Today was the 18th Annual Dick Vitale Family Scholarship Day at the Sarasota Boys and Girls Club. We honored 5 recipients with $1000 each.The honorees were Priscilla Angeles, Caylee Lombardi, Alyson Lorefice, Omar Lyons-Davis, and Alex Menese. Each year we give $5000 to outstanding members.

It was a great moment for me as I selected 3 members from the crowd who were intent on listening during my message of "Chasing Your Dreams".

My wife and I love the chance to help these youngsters each year!

Wednesday was a very tough day.

I was shocked and saddened by the news of the passing of my buddy, John Saunders. He was just 61 years old.

I loved my time working with John. He was such a special person, a family man who cared about others. He was always there to lend a hand to anyone in need. John meant so much to the V Foundation and worked so hard because of his pal, Jimmy Valvano.

John was kind enough to introduce me when I was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He also was the emcee at my Dickie V gala on numerous occasions and did a terrific job.

He will truly be missed. RIP my friend.

 

The Olympics are under way and there has been plenty of news already.

The US men's and women's basketball teams won opening games easily. There have been some surprises in men's basketball as Croatia stunned Spain while Australia upset France. Australia's women struggled to beat Turkey.

The US women's soccer team got off to a 2-0 start, advancing to the next round.

Katie Ledecky was dominant in setting and world record in winning a gold Sunday night.

There have been other surprising results. Tennis has seen several shocks, including men's number one Novak Djokovic losing to Juan Martin delPotro of Argentina. Venus Williams was eliminated in singles and doubles.

The games will be in the headlines for the next two weeks, enjoy!

The baseball trade deadline has come and gone and there definitely were winners and losers.

Texas did very well by adding Matthew Lucroy from Milwaukee to help with the catching duties. They also got Carlos Beltran, a veteran bat who has enjoyed a super season.

Teams like the Indians, Cubs and Nationals improved their bullpens with good deals.

The Yankees gave an indication that they will not make the playoffs this season, even though they are within 5 1/2 games of the wild card. Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Ivan Nova and Beltran were all sent packing. The good news in the Bronx is the strengthening of the farm system with potential future stars coming in several deals.

The Giants also helped their cause by adding Matt Moore from the Rays. The Mets grabbed Jay Bruce from the Reds. We will have to see how this all pans out.

I had a blast being a representative of UPS as they put on an incredible event for their employees to help raise dollars for the United Way Campaign. United Way does a great job of making sure they share dOllars with various groups in need.

It was great sharing time with, David Abney, CEO of UPS and Ed Martinez, who heads the UPS Foundation.

I cant thank all the people enough, behind the scenes with UPS, who made my journey to Atlanta very positive. It`s great to see people extending their hand to one another with love in their heart`s.