CBS replaces Billy Packer

[Murffieus]

Billy Packer was a damn good BB analyst plus an excellent communicator----in the media biz-----one doesn't stay on the job for 30 years without appealing to the masses-----it's all about ratings.

[augoman]

packer has only been tolerable when w/ the right 'co-'..., vitale on the other hand is totally intolerable.

[77fan88warrior]

From today's Sports Business Daily


Kellogg Expected To Be Less
Contentious Than Predecessor
IT'S ABOUT TIME: SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote Packer's "legacy is his longevity," but added he "could be a world-class grump and rarely admitted wrongs. He often found controversy" (SI.com, 7/14). In Dallas, Barry Horn writes Packer in recent years "grew overbearing, arrogant, condescending, dismissive and petulant." Most viewers "have long had their fill of Packer. ... He was the broadcaster they loved to hate." Horn: "If the game didn't pass Packer by, broadcasting did" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/15). In Philadelphia, Dick Jerardi writes, "What took so long? ... Everybody seemed to think Packer was rooting against his team. Which could mean he was being perfectly objective. It also could mean he was a curmudgeon. I fall heavily on the side of curmudgeon. The man never seemed happy. Did anybody ever see him smile?" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 7/15). In L.A., Diane Pucin writes, "More than an unwillingness to change an opinion, what stood out about Packer over the last few years was inability to project joy. He had one of the most recognizable voices in NCAA tournament history but never sounded as if he was having fun" (L.A. TIMES, 7/15). SPORTINGNEWS.com's DeCourcy wrote Packer "didn't always seem to be having fun doing this job, which was one of his few failures as a broadcaster" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 7/14). YAHOO SPORTS' Matthew Darnell wrote Packer will be remembered as a "curmudgeonly fellow who didn't have a great amount of respect for mid-major programs, but made up for it with a more than healthy respect for the ACC. Honestly, I don't know of a lot of people who ever enjoyed his work" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/14). The Globe's Ryan: "He is not beloved because he comes off as curmudgeonly, as a little bit too much of a know-it-all and he has no joy, and the modern audience is used to exuberance" ("PTI," ESPN, 7/14).

It's hard to believe Murph would defend someone with the credentials listed above!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Billy Packer was a damn good BB analyst plus an excellent communicator----in the media biz-----one doesn't stay on the job for 30 years without appealing to the masses-----it's all about ratings.

This story agrees with you


http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/jul/17/packer-could-annoy-but-he-was-almost-always-right/

[Sir Lawrence]

From the article cited by Chico's:

Regarding Kellogg--he "seems quite comfortable restating the obvious.."  So very true.

[muhoosier260]

i know that i didn't care for the guy, but i didn't know so many writers emphatically agreed. especially the part about the feeling that packer is always rooting against your team. also, i've never seen the word curmudgeon used so many times to describe the same person/thing, maybe the writers are onto something.

[patso]

Sports ratings generally have nothing to do with the announcers. People tune in for the product which alone generates ratings. We have no choice when they ram crappy announcers or sideline analysts down our throats. I don't know one person who enjoys a Brent Musberger game and yet he is omnipresent.