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By:Keith Groller
If you're a college basketball fan over the age of 45, it's probably still strange to go through an NCAA basketball tournament without having Billy Packer around.It's especially so for Lehigh Valley fans, considering Packer's local ties.
Packer had done every Final Four since 1974, but he and CBS parted company last year and it's still hard to say who's idea that really was.
Is he missed on game coverage? That's for you to judge and perhaps a full evaluation should be delayed until the Final Four games are played April 4-6.
What Kellogg has going for him, however, is that he hasn't been labeled as ''pro-this or anti-that'' just yet, the way Packer's biases -- real or imagined -- built up and eroded his sense of credibility and impartiality.
For instance, former 76ers GM and Duke man Billy King took a shot at Packer on NBC10's ''Sports Final'' late Sunday night.
After showing Packer predicting a Villanova win over Duke in the Sweet 16, King said, ''Billy Packer has always hated Duke. That's nothing new. He's Wake Forest guy.''
When you're around as long as Packer was, you're bound to engender that kind of animosity, and no, King wasn't kidding.
I'm sure Packer could have had a seat at the crowded ESPN college basketball set and been an asset considering his penchant for controversy, but he instead opted to stay involved with March Madness via a syndicated Sunday night show called ''Survive and Advance.''
Comcast SportsNet is showing it every Sunday night during the tourney.
If you can get away from the awkwardness of doing a college basketball show in a Vegas lounge and Packer's unfamiliarity with the No. 1 chair, this show has its share of insights and some unique guests such as Denny Crum, Bill Russell and David Thompson.
Bobby Knight is the co-host, and while he's as complex and polarizing as any personality we've had on the national sports stage, no one can dispute his basketball acumen.
When he talks Xs and Os, you should listen.
Knight is looking forward most to Memphis-Missouri and Duke-Villanova.
As for the Blue Devils and Wildcats, Knight said, ''Those are two teams that really play the game of basketball. They have good spacing on offense, good position on defense.''
Packer still thinks the best team in the tournament is Pitt, although he acknowledged the Panthers have been underwhelming in their two wins.
I don't know if ''Survive and Advance'' will survive and advance to a larger platform next year, but while he could always annoy and agitate, it's good to have Packer still involved -- to an extent -- in a phenomenon he helped to build.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Memory lane: Tonight, 30 years to the day of when it was played, RCN4 will show a replay of the 1979 PIAA Class 3A boys basketball title game between Allen and Valley from Pittsburgh. The game airs at 9 p.m. and features Bob Gehris as play-by-play man and Lou Sabler as analyst. Allen's appearance was part of a 10-year period when our boys teams often competed for state finals. These days, it's big news when we win a PIAA playoff game. It'll be especially interesting for Parkland fans to watch this game considering the several connections from this year's Trojans squad to the 1978-79 Canaries.
Dennis the menace: Somehow, Dennis Rodman has survived four rounds of firings on this year's edition of ''Celebrity Apprentice,'' but previews for next week's show bill it as a boardroom intervention as Rodman's drinking problems are brought to Donald Trump's attention. By the way, don't know what's harder to look at: Rodman's facial piercings or the six layers of Joan Rivers' face.
No timeout from TO: ESPN wasted no time getting the Bills and Terrell Owens on their Monday Night Football schedule. The Bills- Patriots open a season-opening MNF doubleheader on Sept. 14 with Raiders-Chargers to follow.
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