The major league baseball regular season is over and now it is playoff time.

It should be excitement galore in the Big Apple as the Giants and Mets meet in the NL wild card game. Toronto and Baltimore meet in the AL wild card game.

Noah Syndergaard and Madison Baumgarner are scheduled to meet in a thrilling pitching match-up in the NL wild card.

The second season is here and it will be thrilling, baby!

I had a real thrill as I was honored by the East Rutherford, New Jersey Civic Pride Association as Man of The Year. It was quite a celebration at Il Villagio in Carlstadt, New Jersey as I saw so many old friends and acquaintances, as well as a number of ESPN people who came to support me. Many of my former players from when I coached at East Rutherford High School, where we won back to back state championships in 1970 & 1971, were in attendance.

The Organization presented a check for $10k for the V Foundation that will go towards the John Saunders Research Grant.

I got the chance to spend time with family, friends and many young players who helped me realize my dreams.

They named the basketball court at the Grove Street playground, where many of my young players use to practice and workout, "The DIck Vitale Courts". It is a night I will always remember!

As we enter the fourth week of the NFL season, it is hard to believe that only five teams are still unbeaten.

When you look at the five, it is also surprising.

The Eagles are undefeated with rookie Carson Went at quarterback. Philadelphia is coming off a blowout of the Steelers.

The Vikings have not lost despite the season-ending injury to quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, followed by running back Adrian Peterson going down.

The Broncos are unbeaten even after Peyton Manning retired. Trevor Siemian has done a solid job at quarterback.

The Ravens have played in several Maalox mashers but still have a zero in the loss column.

Finally there is the Patriots, 3-0 even without Tom Brady in the lineup. Bill Belichick is one of the greatest NFL coaches of all-time.

We had a great time visiting the University of Notre Dame for the weekend. I went with my daughter Terri`s family and my wife Lorraine. Always a special time visiting this campus. Unfortunately, they were defeated by the Blue Devils. It`s a tough time as a football fan because Notre Dame currently has a 1-3 record.

I enjoyed speaking at the bookstore and sharing the game of life to fans and those that gathered.

We will be back for two games this year, as Notre Dame takes on Stanford and Miami as I return back with my daughter Sherri and her family. Let`s Go Irish!

 

It was a wild weekend in college football.

Wisconsin opened some eyes with a big win over Michigan State. Tennessee came back from a 21-point deficit to beat Florida. Stanford rallied to get past UCLA. Texas A&M remained unbeaten by besting Arkansas.

Notre Dame was stunned by Duke. That loss cost defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder his job. LSU lost to Auburn and Les Miles was fired as head coach. Georgia was blown out by Mississippi.

Next week included a big ACC showdown between Louisville and Clemson.

It has been an exciting start to the college football season. Alabama and Ohio State are ranked 1-2 in the polls, Louisville has been on fire, including a blowout of Florida State. There have been upsets galore too.

This figures to be another fun weekend as several ranked teams go head-to-head. Michigan State meets Wisconsin, Georgia visits Mississippi State, Tennessee is at Florida, Arkansas and Texas A&M square off in Arlington, Texas. Other games of note include Penn State vs. Michigan, UCLA against Stanford and Florida State against South Florida.

Enjoy another fun weekend of gridiron action!

Last night Buster Posey and his wife Kristen hosted a gala to raise money for the V Foundation for pediatric cancer research. It was off the charts! The passion and dedication that the Posey`s have to help kids is unbelievable. They are my kind of people.

Buster Posey, a baseball superstar, MVP, Rookie of the Year, three times World Series champ has never forgotten where he came from. He and his wife do so much including extending a hand to help young kids.

Winner of American Idol, Phillip Phillips, entertained and did a fantastic job. It was a wonderful night with laughter, emotion and jubilation as we raised $500,000 for kids battling cancer. It was awesome with a capital A!

I want to thank Larry Baer, President of the Giants, as he and his staff demonstrated throughout the entire evening.

 

My wife Lorraine and I were thrilled to share a day with Kristen and Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants.

