Dick Vitale sounds off on 'sickening' behavior at conclusion of Michigan-Wisconsin game
Dick Vitale has no patience for what he saw at the conclusion of Sunday’s Michigan-Wisconsin game in Madison. After the Badgers registered an impressive 77-63 victory over the Wolverines, things got heated in the handshake line.
Michigan’s Juwan Howard and Wisconsin’s Greg Gard exchanged words following Sunday’s game, leading to a scuffle in the handshake line. No punches were thrown until Howard took a swing at a Wisconsin assistant, leading to the fight.
Howard was upset with a timeout Wisconsin took with only 15 seconds to play. Gard wasn’t too pleased with Michigan pressing with the game already in hand and the Badgers’ starters on the bench.
After seeing the fight, Vitale weighed in with some strong words on Twitter. He called the acts “sickening,” and is asking the B1G to levy a harsh punishment:
The time has come to eliminate the line after games of shaking hands . Too many incidents taking places with the action in the @BadgerMBB vs @umichbball being SICKENING . Punches thrown behavior was out of control & UGLY ! The @B1GMBBall Commish must act on what happened .
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 20, 2022
A pathetic scene after MICHIGAN gets beat by WISCONSIN . Teams lineup for handshaking & Juwan Howard & Greg Gard have words basically I think over Gard calling a TIME OUT with 15 sec. Left . Still no excuse for punch thrown by Howard at Ass’t of Badgers .It was UGLY . pic.twitter.com/H97U5DIwCZ
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 20, 2022
Lucky that no one was injured in the ugly scene after Wisconsin vs UM game . The emotions after games has created absurd behavior . Commissioners of each conf. MUST STEP UP & state any bad behavior in the handshake line will be SEVERELY PUNISHED/ if not GET RID OF IT !
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 20, 2022
It’s sad thinking about what I watched in that handshake line as the coach of a gr8 Univ. ala UM could not control his temper & nearly set off a full blown riot. INEXCUSABLE behavior by Juwan Howard MUST LEAD TO SEVERE PUNISHMENT. UM President & AD should take ACTION NOW!
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 20, 2022
Pls Juwan defend yourself from a guy half your size who wanted to explain y he called an ABSURD T/O. with 15 sec. Say what u want but be a REAL MAN & admit ur action representing one of the great State Universities was INEXCUSABLE .
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 20, 2022
Vitale has been an ambassador for the game for decades and doesn’t stray away from speaking his mind. Clearly, he believes some significant punishments will be handed down.
Both the B1G and University of Michigan released statements on Sunday shortly after the game. The situation is currently being evaluated.
