In the holiday spirit, I have a sweet story to share. I was on a flight from NYC to the Final Four in New Orleans three years ago and seated next to me was a skinny 20-something guy named Mitch. We got to talking and I found out that he played basketball at Penn State. Actually, he played on a men's squad of solid former prep players who would scrimmage against the Nittany Lions women's team. Anyhow, he was really fired up about the Final Four trip. He said he was hoping to run into Dick Vitale so he could dial up his best friend Keith on his cell and hand the phone to Dickie V. Keith, Mitch explained, has cancer and been through a real traumatic time and would love to chat with Vitale.
Obviously the chances of randomly running into someone on Bourbon Street aren't great. I told him I worked for ESPN and, while I don't know Vitale hardly at all (I've met him twice) I was fairly close to Dick's right-hand man Howie Schwab. (Yes, the Stump the Schwab guy.) I though maybe Howie could hook it all up.
Fast forward a few weeks and I got an excited e-mail from Mitch talking about how Dick left this two-minute voicemail on Keith's answering machine and he heard it right after getting back from a rough chemo treatment. It blew him away. To be honest, it blew me away too. I am a bit of a cynic. OK, truth be told, I am the Mangino of cynics. Anyhow, this morning I received the following e-mail from Mitch:
Keith has always wanted to meet Dickie V. to tell him how much his call meant to him. Well that opportunity finally came on Friday night. Keith and I are big Duke basketball fans and a family friend got us great seats for the preseason NIT behind the basket. Right around halftime Keith decided to walk over close to the announcer's table to try and get Dickie V's attention. To this day Keith carries around a picture in his wallet of when he was the sickest during cancer (he weighed about 105 lbs, bald, greyish skin).
So, Keith went up to an usher, told him the story and pulled out this picture. The usher then brought it over to Dickie V who then proceeded to call Keith over. Keith told him the story and he actually remembered the time frame and said your name. When Keith told him he was now clean (approximately 3 years to the day he was diagnosed), Dickie V then gave him a big hug and had him tell the story to Sean McDonough and other people from ESPN. He then asked Keith what he was doing next week and told him he wanted to give him 2 free tickets and honor him on the court during the Jimmy V Classic (Dec. 6 at MSG).
The story gets even better. When Keith came back to our seats (with a smile from ear to ear) we called his father and my father to tell them the stories. A few minutes later, Keith's dad (who turned the game on and decided to TiVo it) calls us back to tell us that Sean McDonough, during the telecast, said that he needed to tell everyone about a story that just happened at halftime. Sean and Dickie V. proceeded to talk about Keith for about three minutes during the game. They mentioned his name a handful of times, told a part of his story, and how it was people like him who benefit from donating to the Jimmy V. Foundation."
