Billy Packer out at CBS?

[buddy]

I can't forgive him for "Duke gets all the calls" but I do remember in 1991 against UNLV when he said "tap it long" after Anderson Hunt's final miss. I just think Billy took himself too seriously. Al McGuire never took himself seriously (at least on the air) which was why he was so delightful. Dick Vitale has been good for the game, but if want to know what's happening in a game he calls you have to turn off the sound.

[ChrisP]

I too remember Billy from back in the "Thacker & Packer" Jefferson-Pilot days of ACC roundball. I also remember that he used to do color commentary for - and this is not a joke - Putt-Putt "tournaments". They used to come on Saturday afternoon, I believe. It was probably a regional thing.

Anyway...he has proved himself a major league jerk the past few years and I'm glad I won't have to put up with him any more during March. I really, really loathe the guy - primarily because I hold him responsible for the "Duke gets all the calls BS". IMHO, without that boneheaded (and inaccurate at the time) statement on national TV during the 2001 championship game, we wouldn't have been treated to that screw job against UCon in the 2004 national semi's.

Bye Billy - don't let the door hit you on the way out!

[rasputin]

Didn't he praise Guy Lewis's coaching genius when Houston started to let the air out of the ball in the '83 final?

[Matches]

I will miss his insight. Packer's knowledge of the game is unequaled among analysts.

I will miss having at least one College BBall announcer who refused to spend airtime pontificating about how every player would fare at "the next level". I get extremely tired of hearing about the NBA all through a college game.

I will NOT miss the constant negativity, the obvious bitterness toward... something, not really sure what, or the seeming need over the last few NCAA Tournaments to make himself the center of attention/ controversy.

I'm not real sure we got an upgrade in Kellogg, though - never been a fan of that one.

[weezie]

You know, I wonder if the deciding factor for the suits at CBS was Packer's announcement that "this game is over," when KU went up 40-12 over UNC in the FF. I mean, that's as close to unforgivable as it gets in the TV business.

sagegrouse

You took the words right off my screen.
At least Ol'Billy got to go out on an HISTORIC game!

[brevity]

Everyone here is forgetting something...

With Billy Packer gone, who at CBS is going to use their Selection Sunday spotlight not to analyze the matchups, but air their bracket grievances to a tired and unprepared head of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, making him squirm in his seat?

Say what you will about Packer as an analyst, but that crusty old man speaks for all of us in that moment. It's just great television.

[BobbyFan]

Count me in as another contrarian. Although he had slipped in recent years, Packer was my favorite analyst. No, I would not like to hang out with him. And yes, he was cocky. But I'd take cocky and willing to say what's on his mind over weak and buttered commentary any day.

[DevilDan]

With 27 years doing the Final Four, and at age 68, maybe it's just TIME for Packer to go. I watched him play at Wake Forest with the great Len Chappell, during the Art Heyman/Vic Bubas years. It was said at the time that he would have given anything to be a Blue Devil, but that Duke wasn't interested in recruiting him (if anyone can shed more light on that, please do...).

Later at the microphone, the Packer & Thacker combination was OK at best, but I could not fathom why they wanted BP to announce the starting lineups on the PA before the ACC games... huh? He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else on earth during those moments.

Then came his best work, with the LATE, GREAT Al McGuire, and Dick Enberg for NBC. With little college ball on TV at the time, they helped put the game on the map. Enberg was (and still is) solid as the announcer, we got to see the playfulness and truly likeable character of Coach, and we saw the evolving combative side of Packer, whenever he felt his knowledge of the sport was "threatened".

At one point in a game, Coach and Packer were going back-and-forth, with Coach obviously enjoying the sparring match... Packer had enough, and screamed out "I know the GAME !" ... to which, Coach responded very calmly, "But I know the KIDS..." I learned all I needed to know about Packer's attitude that day. Still, I'd shoot hoops outside every Saturday with one eye on my watch, counting the minutes before running inside to turn on those NBC games with the three of them.

In the NCAA Tourney games years later, he had great insights that he chose to (unfortunately) shove down our throats, rather than simply share with us. When Coach K started taking his DUKE teams to the Final Four with regularity, it seemed that Packer emphasized calling them "Duke University" in a somewhat condescending tone of voice. (Still wincing about the early 60's, perhaps?)

