The Front Row: Jumping for joy

HE’S FINALLY GONE: After 34 years of torturing college basketball fans with his surly demeanor and know-it-all attitude, Billy Packer will no longer be serving as CBS’ lead color analyst for the Final Four.

It’s like a giant weight has been lifted off our shoulders. “March Madness” is my favorite month on the sports calendar, but Packer hung over the proceedings like an ominous cloud, eager to rain on everyone’s parade.

Between his complete lack of a sense of humor and his maddening habit of thrusting himself into major debates around tourney time, college hoops fans have had more than their fill of CBS’ resident curmudgeon. Just think, we won’t have to listen to Packer wrongfully criticize the selection committee or call Final Four games “over” before halftime.

I don’t know a single person who enjoyed Packer’s style. I don’t even know anyone who thought he was average. My friends and I usually put the broadcast on mute when we know we’re going to get a steady dose of Packer. When I watch games by myself, I rely on my iPod to get me through the broadcast. I never would’ve made it through this year’s Final Four without The Hold Steady.

Clark Kellogg will take over Packer’s role — a perfectly mediocre choice, but a major upgrade from Packer. CBS screwed up by not giving Bill Raftery the lead role, but I can’t complain.

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MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE: It’s rare to watch something live when you know that, at some point down the line, Hollywood is going to option it into a movie.

Former No. 1 overall pick and drug abuser Josh Hamilton stood tall at Yankee Stadium, having come full circle in what has been baseball’s most talked-about redemption story.

Instead of losing his battle with addiction, Hamilton turned his life around and became the star he always had the potential to be. America loves nothing more than the rise/fall/redemption narrative arc.

Hamilton’s story peaked with a record 28 homers in Monday night’s Home Run Derby. Bomb after 500-foot bomb exploded off his bat. With a certain Yankee conspicuously absent from the proceedings, Hamilton took over “the house that Ruth built” and turned it into a movie studio.

Between Hamilton’s jaw-dropping performance and Rick Reilly’s “one more ridiculous statement and the ESPN producers will have no choice but to cut your microphone” commentary, it was certainly a memorable evening.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747