Billy packs it in

Billy Packer is gone from the airwaves of college basketball. CBS and Packer mutually agreed to end their relationship, and Packer will not broadcast ACC games on Raycom either. Packer says he is working on other college basketball projects.

Presumably, that will not involve learning about the tournament selection process. For a guy who was supposedly intelligent, that was a subject upon which he was woefully ignorant. I suspect that was by choice. I used to dread the part of the selection show where he would get to interview the selection committee chair because he would usually beat the drum for some completely irrelevant cause. My favorite was a couple of years ago when he whined ad nausem about the selection of several non-major at-large teams instead of middle-of-the-road ACC teams because the ACC had a better tournament history. As if that had ever mattered.

I have to say, I never really enjoyed listening to him call games either, mostly because he didn't seem to enjoy it. He seemed to be knowledgeable on the air, but there was no joy in his work.

Fortunately, I didn't watch him much because I have been to the last several Final Fours in person.

You may have noticed that I said he seemed knowledgeable "on the air." Off the air was different, and I say that from personal experience.

I met him when I was working at Michael Jordan's charity golf tournament in Chicago the summer before Glenn Robinson was to start playing for Purdue. I asked him if he thought the addition of Robinson would make Purdue a contender in the Big Ten and he said, and I quote, "I don't know. I never watch Purdue." He was a bit surly about it too.

I was floored. He has a reputation for being unpleasant off-camera, and he did not disappoint in that regard, so that's not why I was surprised. I could not believe a major national basketball analyst like him would admit to knowing nothing about Purdue.

I suppose he could have just been blowing me off, but it's not like I asked him about Prairie View A&M. You know, as annoying as Dick Vitale can be at times, he could tell you something about Prairie View. He has a passion for the college game. I just never got that from Packer - on air or off.

He'll be replaced by Clark Kellogg, who will be an improvement. Kellogg has always been one of my favorite analysts and it will be great to have him back courtside. Not that he was bad in the studio, but he should be doing games.