I got fired - November 8, 1979. And all of a sudden, I got a call, two weeks later, about doing a game on ESPN. And I truly said - Scotty Connal, the head of ESPN production at the time, was the guy that called me - I said, 'Man, ESPN sounds like a disease. What is ESPN? I know nothing about it, never heard of it.'
March Madness is an incredible three weeks. I firmly believe it's the greatest three weeks in sports. You have the Super Bowl; you have the World Series.
I'm living the American dream.
I'm a basketball guy. No sitcom guy. I don't care about all that jazz. I care about basketball. It's not me. And I stayed with what I did, and I'm very proud that I did that because I make a great living and I'm lucky and I get to be involved with the thing I truly love, and that's the game of basketball.
It is time for everyone to sit down - the NCAA, the NBA, the players union and the coaching fraternity - and come up with suitable solutions to these problems.
There's nothing like Cameron Indoor Stadium where the kids are right on top of you and the Cameron Crazies are going nuts. Rupp Arena with the Big Blue Nation and the passion of their fans is special.
I don't like the sleaziness, the corruption. I don't like the fraud that college basketball has become.
The Allstate March Mayhem Challenge is a great, great bracket challenge.
I have a problem with honoring mediocrity in so many cases over teams that have great years.
The NCAA model is outdated. If Steve Serby's a great player in high school, and an agent wants to represent you and wants to advance you money as a loan based on the fact that you're gonna be a high draft choice, so be it.
Mark Emmert, the head of the NCAA, makes millions. Coaches today are making millions. Who's not making anything? I don't want to hear about they get scholarships. Yeah, they get scholarships all right, they earn those scholarships.
One of my biggest gifts ever, my mother made a Yankee uniform for me as a little boy, and I wore it to bed dreaming I could pitch in the major leagues and then be a Yankee.
The biggest thing in my life - the biggest - is raising dollars to help kids battle cancer.
TV critics came after me for overhyping LeBron. A lot of people don't know this, but I didn't want to do the game. I told ESPN, 'We're making this kid into something special.' I always follow orders, whatever my people want me to do.
Bottom line: college basketball is broken.
I told them that I cannot lie when a writer asks me what's my feeling not doing the game. I said I have to be honest. And my honest reply to you is, obviously, I'm a loyal team player. I will go where my bosses tell me to go.
I still love the game. I still feel like I'm a 25-year-old. I really still love the game and feel as enthusiastic about the game as I ever have felt about it.