The past few years, his negative atttitude on the air was obvious. It reminded me of the way Howard Cosell became in his later years--little enjoyment for the game, and open disdain of others and their shortcomings. Some of the posts are mentioning Dickie V, and comparing the two.

While I want to strangle Dickie V at least 5 times each game, he truly loves the sport and the kids, and it shows. When Dickie V leaves, I'll feel a loss. Today, I just can't say I feel that way. Good luck to Clark Kellogg, it's fine with me if he grows into his role alongside Jim Nantz. Just bring on March Madness !

GO DUKE ! ( UNIVERSITY ! )

[Son of Mojo]

Really never cared for Packer because of his Duke bashing & his ability to beat a dead horse to where he'd leave bruises, but when he could be objective he did have the ability to break down and call a game very well. Anyone believe he'll be signed to do ACC broadcasts now this season along with potential espn/abc work? FYI--cannot express any love for McGuire (don't want to talk ill of him because he did have a good mind for the game but he just had a quality on-air I wasn't fond of) and certainly NONE for Elmore...his haterade for Duke drives me nuts. Y'all remember hearing Kenny Smith call ACC games on FoxSports a few years ago? THAT was truly abomidable broadcasting

[moonpie23]

HEY HEY TAKE IT AWAY - GIT THAT BALL AND..... git rid of Stephen A AND bomani "i took over 850the-buzz-and-nobody-listens-anymore" jones...

look...if packer can close up shop, SURELY we can get THESE hacks off the air...




oh...i got packer with the "horns" on national tv from littlejohn col....i guess it just took a long time to mojo him...

[EarlJam]

Goodness, you are easy to please!

Really!

-EJ

[billybreen]

Yessssssssssssssssssss!

[dukemomLA]

Can't believe that there hasn't already been a thread started.

My comment: Thank God for small favors. It's about time.

[devildownunder]

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Packer knew the game and knew how to impart his knowledge of the game better than anyone else I ever heard. College basketball will never be the same without him.

I'm sure most on DBR are thrilled about this. I am not among that number. Everyone, everywhere seems to think he has some axe to grind against their school or team. The truth is, he didn't favour anyone or call games with some agenda to pump sunshine or tout favorites. He told it the way he saw it. And about 95 percent of the time, the way he saw it was the way it truly was.

That's so rare in sports broadcasting that anyone with such a style comes off to the masses as a bitter curmudgeon.

Sad.

Be well, BP. Some of us WILL miss you.

[Bob Green]

Can't believe that there hasn't already been a thread started.

My comment: Thank God for small favors. It's about time.

There was a thread started. It is this thread that I just merged your post into. You might try utilizing the search function or actually reading the board before you post.

[gw67]

The DBR write-up and the links they provided painted a fair picture of Packer, IMO. For those of us who have been around a while, the color men on ACC and national telecasts in the 60’s left a lot to be desired and Packer was perhaps the first who really analyzed the game and provided some insight. I don’t recall Packer ever being warm and fuzzy but he seemed to become grouchy as he got older and the timing of his leaving seems about right. I suspect that there were aspects of today’s game that didn’t please him and he didn’t feel the need to hide his negative views. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I liked Packer as a color man and I will miss him but the college game is still great and I expect March Madness and the CBS telecasts to be great as usual.

gw67

[jv001]

I hate to see anyone lose their job. Especially these days. But I am having a hard feeling sorry for ole Billy. He has been a Duke hater for a very long time. "Duke get's the calls" came from him first and now we have to listen to Len Elmore say the same things over and over. Maybe he will be next. As for Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, I think they'rer ok. Now we need to hope ESPN will get the Tar Heel announcers off the air.

[duke74]

There was a thread started. It is this thread that I just merged your post into. You might try utilizing the search function or actually reading the board before you post.

Bob,

Bad day? Pretty nasty..unexpected...

[rsvman]

Thank. God.


Now if only Al McGuire would come back from the dead to replace him.

[Biscuit King]

Sorry, people, being the most critical does not make you the most knowledgable.

Billy Packer was undoubtedly the best at one thing: Calling out the litany of mistakes that he perceived other people were making. But he was wrong as often as the next commentator (um, "This game is OVER" anyone?), and his CONSTANT focus on the negative was maddening.

I won't miss him for a second. He was a miserable commentator and by some accounts is a miserable human being. His departure is long overdue.