Mike Rice loves basketball! We have been on the road since we left PDX last Saturday at noon! We've been to the ATL, Memphis, Indy, Cleveland and just got into our hotel here in Milwaukee last night around 1:30 AM! I know I'm tired, but The Wild One is 40 years older then me. He woke up this morning and took one of our cars on a 5 hour drive to Minneapolis to see his son's Robert Morris team play in the first round of the NCAA tourney. He will drive back tomorrow and head straight to the arena to work. The guy is 75! He showed me he bought some of the 5-hr energy drinks for the ride. Say what you want about him as a commentator, but never question his love or appreciation for the game!
I actually like Wild Rice as a commentator, he's a blind homer and can't pronounce anybody's name, but actually does know basketball pretty well.
He's an X's and O's guy. I'm obviously biased, but the guy knows the game! Let's just hope the old goat knows how to drive!
I loved how he was turning "Varejao" into "Araujo" until Barrett told him to call the guy "Anderson". And 3 seconds after Barrett says "Voo-ya-chich", Rice says "Yeah, Voo-ja-chik". You could almost hear Barrett rolling his eyes.
I think if most folks realized he is just being crazy and joking around 90% of the time, they would figure out he is actually pretty cool.
Come on baby, you should have told him about me. I have a nice room waiting for him.. just have to kick out your wife.
Rice is 75? Serious? Man, he could retire if he wanted to. I would have put him at about 10 years younger. Serious, he's in pretty good shape for that age. Must be all of my cookies he ate.
as a hoops junkie myself, thats often a quality that endears some color analysts to me who others find annoying. It's easy to see that he does love the game and isn't just trying to paint by numbers with cliches to make it through the broadcasts. STOMP
Agreed. I am feeling the same way about Antonio, though I hope Channing takes over for him when he retires to Portland in a few years!
i'd be a little more impressed if it wasn't his son coaching in the game but still cool. apperantly MR has never seen his kid coach a game, that had to make the experience that much better.
Wouldn't that make him a Road Warrior? It would be awesome if somebody could do a quick photoshop of Rice's face on one of those guys. Edit: Nevermind I did a quick one. The crappiness makes it even better.