Forty-nine games into the NCAA Tournament, and the absence of Billy Packer for the second year in a row has helped make an exciting event a bit more enjoyable.Appropriately (and thankfully), analysts, experts and fans have been more interested in the games themselves than the folks calling the action. That's the way it should be.
This tournament marks the second Packer has not worked since he was replaced by Clark Kellogg as the lead analyst for CBS Sports. That move, announced in July 2008, heralded the start of more enjoyable experiences for college basketball viewers during the postseason.
While Packer always found a way to stoke some controversy, Kellogg offers context.
Few on-air TV types drive ratings (although some believe John Madden could), but Packer always seemed to believe he was the show. His ability to evoking reaction and response were reliable, but mostly a matter of appropriately timed tournament-related bluster.
Sure, Kellogg (and most of the other color commentators) seem somewhat bland by comparison, but Packer relished a role as the outspoken conscious of college basketball and in striving to meet that self-imposed expectation he sometimes just sounded critical or harsh for no reason at all.
This season, we're getting good games with generally good descriptions of the action -- minus any unnecessary agendas or talking points. If that stuff does have a place on TV sports (and it does), it's coming from experts in the studio or those working halftime shows.
Without Packer on the NCAA games, we've seen a move toward a better balance in that regard.