Packer was recently interviewed by the Best Damn Sports Show Podcast, and they wanted to fact-check some of the more outrageous claims that appear on Billy's Wikipedia page. (Packer, of course, has no idea what Wikipedia is.) It turns out they are pretty much all true, including the story that he hired a psychic to try and find the murder weapon in the O.J. Simpson case.

First of all, is anyone really surprised that Billy Packer doesn't own a computer? Second of all ... WTF? What makes a person think it's a good idea to take it upon themselves to solve the most public murder case in history? (Probably the kind of person who believes in psychics.) Packer doesn't even hesitate to explain that he paid for a psychic to try and pinpoint the the location of the murder weapon, that he took that information to the police, and then when he was obviously rebuffed sent his own sons out to God knows where to try and dig up the knife. And this isn't the first time he's done it! (He also did it for the Katie Beers case, which was a famous New York kidnapping from 1992.) Take that, Angela Lansbury.

Tell me again why Packer isn't announcing college basketball for CBS anymore? The man is a certifiable nutcase and if that's not a recipe for quality color commentary, I don't know what is. You think Clark Kellogg would ever pull a stunt like that? I miss this guy already.

Best Damn Sports Show [Fox Sports]
Best Damn Sports Show Podcast [BDSSP]

Now maybe everybody's least favorite grandpa will age. Jim Nantz will be paired with Clark Kellogg at the Final Four according to the Miami Herald This rumor had been floating around for quite some time and supposedly the final straw was Packer calling the North Carolina-Kansas regional final game over midway through the first half. Advertisers kind of hate when announcers do that. Especially when North Carolina storms back and almost wins the game.

Packer, who had been going year to year with his contract, confirmed through a CBS official Sunday that he no longer will broadcast for the network but is pursuing other projects in basketball. Packer declined to comment further.

Packer's streak of working as the color analyst at every championship game since 1977 (and being a part of every Final Four broadcast since 1975) ranks among the most remarkable in network TV sports history.

Personally ever since Billy Packer took down the St. Joe's number 1 seed in 2004 I've been ready to see him go. Yeah, yeah, that's the pathetic A-10 basketball fan in me, but still, you gotta expect there are some champagne corks popping on Hawk Hill today. I'm not alone in this feeling judging by, and this is not a misprint, the 90.5 percent disapproval that Packer racked up in Deadspin's media approval rating. Ouch, Billy, ouch.

CBS Set To Replace Packer [Miami Herald]
After 34 years, Billy Packer has called his last Final Four for CBS [Awful Announcing]
Media Approval Ratings: Billy Packer [Deadspin]

We know how George Mason fans will be voting, and maybe how Wake Forest fans will be voting. But what's most telling, to remind, is that Billy Packer has been doing Final Fours pretty much our entire lives. And he's not going anywhere.

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Basically, in response to Rose's mock offer to come help him out during the tournament, Packer jokingly says that "you always fag out;" that is to say, Rose always says he will help but doesn't.

A CBS representative says that Packer "would agree that it was a bad choice of words," though Packer has not formally apologized or anything. (The video was first shown on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," via Simmons.) All told, we think this probably a considerably worse offense than Sean Salibury's famous "Jew" slip, since Salisbury did say it on accident (and arguably didn't say it at all). If Packer really didn't understand the term he was using, it's probably not wise to allow a guy like that on television at all.

We like Charlie Rose's reaction, though. He laughs along, but if you look close, there's a tiny moment when you see his eyes twitch, like he's saying, He may have just said something bad, but I'm not sure, so I'm gonna go ahead and laugh along ...

Billy Packer's "Fag Out" Comment [OutSports]
"You Always Fag Out" [Good As You]

We're beginning to think that Billy Packer is actually charming and clever, and this is all big prank he's playing on all of us. This clip confirms what most of us already knew.

And, somewhere, Gus Johnson cries.

Packer is talking to "Matt," whom we've never met but apparently is "one of the kids," kids that Packer obviously hates. Well, "hate" is probably too strong of a word; we'll just say that he is "full of loathsome, smug contempt."

We have no strong love for Jim "my vanilla brings all the milquetoast golfers to the yard" Nantz, but we have absolutely no idea how he broadcasts games with this guy without stabbing his eye with a fork.

Billy Packer Interview With CSTV [CSTV]

(UPDATE: The guys who made the video said Packer was just playing around. OK. We do not disagree. But Billy Packer doesn't wear "playful" well.)

This year's top candidate to be peed on Packer? I've got to think it's Drexel, should they get in. Joe Lunardi, ESPN's Bracketologist, says the Dragons are in, and they do bring with them plenty of hatred-fodder for Packer. They finished fourth in the CAA in the regular season, and they have losses to William & Mary and Rider, neither of whom are in the RPI top-190. Should they get in at the expense of an ACC team like Florida State, Packer could go off and call ESPN anchor Chris McKendry and NBA'er Malik Rose (both Drexel alumni) worthless sacks of gorilla urine.

Other possible targets of Packer contempt are Butler and Southern Illinois, but in those cases, the issue would be seeding and not inclusion (I'd hope).

At any rate, should they find themselves in Billy Packer's crosshairs, it's not anything they should be particularly concerned about. It didn't bother George Mason last year, and it'll also be handy to include in the pre-game motivational video. Really, Billy Packer's providing a service.

