🏈 "Pot, this is kettle." Gregg Dolye (CBSSportlines) takes his shots at Finebaum.

[TerryP]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] An idiot speaks nonsense, and the world listens. Shame on the idiot? Nah. That's what idiots do. They speak nonsense. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] But shame on the world for listening. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Shame on any of us -- well, shame on any of you -- who have taken seriously Steve Spurrier's runaway ego or fabulist Paul Finebaum's runaway imagination. Those nonsensical idiots. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Both of them have furthered the rumor that Florida football coach Urban Meyer will leave the Gators after this season for Notre Dame. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] In fairness to the truth -- yo, Finebaum, that's spelled t-r-u-t-h -- Meyer started the rumor himself. He's a devout Catholic and a former Notre Dame assistant, and when he was asked in December about Notre Dame, he stupidly but honestly called it his "dream job." That's where the rumor started, but it's a dumb rumor. It's intellectually dishonest to believe it, much less to spread it. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] [SIZE=+1]
• Dodds and Ends: Picking the SEC [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] But Spurrier spread it in May when he went on Finebaum's radio show somewhere in the South -- Google Finebaum if you care; I can't believe I'm even typing that huckster's name -- and said, "They've still got that rumor down there that if [Meyer] has about one more big year he might be the Notre Dame coach." [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Finebaum expanded last week on Spurrier's jealous-speak with a column in a paper in the South -- oh hell, here's the link; see this guy's "work" for yourself -- where he wrote, "Urban Meyer is probably leaving Florida after the season to go to Notre Dame." [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Finebaum's source? He doesn't mention one. Because he doesn't have one. His source is either Spurrier's "rumor down there," or that vast empty space Finebaum calls his skull. (Does it seem personal, my viewpoint on Finebaum? It's not. I don't know him. Don't want to know him. Don't respect him. Don't believe him. That clear?) [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Normally, I'm staying out of stuff like this. Meyer coaches at Florida, I graduated from Florida, and the whole conflict-of-interest thing bores me to tears. Write something nice on the Gators, and people call me a Gator homer. Write something mean -- which I've done a lot more frequently -- and people ignore my background. Until I write something nice again. At which point I'm a homer again. The whole thing is tedious. I root for one thing, and one thing only, and that's for MMA to become the biggest sport in this country. Everything else, including Florida football, is a bug under my microscope. I'll study it. I might even be fascinated by it.

But I won't cheer for it. Gross little bug. ... [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] But this? I can't stay out of this. I can't sit back and watch Spurrier, out of sheer envy, try to torpedo the guy who has eclipsed him at Florida. True, Spurrier laid the foundation there. He won a national title. Won more than anyone had won at Florida. Made it a football school -- until Spurrier arrived in 1990, Florida was a women's gymnastics school -- that could attract the likes of Urban Meyer.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Spurrier laid the foundation, then built a mansion. Ron Zook replaced Spurrier and was replacing the mansion with a trailer park when he got fired. Meyer came in and rebuilt Florida into one of the three most exclusive properties (with Southern California and Texas) in college football. And Spurrier doesn't like it. He's a UF alum, so he wants the Gators to do well. But this well? Better than when he was the coach? Nah. Spurrier doesn't want that.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] So Spurrier takes a comment Meyer made in December about Notre Dame being his "dream job" and turns it into that rumor down there. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] And then Finebaum, a third-rate hack with a fascination for fiction, wrote the same thing last week. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] And it's just not fair. Not fair to Florida as a program or Meyer as a coach. Yes, he made that "dream job" comment, but allow me to expand on that. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] As a kid, Sports Illustrated was my dream job. I wrote letters to the editor until they finally published one (on Hakeem Olajuwon) in the Dec. 12, 1983 issue. I was 13. Jim Brown was on the cover. It's in a frame on my wall. Even now, given my background, Sports Illustrated is probably my "dream job." But if they offered me a position tomorrow, would I take it? No. Because Sports Illustrated isn't what it was in the 1980s. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
Kind of like Notre Dame. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] But the Meyer rumor won't leave. Newspapers in Gainesville, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., and Orlando, Fla., have written about it, all in the past six days. Why? Because of Spurrier. And Finebaum. Neither of whom has given this any thought at all, because Meyer could have taken the Notre Dame job in December 2004 when he left Utah for Florida. It was offered to him. He said no. And in the 4½ years since then, the Notre Dame job has only gotten worse, while the Florida job -- two national titles in three years -- has only gotten better. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] I'm not saying Meyer won't leave Florida some day for another job. Smart people do stupid things all the time. Spurrier, for example, left Florida in 2002 for the NFL. Will something like that happen with Meyer? Don't know. But I do know this: For Spurrier to speculate that the dominant coach in his own conference might leave for Notre Dame is patently unfair. And then for Finebaum to write it a month later, in even more assertive terms, is even worse. Journalistically, it's offensive. It's fiction. That's all it is. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] And then for the world -- websites, blogs, newspapers, radio and TV -- to build on the quicksand that is a Finebaum column and give the rumor so much weight that it seems almost believable? [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Sickening. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] When Florida visits South Carolina on Nov. 14, I hope the Gators score a late touchdown to make it 55-3 -- and that they then go for two points. Because Spurrier deserves it. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] As for Finebaum, well, it doesn't matter what I hope happens to that guy. He'll scuttle on unscathed. Cockroaches always do. [/FONT]

