R.I.P. - Billy Packer age 82

[colbert17]

Was part of the college basketball landscape for decades. Those Saturday afternoon broadcasts whether on CBS or NBC laid the groundwork for many of us and our love for the game.

R.I.P.

Legendary college basketball announcer Billy Packer dead at 82

Longtime college basketball broadcaster Billy Packer, who was a part of 34 Final Fours for NBC and CBS, died Thursday at the age of 82.

nypost.com

 

[Bayonnebomber79]

Very sad news. Billy was a great and inciteful broadcaster. I learned a lot from watching him.

 

[Plum Street]

He was the voice of March madness for such a long time . Enjoyed him because he wasn’t just a PR mouthpiece . RIP

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Was the best for years.

RIP

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Never cared for his hatred of mid-majors, but everyone has a right to their opinion. He was THE analyst for college hoops for more than half my life.

R.I.P.

 

[Loyal_2RU]

Packer and Dick Enberg, with or without Al McGuire were the best.

RIP

 

[LOU-RU85]

He was one of my favorites. RIP

 

[Beancounter88]

I was a big fan of Mark Packer. If I recall, he really came into prominence in the 1977 epic Final Four - Butch Lee vs Phil Ford. He knew his stuff

 

[bethlehemfan]

Liberty High School in Bethlehem. RIP.

 

[dconifer]

Awe, that sucks.

Packer & Thacker were the voices of ACC basketball in the seventies. I will never forget their calls of games. My dad could never suppress a chuckle, or at least a smile, when he announced who the commentators were going to be.

RIP

(Billy Packer and Jim Thacker).

 

[Mr_Twister]

Liberty High School in Bethlehem. RIP.

Alma mater of former Rutgers LB(/FB?) Andres Morales.

 

[RUPete]

Packer and Dick Enberg, with or without Al McGuire were the best

It was funny to hear Al and Billy go at it sometimes.

 

[bwrlaw]

He was one of the best. His son, Mark was on ESPNU XM Radio and was a great listen on the ride home.

 

[bac2therac]

RIP

he is what many of grew up on. NCAA tournament coverage not quite the same without him.

 

[goru7]

It is the 1979 NCAA East Regional in Greensboro and it had turned into Black Sunday as Duke and UNC lost leaving Penn, St. John ‘s Rutgers and Syracuse. I was on WRSU and my buddies Doug Meyer and David Siegelman were doing the live play by play which was pre ESPN. My other roommate Ken Chamlin( Grossman back then ) had Billy Packer as the halftime guest on WRSU of the St. John’s game. Rutgers was up 10 and had beaten St. John’s 2 times already and Kenny was asking Billy Packer about the potential matchup with Penn with the winner to the Final Four. It was real cool look for WRSU since 250,000. People back home were getting a treat listening to the top analyst in college basketball on Rutgers radio .
One of my biggest regrets happened when we blew the lead and lost to St. John’s on a tip in , as my buddy Tony Malanga and I were going to broadcast the Final on Sunday against Penn , who we would have beat and then played Magic Johnson in our second Final Four in 4 years . Larry Bird was there as well. Losing that game was so heartbreaking , starting the long heartbreaking losses by RU , and took like a week to get over but always fondly remembered the Billy Packer interview. RIP Billy and Condolences to his son, Mark , who is terrific on Sirius talking college basketball.

 

[bethlehemfan]

Alma mater of former Rutgers LB(/FB?) Andres Morales.

Correct.

 

[Loyal_2RU]

It is the 1979 NCAA East Regional in Greensboro and it had turned into Black Sunday as Duke and UNC lost leaving Penn, St. John ‘s Rutgers and Syracuse. I was on WRSU and my buddies Doug Meyer and David Siegelman were doing the live play by play which was pre ESPN. My other roommate Ken Chamlin( Grossman back then ) had Billy Packer as the halftime guest on WRSU of the St. John’s game. Rutgers was up 10 and had beaten St. John’s 2 times already and Kenny was asking Billy Packer about the potential matchup with Penn with the winner to the Final Four. It was real cool look for WRSU since 250,000. People back home were getting a treat listening to the top analyst in college basketball on Rutgers radio .
One of my biggest regrets happened when we blew the lead and lost to St. John’s on a tip in , as my buddy Tony Malanga and I were going to broadcast the Final on Sunday against Penn , who we would have beat and then played Magic Johnson in our second Final Four in 4 years . Larry Bird was there as well. Losing that game was so heartbreaking , starting the long heartbreaking losses by RU , and took like a week to get over but always fondly remembered the Billy Packer interview. RIP Billy and Condolences to his son, Mark , who is terrific on Sirius talking college basketball.

