Billy Packer Is Driving Me Insane

Wednesday, March 07, 2007


Okay, you are well aware I (and everyone else) laid into Billy Packer after his comments on the Hansbrough-Henderson incident. Well he's back into the news, and after reviewing the play.....he still doesn't change his view.

From Fanhouse via The Charlotte Observer comes this "compare and contrast" of the situation with Packer and Jay Bilas. Let's see who comes out looking smarter....

Q: What were your thoughts on the officials' decision?

PACKER: I felt the call was just not consistent with common-sense refereeing. I've seen the replay probably a dozen times. The more I see it, the more I believe what I said on the air. It should have been a shooting foul, and that's it. There's no way it was premeditated, that Henderson said: "I'm going to go get Hansbrough."

BILAS: I thought the officials' response was measured and appropriate. There was nothing wrong with Hansbrough going after that rebound. There was nothing wrong with him trying to score, or with Henderson fouling him. The problem was it was an excessive foul. The rule as written has nothing to do with intent. I don't think Henderson intended to hurt him, but that's not the issue. It was a foul that was too hard. It doesn't make either of them bad kids.
See what happens when you use actual facts and think your answer out. Stop trying to defend your asinine views.
Q: Billy, why did you not think it was a flagrant foul?

PACKER: This particular event was seen by three officials -- all six of their eyeballs. All 10 players were right there in the action. They were looking at it and, when it took place, here was not one guy who signaled intentional foul. ... But then all of a sudden, they go to the monitor, and things change. I thought they were over there because they didn't know which guy made the contact.......

If you really want to break this down, Henderson would have fallen on top of Hansbrough if he had been trying to hit him. He would have been like a defensive back who hits a wide receiver hard -- he basically goes right through him. And Henderson would have been looking at his point of contact. If I am trying to punch you in the face, I'm going to look right at you. Henderson wasn't looking at Hansbrough when he hit him.

So you're a physics expert now huh? Back and to the left.....Baaaaaack......and to the left. Let's breakdown the only sentence that mattered in that nonsense. The event was seen by three officials and 10 players up close. They all agreed that it was excessive (I didn't see Duke protesting much)......that's everyone but you. I'm beginning to think that CBS has Billy Packer say something stupid every single year to get people to tune into the selection show. It's not simple mistakes either....it's just ridiculous and pointless arguments that drive the listener/watcher out of their mind.

What? You don't believe me??? The above interview from Scott Fowler isn't maddening enough??? Well how about this from USA Today.......

CBS analyst Billy Packer, who will call his 33rd Final Four, doesn't like what he sees as change in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Now, he says, there will be 50 tournament teams "that can beat any other team on a one-game basis," up from maybe four teams in that category a decade ago. But isn't that more entertaining? Sure, Packer says: "If you're a sports fan, this is far more exciting."

But, Packer says, "If you're a technical nerd, like I'm considered by some people, there are all kinds of flaws." Like the college tournament, he says, having been infected by And1, referring to the shoe sponsor whose tournaments spawned ESPN's TV series. "That's summer-league guys showboating," he says. "It's like the NBA All-Star Game. I call that And1. It's not basketball."

If you're a sports fan?!?!?!?! I TOLD YOU HE DIDN'T EVEN LIKE THE SPORT OF BASKETBALL!!!! How is having parity in a sport a bad thing?!?!?! The best sport going right now on all sides is Football.....what does it have? Parity. Why is baseball dropping in ratings every year? No Parity.

And 1?!?!?! Really??? Maybe you can say that about the NBA, but College? He's just talking out of his ass now....he sounds like crotchety old man now. And since when is Packer a technical nerd? If he was a nerd he would understand the terms "RPI" and "Record This Year"......not just "ACC" and "Big East".

If you are like me......and actually like sports......please please sign this petition to remove Billy Packer from CBS. Enough is Enough.

