There has not been a Final Four in my lifetime that wasn't called by Billy Packer. For as long as I've known of hardwood floors, orange basketballs, and 10-foot rims, I've known of Billy Packer. That's been my life as a college basketball fan.

But that comes to an end in 2009, as the legendarily grumpy Packer has been removed from CBS's NCAA tournament coverage. I don't know if they simply notified him with a phone call, or if it took a team of 14 angry lumberjacks to actually chisel his crusty old buttocks out of the chair, but he's out.

From the Miami Herald:

CBS has decided to replace Packer, 68, with studio analyst Clark Kellogg on its lead announcing team.

An announcement is expected Monday, but CBS representative Leslie Anne Wade confirmed the story Sunday night.

CBS believed the time was right for a change and that Kellogg deserved a chance to work with Jim Nantz on the lead team.

Packer says he's going to pursue "other projects in basketball," presumably, driving around to all of the mid-major programs in the country and punching their head coaches in the stomach.

I guess that's how Packer as a Final Four institution will be remembered; as a curmudgeonly fellow who didn't have a great amount of respect for mid-major programs, but made up for it with a more than healthy respect for the ACC. Honestly, I don't know of a lot of people who ever enjoyed his work.

That said, even if there was a little too much Archie Bunker in him, he was also very honest, blunt, and willing to share his knowledge of basketball. He taught the viewing audience about the game. And for anyone to hold down such a prestigious gig for 34 consecutive years is remarkable. That will never be topped.

Welcomed in to the seat next to Jim Nantz at the Final Four table is Clark Kellogg, who previously worked as a studio analyst through the NCAA tournament. It's unfair to judge Kellogg before he has a chance to actually do it, but I will say this: I've always found -- and I'm not alone in this -- CBS's NCAA tournament studio show to be bland, dry, unentertaining, and uninformative.

If it were up to me, they'd have sent Bill Raftery in, Jerome.

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