As a college football expert, Paul Finebaum often finds himself at the center of addressing issues pertaining to various teams. The ESPN Radio afternoon host appeared as a guest on Get Up to discuss the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) likely suspending Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh for four games after violating its rules. Before the Stoney & Jansen show played the audio for listeners on 97.1 The Ticket, they prefaced the moment by divulging their thoughts on Finebaum as a media personality.
“[It is] hard to believe, Jon, that the biggest SEC slaprichard of all time, Paul Finebaum, who actually I find very entertaining,” Mike Stone said.
“Sure, we can find him entertaining but still not like him,” co-host Jon Jansen interjected.
“I actually don’t mind him,” replied Stone. “He gets his shtick and that’s what he does and whatever. And he loves trolling Michigan fans and Michigan coaches, particularly Jim Harbaugh.”
The incident itself is focused on illicit recruiting practices being investigated by the regulatory organization and his refusal to comply with its enforcement. Harbaugh is facing a Level I violation, which is considered the most serious by the NCAA, and would cause him to miss the first four games of the season against East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green and Rutgers.
“Let’s start with the NCAA,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s Get Up. “It’s beyond a clown show; it is a clown show. The fact that they would sanction him for this is really beyond the pale…. I’m starting to respect Jim Harbaugh for standing firm and refusing to go down the NCAA’s path. This could have been over with a long time ago, but Harbaugh would not admit he lied.”
Finebaum proceeded to call the NCAA “backwards” and “antediluvian,” referring to how the organization is dealing with the incident in an unseemly manner. Throughout his career, Finebaum has been known to criticize Harbaugh, but he decided to defend him in this case. The landmark moment led him to quip that it could mark the end of his time on the air.
“In the end, the NCAA has no jurisdiction over anyone or anybody, and they can’t push things too far because the schools will take them to court and the NCAA maybe will lose,” Finebaum said. “In the end, I think Jim Haraugh looks really good here, and this might be my final broadcast ever on this earth because I’m leaving.”
While Stone and Jansen disagree on whether or not Harbaugh did the right thing in standing by his actions, both admit that the conference has become somewhat of a laughing stock. Seeing just how the situation plays out will spark further discussion and debate, especially if proof of what was found comes to light.
“I think you are conflict-averse, and you don’t want to answer questions that may be difficult to answer, but the right thing to do may be to play this out and [have] the NCAA [go] prove it,” Jansen said. “Make them show the receipts; make them show they have something and it’s not just being reported by somebody else.”
