Latest news with #Vitale
USA Today
11-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Dick Vitale says Florida Gators 'owned' transfer portal
The times, they are a-changin'. But college basketball's favorite elder statesman, Dick Vitale, isn't rolling eyes at the new age of the sport he's made a career coaching and commenting on. Vitale is instead embracing the age of the transfer portal and the way it has "reshaped the title chase overnight." With the bulk of the transfer pool now decided on their future homes, Vitale is taking stock of which teams made the most impact in the portal. While Florida didn't nab any of the five Prime-Time Players (PTPs) Vitale singled out, the Gators still check in at No. 4 among the teams that "owned the portal." "Reigning champs didn't need quantity, just quality," Vitale said. "Enter Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee, a backcourt quicker than an airline Wi-Fi drop. Todd Golden's chomp stays ferocious." Golden has already proven himself a maestro of the portal market. Every member of his backcourt Big 3 a season ago came to Florida, and there's a good chance Walter Clayton Jr. finds himself on the program's Mt. Rushmore if such a thing were to ever truly exist. It took Clayton and Will Richard more than a season to play their best ball, though. Alijah Martin hit the ground running as a senior, which is the hope for Lee, who was among the Ivy League's best a year ago. Fland already has SEC experience, but his freshman season was limited due to injury. Still, Vitale is right in that they are two big-name transfers for a team coming off a national championship. With most of the frontcourt rotation returning, there's a decent chance to repeat in both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Newsweek
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
Dick Vitale Defends Caitlin Clark Amid WNBA All-Star Controversy
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. ESPN's Dick Vitale is one of the more recognizable names in the college basketball scene. So when he speaks, most people listen. Vitale was among the many who were upset about Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark being ranked as the ninth-best guard by her peers in the player voting portion of the WNBA All-Star process after ranking first in fan voting and third in media voting — and he took to X to air his grievances. It's time for ALL in the @WNBA to realize the value that @CaitlinClark22 has brought. Many of the talented players r now getting recognition so deserved due to the PR Caitlin has delivered. ENOUGH ALREADY with the pettiness! — Dick Vitale (@DickieV) July 3, 2025 More WNBA: Fever's Sophie Cunningham Hit With Surprise News After Defending Caitlin Clark In an interview with Front Office Sports, Vitale called out those players who voted Clark as the ninth-best guard in the WNBA behind Atlanta's Allisha Gray (No. 1), New York's Sabrina Ionescu (No. 2), Seattle's Skylar Diggins (No. 3), Dallas rookie Paige Bueckers (No. 4), New York's Natasha Cloud (No. 4), and teammate Kelse Mitchell (No. 6). "I feel strongly that various players don't give Caitlin Clark the respect she deserves," Vitale told FOS. "What she has done to help the WNBA has been unbelievable. Think about it. PR excitement. Ticket sales. TV Ratings and interest. Salary increases. More charter flights than the past. Plus, she is so exciting to watch. Lots of jealousy." Clark, who was named one of two captains for the All-Star game, dominated the fan vote, earning a league-record 1,293,526 votes — significantly more than Napheesa Collier, the other team captain who finished with the second-most votes (1,76,020 votes). Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 17, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 17, 2025 in Indianapolis, WNBA: Major Details Emerge About Caitlin Clark's Signature Nike Shoe Thursday's outburst wasn't the first time Vitale had sounded off about Clark's treatment from the rest of the WNBA players. When the All-Star voting totals were released on June 30, Vitale once again was on X venting about what he perceived as "pure jealousy" toward Clark, who many believe has put the WNBA on the map since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2024. He doubled down 24 hours later, calling Clark "the best thing to happen to the WNBA," and stating the way she's being treated by the other players is absurd. Vitale also pointed out what he believed to be ungrateful behavior for all Clark has done for those players, which include the record television ratings, sold-out crowds, and the expected dramatic increase in player salaries in the next collective bargaining agreement. While some may not be defending Clark as passionately as Vitale, many other media pundits have pointed out the perceived irrationality of Clark being the ninth-best player at her position, given her decorated WNBA resume that includes a near-unanimous Rookie of the Year selection, an All-WNBA first-team selection, and a fourth-place finish in MVP voting during her debut season in 2024.
