Charles Barkley Video: Watch Barkley Blast Billy Packer on TNT

It doesn’t take much to get a response out of Charles Barkley, and when you’re as opinionated as Billy Packer, who’s lighting the fire, you can bet that response will come quickly.

After Packer ripped TNT for their upcoming March Madness coverage, Barkley responded in the way that only Barkley knows how: by calling Packer a “jackass.”

Normally I tend to side against the guy who starts name calling, but when it comes to TNT covering March Madness, I have no qualms about it.

Sure, TNT doesn’t know anything about March Madness, but at this time of year no one does. Most of the fans out there who are watching the tournament got involved two weeks ago. They’ve been immersing themselves in the NFL season and then in a little NBA.

Welcome to March: the time when 90 percent of the tournament fans finally start to care about college hoops. They don’t care that TNT doesn’t carry NCAA basketball all year. Why would they?

When the time comes they’ll get analysts to talk about it and they’ll be prepped by their research team. Packer can rest assured that their coverage won’t resemble a group of Minnesota housewives trying to break down the brackets and seeding (I apologize to the housewives out there who know far more about college basketball than I do).

Packer’s comments weren’t meant to be inflammatory—they were really just passing thoughts. The USA today story he did didn’t indicate he was riled up about it. However, all it takes is a passing comment to give Sir Charles something to gripe about.

Packer has since challenged Sir Charles to a college basketball discussion, but that’s about as foolish for Charles to do as it would be for Packer to get into a rebounding contest (or pie eating or bad golf swing contest) with Barkley.

So enjoy Packer getting roasted here and remember that it’s just a game, guys. At the end of the day, no one will really care who calls it.