Billy Packer

Billy Packer (born February 25, 1940 in Wellsville, New York) is an American sportscaster for CBS Sports.

For more than three decades, Packer has served as a color commentator on network television broadcasts of college basketball. He has covered every NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, including the Final Four, since 1974. His broadcast teammates have been Dick Enberg, Al McGuire, Gary Bender, Brent Musburger, and (since 1991) Jim Nantz.

He has two sons in the sports media. Mark Packer is a sports radio host for WFNZ, the all-sports radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. Brandt Packer produces golf telecasts for ABC Sports.

On April 4, 1983, after Lorenzo Charles made a game-winning slam dunk as North Carolina State upset Houston to win the NCAA title, Packer blurted, "They won it...on the dunk!"

Early life

Packer is a graduate of Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina from 1958 to 1962 and played guard on the school's basketball team for his last three years (in his day, freshmen were not eligible for varsity sports), leading Wake to two ACC titles and the 1962 Final Four.

After graduation, he had a brief stint as an assistant coach for his alma mater. In 1972, Packer began his career in broadcasting in Raleigh, North Carolina, when he was asked to fill in as an analyst for a regionally televised ACC game. Packer became a regular the next season.

Controversy

In the past few years, Packer has become a somewhat controversial figure among college basketball fans and media. Much of the ire towards him has more to do with comments on certain players or schools that he has often been critical of during this timeframe.

Iverson comment

In 1996, during an on-air broadcast of a game between Georgetown and Villanova, Packer described the Hoyas star guard Allen Iverson as a "tough monkey". Packer later apologized, insisting he was actually trying to praise Iverson's relentless play. Neither Iverson nor Georgetown coach John Thompson said they were offended by the remark. Thompson told USA Today he doesn't "have to explain to anybody about Billy being a racist because he's not."

Apology to Duke students

In 2000, Packer publicly apologized to two Duke University students for allegedly sexist comments he made before a men's basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium. According to published reports, when the students asked Packer 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 apologized after the comments were published in Duke University's student-run newspaper, The Chronicle.

Martelli feud

In 2004, he was involved in an on-air spat with Saint Joseph's University head coach Phil Martelli, when he questioned the #1 seed that St. Joe's was given by the NCAA committee. The Hawks ended up being defeated one game short of the Final Four. This is similar to his criticism of Larry Bird's undefeated Indiana State University team getting ranked #1 in the media polls and a #1 seed in the 1979 tournament. Indiana State eventually made the final game, losing to a Michigan State team led by Magic Johnson.

2006 comments on mid-majors

In 2006, Packer again hit sports headlines after blasting the inclusion of mid-major teams in the NCAA tournament, when larger conference teams like University of Cincinnati and Florida State University were left out altogether. [1] His comments caused a backlash among fans of mid-major conferences such as the Missouri Valley Conference and Colonial Athletic Association, both of whom have ended up having successful tournament showings (Bradley University and Wichita State University making it to the Sweet Sixteen and George Mason University advancing to the Final Four). Packer complained on Selection Sunday that teams from these two conferences had won just one game between them in the past three year's tournaments, despite committee chairman Craig Littlepage repeatedly telling Packer and his colleague Jim Nantz that past tournament performance was not a factor in determining the field.

Nantz even cut off Littlepage as he was making his final statement to again criticize the selection of George Mason. Later, Littlepage publicly reprimanded the two and said that in the future, the relationship between Nantz and Packer and the committee would have to improve or the pair would be denied the interview.

2007 Duke/UNC Incident

On March 4, 2007, Duke and UNC--fierce rivals--met for the final game of the season. With 14.5 seconds left to play in the second half, Duke's Gerald Henderson, Jr. leapt towards UNC's Tyler Hansbrough as Hansbrough was going in for a layup. Henderson's elbow came down hard on Hansbrough's face, breaking his nose. There was strong disagreement about whether or not the hit was intentional. However, Henderson was ejected from the game and suspended for one game for committing a flagrant intentional foul. Immediately after the foul, Billy Packer, announcing for CBS, vehemently argued that the foul was unintentional. He then suggested that the injury was UNC's fault for having a top player on the court with a large lead and 14.5 seconds to go. UNC fans were infuriated, some calling for a ban or for Packer to be fired. Packer may have gotten off fairly easy for his comments because of the stronger outrage expressed towards Henderson and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who made similar comments after the game.

History and awards

Since the mid-1970s Packer has been a fixture on national telecasts, first with NBC (1974-1981) and then CBS (1982-present). He won a Sports Emmy Award in 1993.

External links

Bio on CBS SportsLine