How is Kenny doing?

I was at that game. Heartbreak

 

[goru7]

How is Kenny doing?

I was at that game. Heartbreak

Doing fine. Married about 5-6 years ago and very happy. Still practicing law in West Long Branch. We’re you on WRSU ?

 

[Frabjous]

Billy Packer was of his time. White players were very smart and Black players were terrific athletes.

 

[Loyal_2RU]

Doing fine. Married about 5-6 years ago and very happy. Still practicing law in West Long Branch. We’re you on WRSU ?

No I was Wessels freshman year and then ZBT, both with Kenny. Glad he is well.

 

[Antnee79]

It is the 1979 NCAA East Regional in Greensboro and it had turned into Black Sunday as Duke and UNC lost leaving Penn, St. John ‘s Rutgers and Syracuse. I was on WRSU and my buddies Doug Meyer and David Siegelman were doing the live play by play which was pre ESPN. My other roommate Ken Chamlin( Grossman back then ) had Billy Packer as the halftime guest on WRSU of the St. John’s game. Rutgers was up 10 and had beaten St. John’s 2 times already and Kenny was asking Billy Packer about the potential matchup with Penn with the winner to the Final Four. It was real cool look for WRSU since 250,000. People back home were getting a treat listening to the top analyst in college basketball on Rutgers radio .
One of my biggest regrets happened when we blew the lead and lost to St. John’s on a tip in , as my buddy Tony Malanga and I were going to broadcast the Final on Sunday against Penn , who we would have beat and then played Magic Johnson in our second Final Four in 4 years . Larry Bird was there as well. Losing that game was so heartbreaking , starting the long heartbreaking losses by RU , and took like a week to get over but always fondly remembered the Billy Packer interview. RIP Billy and Condolences to his son, Mark , who is terrific on Sirius talking college basketball.

Oh Dave, a great memory as well as a devastating one with that loss to the Johnnies. You and I were set to broadcast the regional final and RU would have destroyed Penn. Billy could not have been nicer to Kenny by granting us that halftime interview. Kudos to Kenny for having the balls to ask Billy for the on air interview. Billy was a great ambassador for college hoops and was a big part of its meteoric growth to the madness it is today.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

How is Kenny doing?

I was at that game. Heartbreak

One of the most painful moments in our basketball history

 

[knights1212]

I was at that game as well and it was devastating. My friend Bill and I drove all night and arrived in Greensboro in the morning. We bought tickets at the ticket office in Greensboro and attended that night,. We led the entire game without a 3 point line and no shot clock until about 25-30 seconds left when Tom Brown got stripped at half court. We led by one point. St. John's took a time out and St. John's missed a jump shot and McCoy of St. John's tipped it in at the buzzer. We were sitting in about the fourth row under the basket. There was a red light behind the basket and it went off while the ball was on the rim. It fell in and we were heartbroken. We went back to our room but neither of us could sleep so we checked out and drove all the way back home. We were crushed beyond belief. It was probably the most heartbreaking game I ever experienced as a RU fan because we would only have to defeat U Penn to make the Final Four again. We had defeated the Johnnies twice that season and many writers were mentioning during the week that it was tough to defeat a team 3 times in one season. I still am looking for a copy of that game on VHS or DVD. The game was on channel 11 at 10 PM on March 16, 1979. Doesn't anyone have a copy of this game? I am also looking for our win over St. John's at MSG in the ECAC championship game on March 6, 1976. We won that game 70-67 when Phil Sellers took the game over in the last 4-5 minutes. That game was on channel 4 (NBC) on March 6, 1976 at 3 PM. We won that one 70-67. I would be so grateful if anyone has one or both of these games who could provide me a copy. Thank you.

 

[wheezer]

How is Kenny doing?

I was at that game. Heartbreak

There also
Really tough one

 

[SteveVA2]

I was in grad school at Chapel Hill in the 60s and early 70s and remember Packer well and fondly.

 

[BigLou]

No I was Wessels freshman year and then ZBT, both with Kenny. Glad he is well.

I was atthat St Johns game in Greensboro. Absolute brutal loss.

What year were you in Wessels - I was there '77-78

 

[Rac'nRoll]

Never cared for his hatred of mid-majors, but everyone has a right to their opinion. He was THE analyst for college hoops for more than half my life.

R.I.P.

