Beware Ides of March and Vitale, Bay-bee!

March Madness is here and the “Mad Man” of college basketball, Dick Vitale, will be in full swing.

He has his critics in the media, but he told Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant: “You’re never going to please everyone, when you’re a different style and different personality.

“The bottom line is, the one thing I’m very proud of, in 23 years I have never, ever read a critique where they’ve ever questioned my knowledge of the game. You get some that will question my style and say I talk a little too much or I’m too loud or I get a little too enthusiastic.

“You know what? You don’t have to go to Harvard to figure that out. I could tell you that.”

Comment: You’re awesome, bay-bee.

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Trivia time: Who holds the Pacific 10 Conference men’s basketball tournament record for points in a game?

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Give him credit: Skip Bayless in the San Jose Mercury News: “Many fans, blinded by the spotlight on Barry Bonds’ arrogance and aloofness, still view him as The Bad Guy Who Makes Way Too Much Money.

“I view him as the best value in baseball.... Barry Bonds is living, breathing, slugging Cooperstown. Seeing him still in a Giants uniform isn’t a pain. It’s a privilege.”

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Sounds familiar: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Mike Tyson’s attorney [now there’s a job] is asking the Nevada State Athletic Commission to reconsider its refusal to license Tyson.

“Evidently the attorney heard a rumor that the French commissioner is waffling.”

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More Ostler: “The president of the French Skating Federation says: ‘It was total nonsense to award two gold medals.’ He probably added, ‘If the Canadian skaters want gold medals, they should get ‘em the old fashioned way--by trading votes.’”

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Misconception: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel on the Arkansas basketball situation: “The saddest part of the whole ordeal is that Nolan Richardson always claimed the world didn’t give him enough credit, but he really didn’t give the world enough credit.

“We saw him for what he was--a great coach and a traiI blazer in his profession. He saw us for what we weren’t--racists and bigots.”

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It’s a sit-down sport: According to the Daily Record of Glasgow, Scotland, a series of pregame warmup exercises has been developed for soccer fans.

A new study discovered that up to 400 fans are treated for injuries each season at games in Britain’s Premier League.

The most common injuries are sprains to the neck, shoulders and back, when fans jump up too quickly to cheer goals.

Wait a minute! This is soccer. What goals?

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A place to be young: Florida Marlin outfielder Tim Raines, on playing at the age of 42: “But I’m only 32 in the Dominican Republic.”

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Trivia answer: Reggie Miller of UCLA, 39, against Arizona State on March 6, 1987.

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And finally: According to Manager Hal McRae’s new dress code, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays must wear high stirrup socks.

Catcher John Flaherty told the St. Petersburg Times: “Instead of one or two guys looking like idiots, now we all look like idiots together.”