Time of India
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Caitlin Clark snub explodes into WNBA firestorm after Dick Vitale calls out jealous players
Caitlin Clark snub explodes into WNBA firestorm after Dick Vitale calls out jealous players (Image Source: Getty Images) The WNBA world lit up with debate after ESPN legend Dick Vitale slammed the players' All-Star voting results, calling out 'pure jealousy' over Caitlin Clark's low ranking. Despite leading in fan votes and earning a captain spot, Clark was voted just ninth among guards by fellow players. Vitale's fiery reaction has reignited discussion over Clark's growing impact and controversy in her rookie season. Dick Vitale blasts player vote over Caitlin Clark in July 2025 All‑Star selection On July 1, ESPN icon Dick Vitale known as 'Dickie V' took to X to criticize WNBA players' All‑Star voting. He pointed out that Caitlin Elizabeth Clark was ranked only ninth among guards by her fellow professionals. 'Absolutely PURE JEALOUSY,' he wrote. 'Someday they will realize what she has done for ALL of the players in the WNBA. Charted planes – increase in salaries – sold out crowds – improved TV Ratings.' Clark earned her All‑Star spot primarily through strong support from fans and media. She placed first in fans' votes and third in media rankings, securing her captain role for the July 19 event at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Still, the players' low ranking stung Vitale, who argued it betrayed a reaction rooted in envy rather than merit. Caitlin Clark's season stats and league impact draw both praise and scrutiny Caitlin Clark, 23-year-old guard for the Indiana Fever, has made waves since entering the WNBA. Despite missing seven of her team's 16 games due to quad and groin injuries, she still averages 18.2 points, 8.9 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game. However, her field-goal percentage sits at 39%, and she's shooting around 29.5% from 3-point range. Her strong fan following made history, she received 1.3 million fan votes, the most ever in WNBA All‑Star voting. She also claimed third place among media voters. But peer voting ranked her outside the top eight guards, which many, like Vitale, found baffling. Vitale argued that Clark's presence has boosted the league in obvious ways. He said the WNBA now has chartered flights, sold-out arenas, rising salaries, and stronger TV ratings and she deserves credit for all of it. Some analysts suggested that her low player vote could reflect concerns about her time on court. Missing nearly half the games surely made an impression among fellow players. Also Read: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Becomes NBA's Highest-Paid Player with $285M Thunder Extension After Historic MVP Season Still, Caitlin Clark's dominant fan and media support earned her a captain spot. Now set for the July 19 All‑Star Game, she will lead a team and has a chance to show why Vitale and many others believe she deserves every bit of the spotlight, despite some resistance within the league. Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Here's everything headed to DC for the Army's 250th birthday parade
As the Army prepares for its 250th birthday parade, the service is hauling in millions of pounds worth of military equipment into Washington, D.C. The parade is designed to tell the history of the service, highlighting uniforms and equipment that date back to the Revolutionary War up until the present day, Col. Chris Vitale, an officer in charge of Army birthday week planning, told reporters in May. Army equipment will be showcased at a staging area in the heart of downtown D.C., while others will be part of the parade as soldiers march down Constitution Avenue, dressed in historical uniforms that are being supplied by a production company. 'What's unique about this parade is that the march units are going to be all designed around that specific conflict area, so you'll see the ground platforms or aviation platforms that will be associated with that time period that will be timed with when that march unit passes through,' Vitale said. Some of the armor and aircraft headed to the nation's capital are the poster children of the U.S. military's World War II campaign, like B-25 bombers or the M4 Sherman tanks, which were the most common ones used by Allied forces. North American B-25 Mitchell bomber planes were used to bomb Japanese airfields in the Pacific and are famous for their use by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle in the Tokyo Raid on April 18, 1942. There will also be a P-51 Mustang, a single-seat fighter aircraft used during World War II and the Korean