This is so spot on. Except it wasn't just mid-Majors. It was basically any school that wasn't in the ACC. The guy was nothing but a shill for the ACC week after week/Year after Year. I couldn't stand him. Will never forget April 1st, 1985 when the NY Post gave him space to write a quick piece about Monday's Title game between Villanova and Georgetown. He said Villanova has no chance to win the game. I thought he was a college basketball analyst? He didn't recall that 'Nova had played the Hoyas twice, losing 52-50 in OT in Philly and 57-50 at the Capital Centre? And if he knew his Big East, which he did not because he didn't care about any league but the ACC, he'd know that 'Nova had a much much tougher time w. St. John's that season, losing 3 times, and none of the games were close. 'Nova was rooting hard for G-Town to beat the Redmen in the semifinal after they dispatched Memphis State. Oh, and does anyone else besides me recall the night he called Allen Iverson "a tough little monkey"?

Billy Packer Apologizes For Remark

Longtime CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer set off a firestorm that was quickly doused Saturday when he referred to Georgetown guard Allen Iverson as "a tough little monkey." The switchboard at WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington carrying the game, immediately lit up with...

www.spokesman.com

And there was the time he lit into 2 Duke female students, who were doing their job checking credentials, and simply committed the crime of not recognizing the great Billy Packer, saying to them, "You need to get a life. Since when do we let women control who gets into a Men's Basketball game?" Imagine if that happened today? The guy was just beyond terrible:

A reason to rejoice: CBS fires Billy Packer

College basketball fans have reason to rejoice. Billy Packer and his pro-ACC bias is out at CBS.

www.oklahoman.com

 

[Plum Street]

This is so spot on. Except it wasn't just mid-Majors. It was basically any school that wasn't in the ACC. The guy was nothing but a shill for the ACC week after week/Year after Year. I couldn't stand him. Will never forget April 1st, 1985 when the NY Post gave him space to write a quick piece about Monday's Title game between Villanova and Georgetown. He said Villanova has no chance to win the game. I thought he was a college basketball analyst? He didn't recall that 'Nova had played the Hoyas twice, losing 52-50 in OT in Philly and 57-50 at the Capital Centre? And if he knew his Big East, which he did not because he didn't care about any league but the ACC, he'd know that 'Nova had a much much tougher time w. St. John's that season, losing 3 times, and none of the games were close. 'Nova was rooting hard for G-Town to beat the Redmen in the semifinal after they dispatched Memphis State. Oh, and does anyone else besides me recall the night he called Allen Iverson "a tough little monkey"?

Billy Packer Apologizes For Remark

Longtime CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer set off a firestorm that was quickly doused Saturday when he referred to Georgetown guard Allen Iverson as "a tough little monkey." The switchboard at WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington carrying the game, immediately lit up with...

www.spokesman.com

And there was the time he lit into 2 Duke female students, who were doing their job checking credentials, and simply committed the crime of not recognizing the great Billy Packer, saying to them, "You need to get a life. Since when do we let women control who gets into a Men's Basketball game?" Imagine if that happened today? The guy was just beyond terrible:

A reason to rejoice: CBS fires Billy Packer

College basketball fans have reason to rejoice. Billy Packer and his pro-ACC bias is out at CBS.

www.oklahoman.com

And yet he’s been way better then anyone cbs/turner has put in the number 1 spot since

 

[Loyal_2RU]

I was atthat St Johns game in Greensboro. Absolute brutal loss.

What year were you in Wessels - I was there '77-78

75-76.

Likely only frosh on Rutgers history to be roomed with 2 seniors. One of whom was brilliant enough to take down the sprinkler system by doing chin-ups on the pipes. Flooded our room.

Then I broke my back on winter break in a cross country sledding accident my

Terrible year.

 

[Mr_Twister]

When Packer complained about mid majors it might have been predicated on the tourney field being much smaller and league winners getting automatic entries. Post season league tournaments were meaningful back in the day. They are mostly TV fodder nowadays.

 

[Rac'nRoll]

When Packer complained about mid majors it might have been predicated on the tourney field being much smaller and league winners getting automatic entries. Post season league tournaments were meaningful back in the day. They are mostly TV fodder nowadays.

No. The Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985. Interestingly, if it had not, Villanova, the eventual Champion, would not have made the field. Packer did plenty of complaining since 1985. In 2006 he whined about 4 Missouri Valley Conference Teams getting bids and then 2 of 'em, Bradley and Wichita State, made the Sweet 16. The guy was an absolute clown.