A friend of mine visited Florida a few years back and inadvertantly ran into Vitale at a restaurant inside of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays stadium while attending a game with his family while on vacation from NC.
Vitale took the time to say hi and chat with him and his family about NC, ACC basketball, Jim Valvano and many other topics. At the end of the conversation Vitale invited the whole family to drop by his home during their vacation.
Long story short..............they stopped by the gated community a day or two later and the guard had to buzz Vitale at his home to find out if this was legit. Vitale had the guard show them to his home where he proceeded to give them a grand tour of his home, trophy room, etc. (though I don't think Vitale's wife was real happy).
Needless to say, this was an experience that they'll never forget. My friend sent Vitale a thank you letter and a check for the Jimmy V Foundation when he got back to NC.
So, with Dickie V what you see is what you get