hard pressed to find anything overtally positive Vitale says about Cailpari. He'll say as many positive things about Slick Cal as he does some random program. He's not a fan.
2. Vitale is just as big a fan of UNC as he is of Duke. It's not a Duke thing. It's these 2 things...1) He loves front runners. No 2 programs have been more successful over his college announcing career as Duke and UNC. 2) He loves the ACC. He loves Coach K just as much as he loves Dean Smith. He loves the aura of both programs. He loves nothing more than Coach K's involvement in the Jimmy V foundation, which is almost his life's work. This goes back to his friendship with Jimmy V, Coach K, Dave Odom, etc.
Vitale is INCREDIBLY biased. He loves Duke and he loves UNC just as much. His bias is based on something positive though and as soon as people realize it, they won't be as hard on one of the nicest, most well-meaning people alive, despite his cartoonish schtick as a color analyst (a whole different story).