Even Jay Bilas Thinks Billy Packer Is Wrong (Fanhouse)
Packer/Bilas Disagree (Charlotte Observer)
Bill Packer Not A Fan Of Tournament Parity (USA Today)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 10:04 AM

9 Comments:

i suggest there actually is parity in baseball. the last six years have had six different champions and 10 different teams in the world series.

granted, the pirates and rays don't have a prayer. similarly, the cardinals, lions, and browns don't have a prayer either.

Anonymous said...
Mar 7, 2007, 10:55:00 AM  

i suggest there actually is parity in baseball. the last six years have had six different champions and 10 different teams in the world series.

granted, the pirates and rays don't have a prayer. similarly, the cardinals, lions, and browns don't have a prayer either.

Anonymous said...
Mar 7, 2007, 10:55:00 AM  

i suggest there actually is parity in baseball. the last six years have had six different champions and 10 different teams in the world series.

granted, the pirates and rays don't have a prayer. similarly, the cardinals, lions, and browns don't have a prayer either.

Anonymous said...
Mar 7, 2007, 10:55:00 AM  

Like everyone else on the planet, I too hate Billy Packer. But let's not allow Nantz to get off the hook...his soft-spoken douchy sidekick role to Billy's obnoxious asshat role allows this to continue unabated. And combined PackerNantz are the sworn enemy of the mid-major (or whatever we're calling them these days).

T.J. said...
Mar 7, 2007, 12:32:00 PM  

Ahhh, the dreaded triple post!

It's obvious that Packer is one of those guys who misses UCLA winning the tournament every year, and his "hippies off my lawn!" act has been tolerated way too long.

Just to add another reason to why Billy Packer is a complete moron, he seems to think that the NCAA tournament is some sort of renegade, crapshoot free-for-all where the best teams are somehow punished and the Horizon League rules the roost. Maybe it's leftover anger from George Mason's run last year (which must have been privately humiliating for Packer), but here are the Final Fours from the last six years and their seeds:

2006
Florida (3)
UCLA (2)
George Mason (11)
LSU (4)

2005
N. Carolina (1)
Illinois (1)
Michigan St. (5)
Louisville (4)

2004
UConn (2)
Ga. Tech (3)
Duke (1)
Okla. St. (2)

2003
Syracuse (3)
Kansas (2)
Texas (1)
Marquette (3)

2002
Maryland (1)
Indiana (5)
Kansas (1)
Oklahoma (2)

2001
Duke (1)
Arizona (2)
Maryland (3)
Michigan St. (1)

Does that look like a scenario where major-conference teams are punished? He's acting like we've been seeing Final Fours of George Mason, Richmond, Vermont, and Santa Clara for the past ten years. Even when two #8 seeds snuck into the Final Four in 2000, they were Wisconsin and North Carolina, not Wisconsin-Milwaukee and UNC-Wilmington. Even among the schools I listed above, the highest seeds (not counting George Mason) in the FF were #5's...and they're pretty f'ing good Big Ten basketball programs.

Scrappled said...
Mar 7, 2007, 12:43:00 PM  

But let's not allow Nantz to get off the hook...his soft-spoken douchy sidekick role to Billy's obnoxious asshat role allows this to continue unabated.

That's so ridiculously true. Nantz reminds me of Philip Seymour Hoffman's character in The Big Lebowski. A wishy-washy sycophant who pretends he's powerless to stop Packer's inane bullshit.

Scrappled said...
Mar 7, 2007, 1:23:00 PM  

At some point, maybe you just stop liking or loving what you do for a living and only stick to it because it's a good paycheck.

This clearly happened to Billy Packer, and it would be nice if CBS and Packer himself recognized this.

Signal to Noise said...
Mar 7, 2007, 3:12:00 PM  

thats a great description of Nantzy

"her life is in your hands, Dude"

WCT said...
Mar 7, 2007, 3:50:00 PM  

Specifically, I'm thinking of Brandt's reaction after Tara Reid offers to blow The Dude for $1000. That's precisely how Nantz acts everytime Packer says something ridiculous.

Scrappled said...
Mar 7, 2007, 4:46:00 PM  

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