Bye Bye, Billy - Six Reasons I Won't Miss You

“This was a decision CBS and I made over a year ago.” The statement made by Billy Packer disputes claims that he was let go by CBS.

No matter how I look at it, it’s a beautiful day for college basketball fans, because Billy Packer not calling games anymore will allow for many of us to unmute our televisions. It’s also perhaps one of the few days during the calendar year when even UNC and Duke can smile for the same reason.

Grey Blackwell of the News and Observer (AKA The News and Disturber) correctly summarizes Packer’s career had he entered other career avenues.



That said, here are 6 reasons I won’t miss Billy.

6) In 2000, Packer reportedly made sexist comments to two Duke University students before a men’s basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. When asked to show his press pass, he responded, “Since when do we let women control who gets into a men’s basketball game? Why don’t you go find a women’s game to let people into?” Packer later apologized. I’m certain the two women found his apology sincere.

5) “Simon says … championship”. Those are three words that haunt Clement.

4) During an on-air broadcast of a game between Georgetown and Villanova, Packer described Hoyas guard Allen Iverson as a “tough monkey”. Neither Iverson nor then-head coach John Thompson were offended by the remark, and Thompson said Packer doesn’t “have to explain to anybody about Billy being a racist because he’s not.” He is living a few centuries behind us though.

3) “I’ve never really been a sports fan.” One sentence never made so much sense to me.

2) “That’s a poor decision by [insert name of fallible player, coach or referee].” Packer’s constant negativity has made games that market themselves tough to watch. Only Dick Vitale and Mike Patrick make games tougher to watch. Sadly, all three cover ACC games and I live in the Mid-Atlantic region.

1) Packer’s blatant ignorance towards mid-major schools gaining at-large bids in the NCAA and weak-minded half truths have entered the brains of those who have not yet muted their televisions. During the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, Packer criticized the selection committee’s decision to include Bradley, Northern Iowa and George Mason. He noted that teams from the Missouri Valley Conference and Colonial Athletic Association had won only one game during the last three NCAA tournaments, while teams from the ACC had won 25 games. As a result, three of the four teams made it to the Sweet 16 and one made the Final Four.
If only Packer would have shared with the audience how many of those wins were by mediocre ACC teams with lower than a #10 seed. He didn’t. Why? Facts aren’t important to those with agendas or those with uncontrollable egos that makes oneself think they’re bigger than the game. Check. Check.

Bye bye, Billy.

Note: In the making of this post, Billy Packer would have pointed out that a traveling violation was not whistled exactly 6209 times.

We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident

Some truths we hold to be self-evident. First, George Mason from Seasons 1 & 2 of "24" looks oddly familiar to George Mason men's head basketball coach Jim Larranaga, whose upstart Patriots fell just short of defeating Virginia Commonwealth for the CAA title. I wonder if he ever did the YMCA dance at CTU like Coach L during Midnight Madness. Anywho, Gonzaga (West Coast) and Niagara (Metro Atlantic) also took home the automatic bids on Monday night. The second truth is that Coach K does not take responsibility for his players. EVER. Remember the Laettner stomp? Third, Billy Packer is Billy Packer, and this means he'll make an asinine statement prior to play in the NCAA tournament. Last year, it was his reaction to George Mason being in the field (we've not forgotten about Seth Davis). This year, he's a couple weeks early.

Tuesday is the least busy day of Championship Week, so I wanted to address the Duke/UNC fiasco at the close of their game on Tuesday. Bill Simmons encapsulates my thoughts on Duke and the most recent lack of responsibility shown forth by Coach K.

In his now-second most recent column which can be found at ESPN, he states: "Congrats to Coach K for questioning why Hansbrough was still in the game and inadvertently using Isiah Thomas' "he was asking for it" defense. And the Duke fans wonder why everyone hates Duke. If the roles were reversed, and this had happened to McRoberts, Coach K would have shown up for the news conference covered in McRoberts's blood, fighting back tears, urging for the offending UNC player to be suspended for the entire ACC tournament and basically looking like Jackie Kennedy in Dallas after the JFK shooting. God, I hate Duke."

(Editor's Note: The link for this article now takes you to another article, so visit ESPN.com and hope that they put it back up.)

The only thing possibly worse than watching a team's best player get his nose broken in the last 15 seconds of a decided game is watching Billy Packer tell us, the viewers - who have a good view and some who can replay at their disposal - the intent of Gerald Henderson (who just about murdered Hansbrough's face). The replays actually show that Henderson could have stopped himself from the vicious elbow when Hansbrough was stripped of the ball. Packer proceeded to deflect all attention away from Henderson and even referred to his flagrant foul and eventual ejection as a "tough break" for Duke.

It'll be a "tough break" for viewers if we have to hear his worthless drivel during the NCAA Tournament. I call on the readers of this blog and beyond to mute Packer (or at least talk over him) so that we don't have to hear him narrating during his frequent hallucations.