The college football season begins on Saturday from Dublin, Ireland with a Week 0 matchup between Notre Dame and Navy, returning a sense of normalcy to the lives of fans of the sport. Up until the CFP National Championship Game on Monday, Jan. 8, there will be action every week across the Power Five conferences and beyond.
“From here on out, the dry days are over [and] it’s time to eat,” Rich Shertenlieb said Friday morning on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “There’s only really one person that can get me in the right mood for all things that is college football, and that is, of course, the great Paul Finebaum.”
Finebaum has been the host of his daily syndicated radio program, The Paul Finebaum Show, for many years and broadcasts his show live on the SEC Network and other ESPN platforms. Those who call into his show have made names for themselves and become recognizable figures with each year. They are a frequent source of jest for Toucher & Rich, and Finebaum himself recognizes how they mock the callers. It is in part through Finebaum’s ability to appeal to the audience throughout his four-hour weekday program, however, that has rendered him as one of the most well-respected radio hosts in the country.
“The trailer parks all over the South are still open, ready for your calls,” Shertenlieb said. “He is such a gifted broadcaster, and I am not saying that with any sarcasm; I mean that. I’m telling you the truth that [he] might be, in my opinion, one of the top two [or] three most entertaining shows on the radio.”
Shertenlieb lauded Finebaum for his ability to step aside and let the spotlight shine on members of the audience. It is a rare characteristic many radio hosts take time to develop, if at all, but the “Voice of the SEC” has seemed to understand the principle from the beginning.
“A lot of people when [they] open up the phone lines and get the kind of callers that he does, they’ll want to jump in and they’ll want to be the star,” Shertenlieb explained. “Finebaum is very good at analyzing college football. He’s controversial; he’s got good takes. Half the time I don’t know the players and the people he’s talking about because… we don’t tend to, around here, care much about college football, but he makes me care, so I guess that’s the ultimate compliment.”
