Tv Talk

For 23 years Dick Vitale has worked at ESPN as a college basketball analyst, and he's doing awesome, baby! Just ask him. We did, and Vitale's abridged answers follow.

SI: Almost two years ago an off-duty fireman had to use the Heimlich maneuver on you at a Devil Rays game. What happened?

Vitale: I was having dinner at their restaurant. I was choking and turning colors. He came and gave me a bear hug. Beautiful guy, too. I met Mr. Heimlich, by the way. He's in Cincinnati.

SI: Of all your pet phrases, do you have a favorite?

Vitale: I like "diaper dandy." A lot of parents bring their babies to me and say, "Take a picture with him, Dickie V. He's a real diaper dandy!"

SI: Is your seven-month-old granddaughter a diaper dandy?

Vitale: She's definitely a diaper dandy. She's the joy of my life. I'm 62, but I'm acting 12. They just came out with a Dickie V bobblehead doll. Did you see it?

SI: Are you better looking than the bobblehead doll?

Vitale: The doll is better looking because I'm one of the ugliest suckers in America.

SI: Digger Phelps contemplated running for president in 2000. Do you wish that he'd won?