War, and a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft, which was used to carry paratroopers jumping into combat. Here's a list of the equipment that the Army is bringing in and using for the parade: Two M4 Sherman tanks One North American B-25 Mitchell bomber Four P-51 Mustangs One Douglas C-47 Skytrain One M4 Tractor One CCKW 2.5-ton truck One 37mm anti-tank Gun Six WWII-era Jeeps Three M151 Jeeps Two M35A2 2½-ton cargo trucks One M274 Mule utility truck 26 M1 Abrams tanks 28 Bradley Fighting Vehicles 27 Stryker vehicles Four M109 Paladins (self-propelled Howitzers) Five Joint Light Tactical Vehicles Seven M777 lightweight Howitzers Nine M119 smaller Howitzers Multiple variants of crew-served mounted weapons on different vehicles 17 Infantry Squad Vehicles One HIMARS battery with six trucks One MH-6 Little Bird helicopter, a small troop-transport helicopter used by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment One AH-6 Light Attack helicopter, the 160th SOAR's gunship version of a Little Bird One MH-60 helicopter from the 160th One MH-60L DAP (Direct Air Penetrator) helicopter, the 160th's gunship version of the MH-60 17 Black Hawk helicopters 18 Apache helicopters 10 Chinook helicopters Four Bell UH-1 Iroquois or 'Huey' helicopters Two Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopters One Hughes OH-6 Cayuse helicopter One Renault tank (a French-made light tank primarily used during WWI) 34 horses An Australian Blue Heeler dog named Doc Holliday, who is part of the 1st Cavalry Division's Horse Cavalry Detachment Additionally, 64 aircraft will fly over D.C., including modern-day Chinooks, Apaches, Blackhawks, and historic bombers. The Army tanks and heavy vehicles are arriving by train from Fort Cavazos, Texas, and will be driven by truck to the staging area in downtown D.C. The Army estimates it will cost the service between $25 and $45 million. It's unclear how much the whole-of-government cost will be for extras like D.C. city workers and security personnel with the Department of Homeland Security. This amount doesn't include any potential damages that the heavy equipment could cause to DC streets, although Army planners aren't expecting any, Col. Jess Curry, executive officer to the Army Chief of Engineers, told reporters in May. 'If there's any damage, the Army will be responsible for any damage and the cost,' Curry said. 'This staging area and the routes have been selected to really minimize the risk from weight and damage.' The only areas of concern are where tracked vehicles might have to make sharp turns or 'where the surface of the pavement would typically receive an exaggerated level of stress,' Curry said. To address those concerns, engineers are putting down metal plates that are similar to those seen on the streets of New York City, which are less than one inch thick and range from four by eight feet to eight by 20 feet. The Army is sending around 6,200 soldiers to D.C. for the parade. This includes soldiers from six bands, two equestrian units, seven historical formations, vehicle crews, and color guards. Trump will also be giving the oath of enlistment to 250 soldiers who are re-enlisting and other new enlistees. An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the P-51 Mustang, which is a World War II-era single-seat fighter aircraft A Marine Corps reply-all email apocalypse has an incredible real-life ending Army shuts down its sole active-duty information operations command Army plans to close more than 20 base museums in major reduction Former Green Beret nominated to top Pentagon position to oversee special ops The Navy's new recruiting commercial puts the 'dirt wars' in the
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Augmented reality can show local residents future building plans in real time — and Tampa Bay wants in
InCitu is an augmented reality platform that lets users see infrastructure projects on a smartphone. Tampa Bay's planning council is using AR to give communities a look at new infrastructure changes. This article is part of "Build IT: Connectivity," a series about tech powering better business. The climate crisis has intensified the frequency and severity of flooding for many communities, prompting cities to turn to climate-resilient infrastructure. At the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, a growing challenge is communicating these solutions to residents and officials. Sarah Vitale, the director of civic technology at the TBRPC, which provides local governments with technology to aid in climate resilience planning, including flooding and hurricane preparedness, often uses 2D images and renders to showcase new