Dickie V. is getting serious PT — as in playing time — in Hoopstown USA.
A banner showing ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale, beaming over a plate of crow, now adorns the South Garage at Richmond International Airport and greets visitors with a boisterous "Eat crow, baby!"
Next stop? The Diamond for opening night of the Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball season April 7. Then it heads to Richmond International Raceway in Henrico County for NASCAR weekend in late April.
At some point, expect to see the massive banner on the Greater Richmond Convention Center on East Broad Street in downtown Richmond before it lands in the archives at Valentine Richmond History Center.
"It's taken on a life of its own," said Jack Berry, executive director of Venture Richmond, which ordered the banner late Monday afternoon for a community pep rally less than 48 hours later.
The banner, 30 feet tall and 20 feet across, takes square aim at Vitale for his nationally televised denunciation of the NCAA's selection of Virginia Commonwealth University for its men's basketball tournament.
Then the Rams won three games to advance to the Sweet 16 for the Southwest Regional semifinals in San Antonio.
The $2,000 banner was designed by Elevation Advertising, a downtown firm that got the call from Venture Richmond just after 5 p.m. Monday.
"They asked, 'Can you help us poke some fun at Dick Vitale?' and we said, 'Absolutely,' " recalled Aaron Dotson, one of Elevation's owners.
A team composed of project manager Dana Craig, designer Taylor Buckholz and production manager Michele Mastrototaro had the banner design ready the next morning.
(Craig writes the Dining Out restaurant review column that appears Thursdays in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
Big Image Graphics, based just outside the city in Henrico, delivered the banner about an hour before the pep rally staged Wednesday afternoon by Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones with Venture Richmond, VCU and the University of Richmond, whose men's basketball team also advanced to the Sweet 16.
The banner was unfurled on the Vistas on the James condominium tower over the pep rally on the Richmond Canal Walk, but it soon caught the eye of media outlets across the country.
"It's made national news, which is the entire reason for doing it," Berry said. "If you get national attention, it's $2,000 very well spent."
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