JayMo4

May 23rd, 2013 at 7:41 PM ^

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!

Leaders And Best

May 23rd, 2013 at 11:14 PM ^

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.

maize-blue

May 23rd, 2013 at 7:58 PM ^

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.

UMgradMSUdad

May 24th, 2013 at 12:41 AM ^

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.

LSAClassOf2000

May 23rd, 2013 at 8:10 PM ^

"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. 

markusr2007

May 23rd, 2013 at 8:25 PM ^

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.

DISCUSS Man

May 23rd, 2013 at 8:33 PM ^

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. 

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-07-22/sports/os-bianchi-auburn-alabama-0723-20110722_1_gene-chizik-auburn-fan-alabama-coach-nick-saban

inthebluelot

May 23rd, 2013 at 8:50 PM ^

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.