 

[Big_Fan]

Trickle Down Economics and Pigskin Prognostication Special - Finebaum v/s Doyel

Trickle Down Economics and Pigskin Prognostication Special Edition​

Media Madness – Paul Finebaum and the Meyer Controversy ​

​

by Darren Carter – RollTideBama.com 7/21/2009​

​

Someone once compared Southern Football to religion. A reply was made that, in fact, Football was much more important than that. While such commentary might border on blasphemy to some, it doesn't strike far from the truth. While Sunday mornings remain the most segregated time in our nation, Southern College Football Saturdays have become a time of fellowship and camaraderie that would make even the Apostles proud – the jihad of rivalries not withstanding. ​

​

Coming out of the reconstruction period following the Civil War, the South had little to be proud of. When Alabama burst onto the national scene as a power in 1925, the sport became a point of pride for southerners – something that continues to this day. In fact, 13 of the last 20 years have seen a team east of Texas and south of Kentucky win at least a share of the national Championship. Suffice it to say that while others play football – the South lives it. To continue the comparison to religion, the South is often referred to as the “Bible Belt,” and the Southern Baptist denomination is the largest in the land. If there was a “Football Belt,” it would reside in SEC country. Media markets around the country resemble dying churches and seldom visited Sunday Schools outside of football season, but the Deep South is College Football's mega-church, and like it or not, the evangelist with the largest pulpit and congregation is Paul Finebaum. ​

​

Love him or hate him (and it is likely that one applies), Finebaum is the South's most listened to sports-talk radio program, and his syndicated column is read by fans all over the world. Since his arrival on the scene in the waning days of Bryant era, Finebaum has made an indelible mark on the most intense and involved sports market in the nation. ​

​

Finebaum is a masterful writer, and if influencing the court of public opinion is any indication, an expert on the human mind vis-á -vis L. Ron Hubbard. Countless thousands pay attention to what Finebaum says. Sports Illustrated named his radio program one of the top 12 sports-talk shows in the country, and Finebaum is a permanent fixture among top 10 listings of the most influential people in the Southeastern Conference. While the intro to his radio show proclaiming that he gets football coaches fired may not be a bragging point, it is not entirely untrue. ​

​

Finebaum is opinionated and will state his opinion without a sugar coating, a practice that has garnered the hatred of some and the respect of others. Some have called him the pied piper of sports talk – he plays his flute (stirs the pot) and whatever fan base he is after will respond in droves – driving up his ratings even more. Regardless of how you feel about him, an undeniable truth (T-R-U-T-H) is that Finebaum's opinions are both informed and uncannily accurate – a side effect of having spent 30 years building relationships and connections in the Southeast.​

​

Last week, Finebaum wrote a column (as in a statement of opinion) stating that he believed Florida Coach Urban Meyer would leave the University for Notre Dame in 2010. While no doubt largely speculation, it is his opinion. Meyer has stated publicly (and privately) that Notre Dame is his dream job. His biography revealed that he passed on Notre Dame because the timing wasn't right. It has been commented on in the past that Meyer chose Florida over Notre Dame because there was far less rebuilding to be done, and that Florida would give him a platform to win championships and make Meyer a household name. It is hardly speculation to say that recruiting nationally (as a Notre Dame coach must) would be much easier as a proven winner on a national state – instead of someone who just flew in from Utah. Meyer knew that a good coach could win big right away at Florida, and he is a good coach.
​

​

Not surprisingly, Finebaum's column ruffled feathers and rattled cages in the sunshine state. Meyer's media men went running to their keyboards to defend and deflect Finebaum's speculation. Daily fishwrapper “journalists” aspiring to gain the confidence of Meyer flew into action; venom flowed from their Underwoods. ​

​

I am sure that Finebaum was smiling as their attention expanded his market and internet listening base, and brought in dozens of new callers to his radio show. The Florida writers heard the flute and followed...but it doesn't change Finebaum's accuracy or reliability.​

