In This Corner

I first noticed this a week, maybe two weeks ago. One of college basketball's early games this season.

Dickie V's voice was a rasp. Hardly above a whisper. It was painful to listen to ... well, nothing unusual there. But in a different way. In a "shouldn't you be sucking on a lozenge and resting your vocal chords?" kinda way.

And then it struck me how much this guy has abused his voice, over the years. It has been his, uh, calling card as a broadcaster. Just shouting at the audience. "Better get a TO!" "This kid is a diaper dandy!" "Rejection City, baby!"

You know, all that old-guy quasi-hip ballin' stuff the onetime coach (yes, he really was a coach, a million years ago) has been bellowing at us for, oh, these two decades. If not three.

Who knew we could watch key basketball games (in this case, USC's not-quite-under-control kids losing to second-ranked Memphis, in overtime) without having Dickie V wake the dead with his screaming?

Well, we all knew it. Of course.

You wonder if he's just thrashed his vocal chords from all the years of abuse. Like some singers do. (Supposedly, Steve Perry of Journey has been reduced to a whisper.) Or some politicians. (Remember when Bill Clinton on the campaign trail was barely audible? Nice!) Maybe he will never be able to shout at us again?

Anyway, it IS possible to say something vaguely interesting or insightful about a game without having to yell it. Vitale is finding that out right now ... and maybe, just maybe, he'll realize the microphone is there for a reason, and give his voice -- and our ears -- a well-deserved rest. Right on through the season.

Or is that too much to hope for? Dickie V probably is seeing specialists, trying to get to the point where he can scream again. This is where we need modern medicine to just take a walk, baby.