01-13-2008, 04:47 PM
his first game will be Duke/UNC Feb 6
ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale has been cleared to return to broadcasting after successful surgery in December to treat ulcers on his left vocal cord.
A scope and analysis of Vitale's throat by Dr. Steven Zeitels in Boston revealed that the broadcaster had recovered sufficiently after the removal of non-cancerous lesions.
"I was in tears when he asked me to speak my first words since the surgery," Vitale wrote in a letter to fans. "Believe me, it was very difficult to go 3½ weeks without speaking! When he had me count to 10, I was so relieved."
Vitale is scheduled to return to the "Mike and Mike" ESPN Radio show on Feb. 4 and plans to call his first game on Feb. 6 between Duke and North Carolina (ESPN, 9 p.m.).
Zeitels performed the surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Before that, Vitale, 68, had never missed an assignment since joining ESPN in 1979.
ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale has been cleared to return to broadcasting after successful surgery in December to treat ulcers on his left vocal cord.
A scope and analysis of Vitale's throat by Dr. Steven Zeitels in Boston revealed that the broadcaster had recovered sufficiently after the removal of non-cancerous lesions.
"I was in tears when he asked me to speak my first words since the surgery," Vitale wrote in a letter to fans. "Believe me, it was very difficult to go 3½ weeks without speaking! When he had me count to 10, I was so relieved."
Vitale is scheduled to return to the "Mike and Mike" ESPN Radio show on Feb. 4 and plans to call his first game on Feb. 6 between Duke and North Carolina (ESPN, 9 p.m.).
Zeitels performed the surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Before that, Vitale, 68, had never missed an assignment since joining ESPN in 1979.