The end of an era comes Wednesday night.
Since 1979, Dick Vitale has called every Duke-North Carolina game ESPN has aired. All of the most famous moments—from the Blue Devils' Senior Day comback in 1998 to Austin Rivers' buzzer beater—have been accompanied by some variant of the following:
"He's Awesome baby, with a capital A!"
"Oh, he's unbelievable!"
"He's a PTPer, baby!"
But according to the Tampa Bay Times, Vitale will not be in Durham come Wednesday to dish out his classic Vitale-isms. The 75-year old sportscaster will not call the classic rivalry game for the Worldwide Leader in Sports for the first time in 35 years. Vitale will instead be in Knoxville, Tn., for the Kentucky-Tennessee clash Tuesday night.
The move is not indicative of any sort of diminishing role at ESPN for Vitale, though, as he is under contract through the 2016-17 season. Wednesday's game will be called instead by Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas.
Vitale responded to an email from The Chronicle Tuesday and reflected on his time spent in the crow's nest at Cameron, saying his heart will be there even if he is not.
It has been an honor to call every Duke-North Carolina game ever on ESPN for the past 35 years. My heart will be there, even if I am not there in person, as I have not been assigned the game this year. Dan and Jay will be terrific and I love ESPN as they have been like a 2nd family to me. I will do whatever games they give me. I know it will be another great game and I will always personally cherish my memories of the 35 years of being part of the greatest rivalry in college sports.
This article was updated Feb. 17 at 10:10 a.m. to include Vitale's response.
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