You pity the text bubbles. They sit there in that rectangle, quivering with nervous anticipation. They dance and do their equivalent of a three-man weave. And then it comes: the bubbles are obliterated, replaced by a burst of photos, emojis and text blocks, so long they could be serialized.
These onslaughts, these cloudbursts of prose, emanate from the thumbs of Dick Vitale. Now 82, Dickie V is no diaper dandy, but he spends as much time on his devices—head down, hands out—as any teenager. And for the past few months, he has been texting in lieu of talking.
Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated
