OT: ESPN hires Paul Finebaum
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9304935/paul-finebaum-joining-sec-network-espn
Never gonna hear the end of SEC love now.
All this does is continue to incentivize me to not watch the network.
Amen.
say it aint so.
Bad enough that all College Football Live is now is a 30 minute SEC commercial.
I wish the BTN would have some sort of CFB show in the offseason, even if it was weekly as opposed to daily like ESPN does. Give us some alternative!
Never learn anything I don't already know or that I wanted to know from that crap show.
But, but he has incredible range as a writer, reporter and personality.
Or so I've heard.
I can actually speak to this. When I moved to Birmingham after graduate school, he was a columnist for the Birmingham News. I found him to be an interesting and talented writer. What he is now is someone who fits right in with the network that employs Skip Bayless.
Finebaum is going to be the media personality that ESPN buiilds the SEC network around. ESPN is the same network that has built its ESPN2 morning programming around Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith because it does killer ratings.
They will probably simulcast Finebaum's show on the SEC network in the afternoons. Finebaum's show is like the Jerry Springer of college football. It's a genius move for ratings, but it's just sad that the Skip Bayless and Paul Finebaums of the world prosper by appealing to the lowest common denominator.
Anyone who gets into a drag out twitter war with some internet random aka me concerning Finebaum's acceptance of oversigning is NOT a credible journalist.
I did not mean in any way, shape or form to imply that I consider him a credible journalist. I am saying that thirty years ago I considered him a talented writer. I consider him now to be in the Skip Bayless realm. He got rich being the clown prince of the trailer park, not as a sportswriter.
Garbage. Absolute garbage. I was so happy when Sirius stopped his show. I thought we were rid of this dude. I will watch not one second of any show he is on.
His show was one of the primary reasons I didn't renew my Sirius subscription once the free trial period ran out. I live in Oklahoma so was desperate to hear sports info. from a national perspective, including of course the B1G teams, especially Michigan. I mistakenly thought Sirius might provide just that. Instead, it was worse than almost any local radio station that just promotes one team over and over.
I hope you at least listened to Bill King during the trial subscription. He is really good at the national level.
Bill King is very good. He was pretty much the reason I kept my Sirius subscription for so long.
without him on in the afternoon. If this means he's not coming back to Sirius, it's good news to me.
Im a Paul Heyman guy.
Then you're probably a fan of "the Coach" too.
The coach kills it on ESPN.
"That's what ESPN and the SEC Network are about. You have the extraordinary coalescence of the premier brand in sports combined with the preeminent conference in intercollegiate athletics." - Paul Finebaum, in the article
In other words, this is the coalescence of something that already suffers from some uninformative, homer-heavy programming with Paul Finebaum. This speaks well for the quality of the shows that are bound to appear on the SEC Network.
ESPN is bad enough with Rece Davis just sitting there with his shit-eating grin like an idiot while Holtz sprays the camera and Mark May with adventures of wishful thinking.
Right Connolly. What's really missing from the ESPN repetoire in homerism to the 100th power, and more senseless talking heads like Finebaum.
As for the remark about "range as a writer, radio personality and reporter", listen just because you can, doesn't mean you should. It also doesn't imply that you're any good. Finebaum sucks at all of these things. And everyone knows it.
Outside of Alabama, I consider this to be a very stupid business decision. But maybe ESPN's strategic business objective for 2013-2014 is to achieve market leadership in being unwatchable.
You are waaaaaaaay off base with Davis. He is both a good and decent man, and one hell of a studio host. He might be the second best ESPN guy on gamedays behind only Fowler. The rest can eat a bowl of shit.
Until someone clones Keith Jackson, I don't really care for any of today's football commentary.
but Brad Nessler is outstanding. I wish he did more M road games.
EDIT: How on earth is this comment "TROLLING"? You people make me laugh.
Once you have more points you will earn more respect (Or so i have seen). I have read the blog for years fyi.
Who?
PAAAWWWWLL
At least ESPN can rate recruits acceptably.
Want to really get the full view of how nuts SEC country is? Check this- An Auburn fan on Finebaum's radio show in summer 2011 wished the last thing that an Alabama caller saw before he died was Auburn winning the championship.
The significance of him saying that is the Alabama fan he is talking about had lung cancer. The Bama fan lost his battle with cancer in December 2011.
Here is the karma: The Bama fan got to see Alabama beat Auburn's ass before he passed. And Bama later won the title in 2011 and 2012.
I've met plenty of white trash Michigan fans that have said some pretty shitty things at times. There's a reason they're called fan(atic)s.
Because there are plenty of anti-SEC guys working for ESPN (May, Blackledge, Spielman, Griese, Desmond, Herbstreit) that can all kick his ass anytime he starts spewing his rhetoric. Could make for some interesting commentary. All he will have are those two douchebags Palmer and Pollack to circle jerk on air with. Even Rece Davis is a decent SEC fan.
Pollack. Forgot about that DB. He just sucks, plain and simple.
David Pollack is awful.
I thought ESPN was the SEC Network
Oh Gaaawwwd not more Paaaaaaawwwwwl. Hopefully he stops doing his radio show on XM91. He's the Jerry springer of CFB.
You are spot on. I knew he reminded me of someone trashy and catering to the lowest common denominator, but I couldnt quite put my finger on it. Jerry Springer for sure.
Damn. I thought he show was off the air.
I actually enjoyed listening to it.
Paul Finebaum, I don't like that man one bit.
Although I really want to read TomVH's stuff, I will never sign up for insider again.
Paul Finebaum is a terd. Flush him ESPN!