Paul Finebaum Brings Auburn Trolling To A National Stage, Blasts Gene Chizik On Gameday
By Kyle Kensing
No one can accuse Paul Finebaum of selling out his SEC-centric shtick for a ESPN’s national audience. The professed “Voice of the SEC” made his ESPN College Gameday debut doing what he does best: trolling the Auburn Tigers fan base.
Finebaum used discussion of new Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn as a platform to blast former Tiger head coach Gene Chizik.
"“Auburn would not have won the national championship [in 2010] without Gus Malzahn and of course, Cam Newton. Thinking back on Gene Chizik, has there even been a coach whose done a worse job to a national championship? I think he’s the worst coach to ever win a national championship.”"
Finebaum has staked his reputation on hosting what is essentially the radio version of a fan message board. Every topic takes on a combative tone an middle ground is non-existent, but listeners eat it up. ESPN brass knew what it was doing when it hired Finebaum to be the face of the forthcoming SEC Network.
Whether Finebaum’s abrasive style and unabashed SEC homerism translates to a national audience is questionable, and to that end he’s appeared sparingly in his Gameday debut. Expect him to maximize his airtime with more provocative hot takes, designed to launch callers like “Tammy” and “Joe From Trussville” into frothy mouthed rages on his ESPN Radio program.
A little Finebaum goes a very long way. Kind of like castor oil.