infrastructure, such as stormwater drainage systems. However, these tools failed to show the scale of the projects. Last year, Vitale partnered with InCitu, a New York-based augmented reality startup, to give communities a clearer picture of future infrastructure developments. "What better way to do that than to really let them experience it in real time in the physical space?" Vitale said. InCitu's AR platform is designed to help government agencies, real estate developers, urban planners, and architects show colleagues or community members what proposed buildings and infrastructure projects will look like once completed. "I wanted to communicate this type of information so that a non-professional can experience it as they walk down the street," Dana Chermesh-Reshef, the CEO of InCitu, told Business Insider. InCitu's technology has also launched in seven other US cities, including Washington, DC, and New York. Chermesh-Reshef founded InCitu in 2020 after realizing the usual software tools used to present infrastructure projects, such as PowerPoint presentations and 2D renders, struggled to show a project's full scale and scope from various angles. It can also be difficult to imagine a project in an environment like a conference room, entirely removed from where it will exist. InCitu's smartphone-based platform tackles this by turning 3D models into AR visuals, helping people see a project as it would appear in real life. Instead of using an AR headset, users can scan a QR code with a smartphone camera at a construction site — often a building, bridge, roadway, or sidewalk — to view the life-sized AR visualization. "You don't have to download any app. You walk down the street, there's a QR code on the ground or on the construction site," Chermesh-Reshef said. Users can use their smartphones to walk around a project and view it from any angle they can access. InCitu also supports off-site viewing, so users can view a 3D model of the project without visiting its geographical location. InCitu uses geospatial data, which draws on satellite and street view imagery, to decide where an imported 3D model should appear for on-site viewing. Geospatial data is also used to keep the 3D model in the right location as a user moves around it in the real world. Vitale encountered InCitu on LinkedIn in January 2024 while preparing for TBRPC's annual regional resiliency summit. This two-day event brings together roughly 300 elected officials, subject experts, and residents to find solutions for the region's climate risks. Vitale wanted a way to give attendees a scaled, realistic visualization of building changes and infrastructure that can manage flood risks. Vitale used InCitu to show three AR models of new projects during on-site visits near the event: a house elevated on stilts to demonstrate flood-resistant construction, a bioswale showing natural stormwater management, and a living shoreline that uses natural materials to combat eroding beaches. Vitale said that her organization's use of InCitu is still in the "marketing phase" and that its role at the resiliency summit was in part to let attendees and prospective clients know her team can provide AR technology for infrastructure planning. She said the reception so far has been positive. "It's not a big, dense document. It's something interesting that people can engage with and start experiencing a planning process in a new way," Vitale said. She added that AR displays can reduce the "engagement fatigue" that can accompany lengthy meetings and complex 2D visualizations. The technology's effectiveness convinced TBRPC to use InCitu for AR demonstrations at its 2025 summit in May. The organization also plans to use InCitu to educate students at local high schools about bioswales and other infrastructure solutions to flooding. "We can take them to a site that's full of concrete and show them other ways to naturalize the surface, to handle some of the water, when it's pouring rain," Vitale said. She hopes the technology will help students understand alternatives to less permeable "gray" infrastructure, like concrete. Vital said she expects the use of AR tools like InCitu to become standard practice in urban planning as newer, younger graduates with better knowledge of 3D modeling, AR, and other new technologies enter the field. So far, InCitu has made over 5,000 future developments available in AR, and over 250,000 residents have viewed future projects near their communities using the company's AR platform. "I'd like to see planning move in that direction, because of how powerful a communication tool that visualization is," she said. Read the original article on Business Insider
