Dick Vitale is back just in the time for the Duke-North Carolina game tonight

February 6th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

When Dick Vitale took a leave of absence from ESPN back in December to undergo surgery on his throat, I was quick to point out I liked the guy because unlike the rest of us mopes, he genuinely seems to enjoy every waking second of his job. This, I felt, should be celebrated.

However,  there was one caveat: I certainly understood why some people find his bit somewhat annoying. Well prepare to be more annoyed, friends. Turns out Dick Vitale will be back in full force tonight for the Duke-North Carolina game. Because, you know, he would never miss that. Some details of his recovery from the NY Times:

“I just always thought I had this loud way about me, you know, the throat became my sound, whether it was clear or not,” he said. “It’s helped me make my living.”

Zeitels, who had barely heard of Vitale before treating him, said the vocal-cord damage was “commensurate and reflective of his career; nothing out of the ordinary.”

But Vitale could not be certain what would come out of his mouth after surgery.

Zeitels ordered him not to speak for three and a half weeks, accomplishing by medical fiat what his critics have wished he would do for years.

“It was very, very weird,” Lorraine Vitale said. “He was never without his dry erase board. He wrote the way he talks. Very urgently.” She mimicked his impatient gestures as she sat beside him at his daily breakfast spot here, The Broken Egg.

Well, at least Vitale knows he’s loud.