​

The most recent “journalist” to bite on Finebaum's bait is CBS Sportsline columnist Gregg Doyel. To clarify with another church comparison, Doyel is the Sunday School Teacher whose only students are his own children. His church is large but nobody attends outside of Football season. Even then nobody really listens to him. In his July 19th article “Idiots Making Meyer News Where None Exists,” Doyel launched one of the most venomous print attacks in recent memory, calling Finebaum: an idiot, dishonest, hack, empty-skulled, third rate, and a cockroach. Gee Gregg, tell us how you reall feel. Adding to the humour of his rant, Doyel readily admits to being a Florida grad who touts the intellectually stimulating sport of MMA as being the best sport on earth. Doyel's open admission of his history as a Florida homer wreaks of self indulgence, and in no way invalidates the truth of the issue. Lampooning the truth doesn't change it.
​

​

What Doyel fails to realize is that he is a mosquito insulting a windshield. His characterizations of Finebaum fly in the face of reality. Doyel's attempts at downplaying Finebaum is akin to ignoring the 800 pound gorilla in the room, and while Finebaum is a pot-stirrer, he is no fool. ​

​

Whether or not Doyel believes his own diatribe is questionable, and given his background and connections I would speculate his article was the result of a late night phone call from Gainesville. I can imagine a call along these lines...“Gregg, this is Urban Meyer, I need to you go after Finebaum for me.” ​

Doyel Complied. After all, he doesn't want to end up like Shane Mathews - excommunicated by Pope Urban.​

​

Taken in light of his background, his rant has the reverse effect of what he desired. I am more convinced than ever that Meyer is on his way out. The voracity of Doyel's attack on Finebaum was not fueled by a desire to defend honesty and integrity in the media - after all Doyel works with Dennis Dodd. If Doyel truly desired to be a media exterminator, he would lead Dodd to a roach motel. The problem is, neither of them would check out. ​

​

Ultimately, Doyel came across as a love smitten buffoon having his strings pulled like a marionette. The whole world knows that his girlfriend is cheating on him, yet he attacked the only person with the guts to tell him. ​

​

Or maybe Doyel just heard the piper.​

 

[psychojoe]

Good stuff, BigFan, as usual.

I do agree with the writer, however, that Finebaum is a cockroach.

 

[Big_Fan]

Good stuff, BigFan, as usual.

I do agree with the writer, however, that Finebaum is a cockroach.

Thanks.

Finebaum is what he is. He is brash, sometimes offensive, driven by his own agenda of success, and very opinionated. I know that a lot of people hate him, but he is right more than he is wrong - and when he is wrong, he admits it. I admire that, even though he is a pot-stirrer.

Personally, I take offense to Doyel's article. There was a subtle insult to the south in it, and Doyel's reputation as a pot-stirring hack made his piece wreak of agenda.

I am not kidding when I suggest that Meyer asked him to write it. I believe he did.

 

[psychojoe]

Thanks.

Finebaum is what he is. He is brash, sometimes offensive, driven by his own agenda of success, and very opinionated. I know that a lot of people hate him, but he is right more than he is wrong - and when he is wrong, he admits it. I admire that, even though he is a pot-stirrer.

Personally, I take offense to Doyel's article. There was a subtle insult to the south in it, and Doyel's reputation as a pot-stirring hack made his piece wreak of agenda.

I am not kidding when I suggest that Meyer asked him to write it. I believe he did.

It would not surprise me in he least if Meyer, or at least people connected with UF football prompted this "defense" of Meyer. I've been more or less following Finebaum's career in the Birmingham area since he started on talk radio. He is a master at stirring the pot, as you said. It has been a slow summer and I'm sure PF was hoping to stir up a little excitement with the Meyer to ND article. He probably got a lot more than he expected. This is obviosly a touchy subject in the Gator nation.

 

[shipley00]

This biggest "surprise" out of all of this is, I didn't think Meyer was still this much of a media darling.

 

[CtrlAltDel]

Urban Meyer has it made either way. The only solace for the SEC will be that a very good coach has made room for others. I don't care what you say, if Urban stayed at Florida for another 10 years, Alabama and Florida would be scrapping like they did back in the 90's.

He is a very good coach and has turned Florida into a machine that is hard to stop. Hell, maybe he can be 'Bama's offensive coordinator instead of going to Notre Dame.

'Bama will pay him 4 million a year also.

 

[Kozlowski]

Thanks.

Finebaum is what he is. He is brash, sometimes offensive, driven by his own agenda of success, and very opinionated. I know that a lot of people hate him, but he is right more than he is wrong - and when he is wrong, he admits it. I admire that, even though he is a pot-stirrer.

Personally, I take offense to Doyel's article. There was a subtle insult to the south in it, and Doyel's reputation as a pot-stirring hack made his piece wreak of agenda.

I am not kidding when I suggest that Meyer asked him to write it. I believe he did.

Totally agree with this on Finebaum:bow: