Jul
14
Packer Packs His Bags, Kellogg Stuffs His Stat Sheets
Filed Under Commentary, Tourney History, NCAA Basketball
In a move that he had quietly hinted at during the end of last season, Billy Packer – the lead color man for CBS Sports’ coverage of college basketball since 1977 and a commentator for 34 years – is calling an end to his broadcasting career, with NCAA Tournament studio analyst and overall class act Clark Kellogg filling Packer’s tiny yet big shoes.
While many college basketball fans are likely ecstatic about this announcement, it’s hard to debate Packer’s knowledge of and history around the game, which included a stellar collegiate career at Wake Forest and the unique achievement of calling every Final Four game since 1975.
There’s no debating that Packer was often a stodgy jerk – whether it was him being a chauvinistic pig to two females at a Duke game, declaring that St. Joe’s shouldn’t have been a one-seed in 2004 (prompting Hawks’ Coach Phil Martelli to ask “just who the hell is Billy Packer?” and Packer to kiss Martelli’s rear during the Sweet Sixteen that year), debating how George Mason shouldn’t have gotten an at-large bid in the 2006 tourney field because of its mid-major conference (the Patriots made it all the way to the Final Four), the list goes on and on – this observer could at least somewhat appreciate the fact that Packer was an insufferable jerk who made no bones about who he was.
Whether you loved or hated Packer’s brutal honesty, it was much more serving to his listening audience than a certain guy at ESPN who screams at the top of his lungs and insults the collective intelligence of his viewers.
While probably in the minority, I for one will miss Packer for his all warts – both on his head and in his character – especially considering that he’s been the voice of the Final Four since I first started passionately watching college basketball in the early nineties.
Packer was hardly an angel, but he’s also no bigger of a jerk than the clownish Dick Vitale.
With that said, kudos to Kellogg, the rare color man who is able to have fun with the game via his vivid descriptions of players without taking away from or casting himself as being bigger than the moment.
It’s amazing that Kellogg was able to avoid strangling the annoying Seth Davis during their years together in-studio. For showing such patience and displaying a wonderful balance of colorful analysis and an astute understanding of the game during his in-season work as a commentator, Kellogg will now be paired with Jim Nantz at the 2009 Final Four.
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