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Billy Packer

I'll admit it, I kind of miss Billy. He was an asshole, but way better than the empty suit yes man that is Clark Kellogg.
 
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Lol @ anyone who thinks Packer loves, likes, or has the least bit of affection for UNC. That idea is only slightly less fucking stupid than saying he likes Duke (and their ticket scanners).

Packer's rule has always been: please no one and you're doing it right. The "he hates us/loves everyone else" is just more LOWF paranoia.
 
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Billy Packer did not pull punches, and I respect that.

When I was at WF, I took a gut sociology class entitled something like "Sociology and Sport". The professor lined up Packer to speak for one of the sessions, and Packer started off by talking about his hoop career at WF (he did mention the Final 4) and how he got started in TV; it was entertaining. At the end of his monologue, one of the students asked a question, and Billy started a dialogue with the student; at one point, the kid got a fact wrong about WF basketball history which Billy considered important (IIRC, the student didn't know Lenny Chappell won ACC POY or something like that). Packer became agitated and started grilling the kid along the lines what a law professor does to a 1st year law student (remember this is a gut sociology class). Got to admit, it was entertaining as hell, but painful for the student. After the interrogation ended and the kid slumped in his desk, Packer asked if anyone else had a question, and naturally, everyone else was scared s***less to ask anything else, so then Billy says "OK, I guess I can leave" and he walked out.

A week later, WF played at UNC, and I snuck-in early by waiting for the team bus, grabbing a player's bag (I had classes with Kenny Green, Delaney Rudd and Danny Young; so, they would give me something to carry to make it seem like I belonged; the tricked work at Duke, UNC and UVA) wearing a coat and tie, and walking in with the WF team. Having arrived two hours before the game, I was milling around the court and ran into Packer who was doing the game for Raycom. I went up to Packer and said, "Just want to thank you for speaking to my sociology class last week, I really enjoyed it." Packer replies: "What was the fucking deal with that class? You guys had no fucking clue." I considered attempting to explain how he scared the piss out of the entire class, but realized that the conversation was not going to end well; so, I just said, "Yeah, we aren't teal smart; hope WF can pull it out tonight" and went on my way.

Packer was the bull in the China Shop, but he was one of the few "analysts" that could care less about pissing people off or even being wrong. Miss that especially given the tepid analysis today.
 
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deacvision7 said:
We passed him over when he wanted to coach here or something like that. He's been jaded ever since.
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I believe that is correct. He might have been an assistant at the time and was passed over for Carl Tacy.
 
Billy is an ass... He is part owner in a golf course where I'm from and I'll sure you "most" everyone see's him as an ass! I've never seen him give any love to Wake Forest on TV.. If that's what its like to be a Deacon, I'm not sure it's a good thing. I've been a life long fan and I would hope most fans don't totally disregard their school the way he does.... Just my opinion... Go Deacs...
 
BillBrasky said:
I'll admit it, I kind of miss Billy. He was an asshole, but way better than the empty suit yes man that is Clark Kellogg.
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This. Kind of like Johnny Miller (also an asshole) who always has that "I just smelled a fart" look on his face, but is still one of the best analysts in the game.
 
Billy wasn't a perfect color analyst, but I appreciated that he had a strong opinion, and was certainly right most of the time. Only remembrance I have of him was when I was on the roof of Poteat above the post office drinking vodka and he came into the post office. We yelled at him but he ignored us.
 
I was in attendance at that Dixie Classics win over UNC. Great night!
Packer was a great player for Wake. Those were great days at Wake the following two years for me. He knew/knows basketball and was a great analyst.
A good self critique he often stated may best describe him: "often wrong, but never in doubt"
 
I think Packer was canned because he was too negative. His analysis was often accurate; but he became too critical.
 
Tim Duncan was a senior at a time when the trend of college players leaving for the pros was really taking off, prompted largely by high schoolers following in the wake of Kevin Garnett. (Obviously we're still dealing with that issue.) I can remember Packer commenting during one of the last games of the season something to the effect that the year Timmy was having would go down as the best senior season for years to come. It was a reflection of both how good Tim was and how little faith there was at the time that good players would stay four years. That was the most pro-Wake comment I can remember him making, but of course he was paid to be unbiased and I can respect that.
 
Packer was an assistant under Jack McCloskey. He was a great recruiter and put together outstanding classes back to back in the late 1960s. Then, he was on the verge of bringing Artis Gilmore on board to blend with pretty good talent, when Wake supported a measure - raising minimum SAT scores for athletes - that effectively kept Gilmore from coming to Wake. (IIRC South Carolina in part left the ACC over that increase in the SAT minimum, arguing that they could not build a football team with such restrictions.) Packer then quit as assistant coach in order to follow business opportunities, and he did quite well in business. After Packer left our recruiting went down hill and McCloskey soon left as well. Packer then popped up on the ACC TV broadcasts in the 1970s. He and Bones did color commentary and Thacker was the play-by-play guy. They were great. Bones and Packer were on together during the ACC Tournaments. During the regular season, IIRC they worked seperate games.
 
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