Baseball superstar, Buster, is an MVP, Rookie of The Year, and three time world series champ with the Giants. I am honored he has united with me to raise money for kids battling cancer.

We spent the day at UCSB Benioff Children's Hospital where we got the opportunity to share words with a number of youngsters and pass out gifts. We gave away autographed basketballs and baseballs to the youngsters and their families.

Tonight Buster and I host a Gala at the AT&T ball park where we hope to raise a quarter of a million dollars for pediatric cancer research. Its been great sharing time with Buster who is an MVP both on and off the diamond.

I had a great time as guest speaker at St. Charles Prep School in Bexley, Ohio. I met so many outstanding students as I had the opportunity to speak in front of over 600.

It is a quality school that was established in 1923. 99% of every class goes on to to college and the discipline and work ethic from the young students is amazing.

I got a chance to meet some outstanding people including the principal, James Lower.

I also had the opportunity to speak at a banquet, which was a fundraiser for the school, to raise money for kids in need. Lorraine and I had an absolutely great time at St charles Prep. Thank you to all!

I am a big fan of tennis. My two daughters played in college ay Notre Dame. I love the sport and I really enjoy attending the U. S. Open.

You get to see the biggest names in the sport, up close and personal. Whether it is Serena Williams or Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray or Venus Williams, the big names are right in front of you. Catch them on the court at Ashe or even on the practice courts.

It is great to see the emotion of the sport in person. There were a lot of great matches while I was in attendance. I also enjoyed meeting a lot of avid sports fans. Flushing Meadow is a great venue and I had a blast at the Open!

The first full weekend of college football should be very special. California and Hawaii started the season last weekend, and there are eight marquee match-ups on tap for Labor Day weekend.

Think about the importance of some of these games. A loss could really hurt, though with so many teams playing competitive openers, you could see a team in the final four with a couple of losses.

USC takes on Alabama down in Arlington, Texas Heisman winner Derrick Henry is gone, but Nick Saban has lots of talent. Oklahoma and QB Baker Mayfield take on Houston. The Cougars would love to score a big win for the AAC.

UCLA meets Texas A&M, LSU battles Wisconsin, Clemson meets Auburn, Georgia faces North Carolina, Notre Dame battles Texas and Mississippi meets Florida State.

Wow, what a weekend.

I know there has been a lot of talk about San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick and his decision to protest during the national anthem.

He has a right to his opinion, but please respect the Flag as many of color have lost their lives protecting our freedoms. There are plenty of forums to express his opinion, but disrespecting the red, white and blue is not the answer.

The Olympics in Rio are over and it was very exciting. The US dominated the medal count, and there were so many dramatic stories told.

The USA men's and women's basketball teams got the job done and left with gold. The men played one of their best games in dispatching Serbia in the finals. The women dominated against Spain.

This Olympics will be remembered for names like Katie Ledecky, Michiael Phelps, Simone Biles and Usain Bolt. There was a number of other surprises too.

All in all, it was a dramatic Olympics. Now we can concentrate on baseball pennant races, baby!

The first week of the Olympics is in the books and we have seen a lot of drama, great performances and excitement.

The second week will produce even more action.

We have seen a number of expected stars come through. Michael Phelps was dominant again, finishing his Olympic career (at least for now) with 23 gold medals. Katie Ledecky was also incredible in the pool. Usain Bolt was the world's fastest man, beating Justin Gatlin in the 100 meters. Andy Murray was his second straight gold medal in men's singles.

There was new faces making noise too. Simone Manuel, Maya Dirado and Lilly King shined in swimming. Monica Puig was the surprise gold medal winner in women's tennis.

The biggest early surprise was the US women's soccer team losing to Sweden in the quarterfinals.

It has been fun to see the athletes performing well in Rio.

Friday will be the final day that Alex Rodriguez wears a Yankee uniform.

Will it be the last time A. Rod. wears a major league uniform?

Despite last week's press conference, Alex could decide to come back with another team to make a run at that special milestone of 700 home runs.

Friday night in the Bronx will be sad in a way. Rodriguez and the Yankees should be celebrating his success. Instead, the team is ending the relationship.

It will be dramatic, that is for sure.

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.