Cool Change

Watching the NCAA tourney, you've probably noticed the new broadcasting lineup CBS is running out. It's been quite a change after years of the same faces in the same place. Here's a quick rundown of the moves, along with my thoughts on them:

MOVE: Billy Packer is gone.

MY THOUGHTS: Awesome. Billy Packer was a surly old curmudgeon, who did nothing but whine and complain about everything. College basketball is fun, and the announcer should exemplify that (I mean, who's the most well-known, popular college basketball announcer there is? Dick Vitale -- the exact opposite of Packer). CBS didn't have to get Vitale, anybody would've been an improvement. Nobody liked Billy Packer. Nobody. Seriously, not one person. If you think you know somebody who liked him, you're wrong. If someone told you they liked him, they were lying. If you think you liked Billy Packer, you've lost touch with your own feelings, and you're probably bi-polar. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure, that's the diagnosis. GRADE: A+

MOVE: Clark Kellogg replaces Packer as top color analyst.

MY THOUGHTS: "Interesting" was my first thought. I know he's done color before, and I remembered him being good, he really fit well in the studio with Greg Gumbel and Seth Davis, and I wondered how he'd fit with lead play-by-play man, Jim Nantz. It turns out, he fits just great with Nantz, and seems equally good there as in studio (making him the Cris Collisworth of the NCAA's). Though he might not want to try quite so hard -- to me, it seems like he's been laughing awfully hard at Nantz's quips. Nantz is capable of humor, but he also throws out some wooden lines -- especially the clearly planned out ones he delivers at the buzzer of the National Championship game ("There's a new Dean in college basketball!") -- Kellogg would do well to only laugh at the funny ones. So far, he's practically cracking up at the starting lineups. I'd hate to see him encourage Nantz to break out his C-material (God help us all). Packer's one bright spot might have been that his dour demeanor kept Nantz from getting too giddy, and kiddy. But the important thing is, Kellogg has the kind of enthusiasm and positivity which best suits the NCAA game. GRADE: A-

MOVE: Greg Anthony replaces Kellogg as studio analyst.

MY THOUGHTS: This is the pleasant surprise in the bunch, and really, the key to the whole new formation. Anthony plays well off Gumbel and Davis, and is every bit as good as Kellogg, and maybe even better -- though that is probably more a function of it being a fresh face. But that aspect can't be overlooked. Change is good. It keeps things fresh. Especially when you can change the small things, while leaving the successful foundation intact. Not only Anthony's presence refreshing, but it also allows Kellogg to move to a new position while staying in the forefront of the picture. And when you realize Anthony is much younger than Kellogg, who is much younger than Packer, you realize that's another way to keep things from getting too musty. It is a young man's game after all. I'm glad CBS recognized that they needed a guy who probably listens to hip-hop more than a guy who looked and acted like somebody's creepy uncle. GRADE: A

The other faces and voices are the same -- Gus Johnson still has more enthusiasm and energy than any other announcer in the world, Dick Enberg still has the golden pipes, and Bill Raftery still has onions! These changes have only served to make a good thing better, and though this year's tourney has lacked a little of the drama we've come to expect, the announcing has been as good as ever.