Of all the "Sweet Christ, Billy Packer is so full of equine excrement" moments, we have to say, the "Just Going For The Ball!" foul from Gerald Henderson on Tyler Hansbrough at the end of the Duke-UNC game is definitely near the top of the list. Whatever your thoughts on the reason for Henderson's attack on Hansbrough, Packer's willful — and aggressive; it's obviously he's not going to let Jim Nantz talk on this subject — refusal to even imagine that a Duke player might have hammered down a cheap, brutal foul veers toward the pathological. This man broadcasts the biggest college basketball games of the year, every year; this never fails to amaze us.

We would like to see Packer calling other gruesome feats throughout history. "The Hindenberg is ... still in the air! Yep, it's just doing fine! Oh, the grand success! Oh, the grand success!"

Duke, UNC Flagrant Foul Video [Loser With Socks]
Wow, How Embarrassing For Him And CBS [Gunslingers]

The interview appears to be a couple of years old, and it features Packer in his typical frothing-out-the-mouth lunatic form. Highlights include:

• Packer claiming (sarcastically, we hope) that he and his wife sing Christina Aguilera songs to each other before they go to sleep.
• He says, straight up, "there's no reason to get a college diploma. It doesn't matter."
• He taunts George Mason graduates as "those with a 400 SAT."

This is the guy who is going to broadcast the biggest moment in Mid-Major history this Saturday, a guy who openly mocked GMU's entry into the tournament. And he's cheerily mocking George Mason for being a school for idiots. Man. Saturday's gonna be great.

You can hear the whole interview right here. The sound quality is a little rough, but you can get the gist.

Billy Packer Interview [WJFK]
Junkies Radio [WJFK]

The main target was, of course, Billy Packer, whom Simmons slammed twice. Monitoring the chat at the time, we thought, "Aw, bet that doesn't make the final transcript. ESPN will take those out." Sure enough, out they went. Fortunately, we swiped 'em, and they're after the jump.

As for the SI story, which we've been asked about a few times since we're a part of it, we'll say it seemed somewhat reasonable, at least for your typical print magazine story about Web sites. (We thought it would be a bit more embarrassing than it was.) It still has that Andy Rooney-talking-about-grunge feel, a little big media tsk-tsking to those Wild, Wild West folks of the Interweb who aren't as Serious as They are. And as for the experience of physically picking up a copy of Sports Illustrated and reading a story that has a picture of you in it? We wouldn't know how that works; we'd already read the story online.

Chat: Bill Simmons [ESPN]
Sports Illustrated [SI.com]

Bill Simmons: I think they use [Jim Nantz] for cliches and bad puns. But I'm delighted how this whole thing turned out - everyone forgets, Billy packer has been pulling this crap since the late-70's. During the '79 Tournament, he ranted and raved that Indiana State didn't deserve to be a high seed and they made the Finals. I even have the games on tape where they talk about it. My question is this - he's not funny, and he's not more or less insightful than anyone else. So why keep him on the air when he seems to have an innate tendency to piss people off and interject himself into storylines over and over again? We can't do better than this as the lead analyst on CBS?

Bill Simmons: I'd like to eliminate that Mike mancuso guy... no, that's not his name. It's Mike M. and he has a goatee, he calls himself Mike the Mouth. That guy is the anti-Christ. When Billy packer finally leaves CBS, that's who they will replace him with - Mike the Mouth. it's really the only logical move.

Here's the thing with Billy Packer: We kind of think we should all appreciate him a little more. Sure, he's borderline senile and a crotchety old crank. But jeez, the guy's an old-time basketball guy who played back when the shorts looked like French bathing suits. He knows nothing about anything that's happened in the last 30 years and doesn't mind at all. He's the sports Dick Cheney; grouchy, malcontent, intelligent and just doesn't give a crap. Get off his porch, you kids! We can mock him all we want — and he certainly has it coming — but come on: We'll take Billy Packer over, say, a Sklar brother, or a Jay Mohr, any day of the week.

Q&A With Billy Packer And Jim Nantz [SI.com]
Up Yours, Billy Packer [Blogspot]

He did find time a bit later to make excuses for the power conference teams, though, saying that they were worn down by conference tournaments. But, as the tipster says, they play those in the Missouri Valley, too.

Elsewhere, George Mason appears to be our best chance at an upset right now. They lead UNC by 3 right now. Bucknell trails Memphis by 16 in the 2nd half, Northwestern St. is down 22 at the half (after WVU's Darris Nichols hit a halfcourt shot as time expired), and Kentucky trails, but by just 7, in the 2nd half against UConn.

First, Packer. The CBS broadcaster has us concerned. He seemed disoriented and confused during the bracket unveiling yesterday, calling out the Wisconsin-Arizona matchup before it was announced and, bizarrely, railing against the Selection Committee for his supposed bias toward small-conference teams. (You know, in the same way Utah has a bias toward black people.) Packer has been insane for a while now, but we're considering him kind of Junior Soprano-style dangerous. We're a year or two away from an unhinged, on-air racist rant.

Then, Lunardi. Ah, Joe. After a weekend of singing the praises of Missouri State, Cincinnati and the Missouri Valley Conference — and being openly mocked by Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas — he obviously hoped for vindication when the bracket came out. Didn't happen; it was Lunardi's worst prediction year since he started at ESPN. (By far.) The result: This morning, we can't find a single mention of Lunardi on ESPN.com. Did Norby have him shot?

Anyway, you're not gonna be lacking in tournament fun around here, but for now, just to get you warmed up, we cordially invite you to join the official Deadspin NCAA Pool. We had to use ESPN's game, because we anticipated more than the 50 Yahoo allows. So come in, and play; first place in the pool wins all kinds of things we have lying around the apartment.

Deadspin NCAA Pool [ESPN]