Paul Finebaum. What's with his bama love when he's UT grad?

[MWAVolfan]

It's a little more complicated than just saying $$$$$$.

Finebaum started out as a reporter. Not long after graduating from college (yep, UT Knoxville) in '78, he landed a gig writing for the Birmingham paper. Hey, you take the jobs where you find them. At that point he was still bleeding orange...I think. Still at that job, he broke the story on Antonio Langham hiring an agent while a student at Bama...and got the program on probation. Yep, still bleeding orange, heh. That was in '93 or '94.

The dude has a ton of journalism awards, so apparently his writing skills are pretty darn good.

Well, you know how the evolution happens. Hot sports writer gets interviewed on the local sports radio show...then gets a regular weekly call-in with those guys...then gets his own show. At this point, no surprises. Finebaum has a good voice for radio.

But this is, I think, where his blood starts turning from orange to crimson. Because it's much harder not going native when you're interacting in real time with a bunch of folks.

Anyway, he does well with radio, too, and somehow parlays that into TV gigs. Lord knows how he pulls that off, he has a face that could scare ghosts. And by the time he is making the big $$$$ with ESPN, I think he is already converted to the evil empire's side.

So follow the $$$$ isn't quite right. More accurately, follow the influence and pressure of the crowd. If he'd had more strength of character, he probably could've resisted. But...well...he's Finebaum.

Go Vols!

p.s. I believe he spoke the truth when he said he was a big Namath fan as a kid. But I think he only said he was also a Bama fan to endear himself to the bulk of his radio listenership. But who knows.

Finebaum was born and raised in Memphis. That alone can cast doubt on him ever "bleeding orange". There are a LOT of other universities that are closer to Memphis that UTK. Some may find it hard to believe, but lots of people go to universities that have nothing to do with the football teams they like to watch. When I was at Tennessee, two of my room mates were from Findlay Ohio (lifelong Ohio State fan) and Valdosta, Ga (Lifelong Bulldogs fan), but they went to college at UT. One of my best friends today grew up in Franklin, TN. He went to Alabama. His sister went to UT and his other sister went to Auburn.

 

[leon]

He constantly trashed Coach Fulmer and the UT program years ago, especially after a lot of the Bamers thought he turned them in for cheating. To him Bama could do no wrong and UT could do no right.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

He constantly trashed Coach Fulmer and the UT program years ago, especially after a lot of the Bamers thought he turned them in for cheating. To him Bama could do no wrong and UT could do no right.

As others have already said on this thread, his show was in Bhm at that time and he catered and sucked up to the Bama/AU fans. They were his show. PF will get into any gutter he needs to for ratings.

 

[leon]

This.

Had Tennessee been an actual good football team in the last 15 years rather than Bama and Auburn, Paul never would have gotten the national platform he did. But when the two teams in your state win most of the national championships in a decade, that opens up a huge door for you.

I have never understood the "Paul loves Bama" argument. No! Paul loves MONEY! Bama makes him money and UT is f'ing trash. Nobody wants to talk about UT because any time a national sportscaster sticks their neck out to talk positively about Tennessee, Tennessee sh!ts the bed on national TV and implodes.

Stop with your misplaced anger! It's not Paul Finebaum's fault that UT sucks @ss! Sportscasters only talk about INTERESTING THINGS and the only time Tennessee is interesting to talk about is when there is an scandal or embarrassment on the national level.

Finebaum was trashing UT back in the 90's when UT was beating Bama.

 

[TNDeb3]

Am I the only one that gets sick just looking at the guy. His obsession with bama is so obvious and Espn loves him for it. You're a grad of UT for pete's sake! I can't watch Sec network because of this guy anymore Thoughts. Comments. Who agrees?

Finebaum is an ass.

 

[Devo182]

They're the best lol. Don't be so fragile. We have to be good if we want media (not biased UT grads) to love on us.

Not that complicated.

 

[IluvdoubleD's]

FB was let into Saban's "circle of trust"after he took root in south alabama with a call in show. He owes his career to that, but if UT becomes a powerhouse again, he will be equally attached to UT. The thing about FB is he is year round, and when I go down to the coastal rental every year, his show is the start of football season. So, he has hand now, he has power. He has a lot of connections, and he gets to the root of the story because of those connections. You have to put up with alabama fans to get there tho.

 

[peaygolf]

Bama makes him money.
Real simple.

 

[overseasorange2]

Because Bama is filled with bandwagon fans and he happens to be one of them.

He’s also arrogant.

Anything else?

Yes. Have you ever heard the idiot callers he has on a regular basis? I can't understand most of them, but I guess it's hard to talk when you only have 1 or 2 teeth.

 

[IluvdoubleD's]

This is me giving a rare "way more information then i should", but for the longest time I was convinced "Larry from Shelby" was my uncle.

 

[TVOLS]

A new thread

 

[turbovol]

As others have said, he had a radio show based in bama for years that essentially catered to redneck bama and auburn fans. He's never been very good and it was comical to see him picked up by espn.

 

[Volfan1000]

Isn't Finebaum close to retirement?