GatorShotz

By TOM JONES
Published April 3, 2007

Staff writer Tom Jones looks back at the best and worst from Monday's broadcast of the Florida-Ohio State game.

Weakest opening

To open the telecast, studio host Greg Gumbel said, "To paraphrase an old saying, the entire world has the Georgia Dome on it's mind." No, please, don't tell me you've had, literally, years to get ready for this night and that's the best thing you could think of.

Best insight

CBS analyst Billy Packer quickly - and justifiably - criticized the officials for calling the game way too tight. "That's something I didn't want to see - the referees calling ticky-tack fouls early," Packer said. "Let the big guys play." Later, Packer added, "A lot of touch fouls. They're not letting them play at all."

Speaking of Packer

Billy Packer reminds me of the grumpy old man who lived next door to you when you were a kid - you know, the guy who would come running out of his house and grab the football that landed in his yard and say, "See this football? It's Billy Packer's football now." But the guy flat-out knows his hoops and I would have a hard time arguing with anyone who said he is the best basketball analyst. Ever. His observations Monday were lightning-quick and dead-on. I'd mention examples, but practically everything out of his mouth was good stuff.

- Play-by-play guy Jim Nantz was as smooth as ever and only mentioned the tradition of the Masters, like, twice. Nice work, Jim.

Packer's lone misstep

Packer, as I've already said, had a great night, but just like he did when Duke's Gerald Henderson broke the nose of North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Packer was quick to squash any controversy after Florida's Corey Brewer was laid out by Ohio State big man Greg Oden early in the game. Packer said it was an "inadvertent elbow" and was not intentional. First, it looked more like Oden tripped Brewer by sticking out his rear end, not his elbow. And, quite frankly, it looked pretty intentional to me.

Worst job of counting

Is it just me, or does anyone else think Ohio State coach Thad Matta is lying when he says he is 39 years old? After looking at 19-year-old Greg Oden, I'm convinced people at Ohio State must count years differently than the rest of us.

Tournament MVP

Who had the best Final Four? Bob Christianson. Bob Who, you say? He's the composer of the CBS NCAA Basketball Theme that was played at every timeout - and goodness knows there were a million timeouts. Christianson, whose second-most famous work was the theme to Sex & the City, gets paid every time it's played. He told the Baltimore Sun that sometimes when he hears the song, he says, "I just made another two dollars."

Good riddance

Congrats to the Gators, but they were simply too good. So good that they - and the fact that there were no major upsets or Cinderellas - helped make this the most boring NCAA tournament ... possibly ever.

[Last modified April 3, 2007, 00:24:48]