Dick Vitale seeks to turn Richmond joke into charity

Dick Vitale has turned the tables on Richmond.

The colorful ESPN basketball analyst not only is happy to eat crow for criticizing Virginia Commonwealth University's inclusion in the NCAA tournament — he wants to make money for cancer research with the banner that Venture Richmond created to poke fun at him.

"A super sign. Let's make dollars for kids battling cancer," Vitale wrote in a note this week to Aaron Dotson, co-owner of the Richmond advertising agency that designed the banner. "Get celebs to sign and auction. God Bless. Go Rams Baby."

So, Venture Richmond Executive Director Jack Berry is packing the 30-foot-by-20-foot banner in a very large suitcase and taking a VCU alumni charter flight to Houston for the Final Four and, he hopes, a meeting with the irrepressible Vitale.

"Dick Vitale has a good sense of humor," said Berry, who suggested the idea of an "eat crow" banner for a community pep rally before VCU and the University of Richmond played in the tournament's Sweet 16.

Reached by phone Wednesday night, Vitale said he spoke with VCU coach Shaka Smart earlier in the day and explained why he felt the Rams shouldn't have been picked for the tournament.

But Vitale said he has been nothing but impressed with VCU's performance since. "If somebody gives you an opportunity, you take advantage of it," he said, "and for that, I salute them."

He's looking forward to signing the banner for Berry in Houston and using it to raise money for the V Foundation to support research of pediatric cancer. "There's nothing I'm more obsessed about now than raising money for kids battling cancer," he said.

Vitale said he invited Smart to attend his annual gala in Sarasota, Fla., to raise money for the foundation, which was created in honor of the late North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano. The gala raises more than $1 million every year for the foundation, on whose board of directors Vitale serves.

And he loves the banner. "I'm eating crow," he said. "No doubt about it."

Since the pep rally on Richmond's Canal Walk, the banner has hung on the South Garage at Richmond International Airport and has been coveted by the Flying Squirrels baseball team for opening night at The Diamond, Richmond International Raceway for NASCAR weekend, the Greater Richmond Convention Center and the Valentine Richmond History Center.

That's when Vitale, delighted by the joke and repentant for his criticism of VCU, came up with the idea of signing the banner with the team and auctioning it for money to benefit the V Foundation.

The foundation makes grants for cancer research by institutions around the country, including the Massey Cancer Center at VCU.

Vitale started the ball rolling on his DickieV Twitter page on Monday, the day after VCU shocked the University of Kansas to earn a berth in the Final Four.

"Would love that banner to be signed by VCU TEAM & YOURS TRULY & AUCTION -ALL DOLLARS GOING TO V Foundation 4 Research," he tweeted.

Less than an hour later, Vitale added: "I am eating crow baby - Let's get banner signed by VCU TEAM & SOME CELEBS & AUCTION 4 Pediatric Cancer."

That got Berry thinking at Venture Richmond about how to take the banner, already featured in USA Today and other national publications, to a new level of visibility for the city.

Again, Vitale beat him to the punch, sending an autographed copy of his book "Living a Dream" and a handwritten note to Dotson, co-owner of Elevation Advertising, who received the package Wednesday morning.

"The spinoff benefits from VCU's amazing achievement keep expanding," Berry marveled in an email Wednesday.

Vitale stands by his reasoning on Selection Sunday, but he had this message for people in Richmond: "Tell them I love Richmond. I love Richmond, trust me."

mmartz@timesdispatch.com

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