So Long, Fudge.

Shoe's recent photo of Dickie V prompted a search in my archives for the one you see to the left - Billy "Fudge" Packer at his new job. Yes that's right, Billy Packer was (finally) shown the door by CBS this year. Now The Final 4 will be plausibly watchable with Clark Kellogg alongside Jim Nantz.

Now, I'm not as down on Vitale as Shoe may be, but he does have his faults. While Dickie V slurps and name drops all over his pals during broadcasts, he does bring a certain charm that was totally unnoticeable in Packer's surly demeanor. Vitale has become a caricature of himself, almost cartoonish. however he is positive and upbeat.

Packer was such a negative, self-absorbed bastard that he was just unbearable for me to listen to. Dickie V is good for the game; Packer tried his best to tear people down. Not to mention, Vitale has tirelessly worked on behalf of The V Foundation in the name of his late friend, former NC State coach Jim Valvano, to raise millions of dollars to research the cure for cancer. Packer once hired a psychic to find the weapon in the O.J. Simpson murder case.

As far as I'm concerned, I'll take the good with the bad and thank the heavens every time I hear Dickie V's voice that it wasn't Billy Packer's. Can't wait to hear Special K calling the action this March - "pass the pumpkin!"