Pissing people off is just part of the job description in sports talk. We give our opinions on the air five days per week and sometimes those shows run for two, three or four hours each day. It’s a lot of time that you have to fill with interesting content. If all you ever did was give milquetoast, uncontroversial opinions, you wouldn’t last very long in this business.
Last week, we saw the consequences of a lifetime of giving big opinions on big platforms. Whether it was Paul Finebaum’s confrontation with Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin at SEC Media Days or the public reaction to the news that Skip Bayless will be leaving FS1 at the end of the summer, plenty of average sports fans felt the need to get their takes off.
I’m always surprised by how much sports fans care about the people talking about the players and games, but I suppose it’s good that they do. If you can get the audience to care about you enough to be happy when you’re on the receiving end of a verbal lashing, you’re probably pretty good at this job.
I listened to Paul Finebaum every weekday when I was in college. That of course predates his ESPN tenure. It even predates his time at WJOX in Birmingham. Since I started writing for Barrett Media, I’ve gotten to know Paul well and he has always been good to me. I like Paul, and I still got a kick out of Lane Kiffin calling him out.
Now, I couldn’t tell you if Kiffin really despises Paul Finebaum, but it sure seems like he has made a point to keep Finebaum off his Christmas card list. He was very genuine in recounting his emotions and the events that followed after Finebaum went on College GameDay and called him “a joke” and “the Miley Cyrus of college football” in 2013.
Kiffin said that ultimately, he was at fault for his failure as USC’s head coach, but he made it clear that Finebaum’s comments weighed on his bosses’ minds. “You didn’t help. You really didn’t,” he said, reminding everyone that he was fired the same day that Finebaum made his comments.
Finebaum looked a bit uncomfortable, but he didn’t try to shy away from what he said. To me, that’s the sign of someone who gets that this is part of the job description. You share your opinion and you don’t mince words. More importantly, you accept that the people you talk about are entitled to react honestly.
When Kiffin delivered his punchline, “Really, I don’t know what you’re good at,” pointing out that Finebaum was wrong about Cyrus’s staying power and the multiple times he wondered aloud if Nick Saban was done, two things were clear. First, both men got that this was entertaining the people at home. Also, Kiffin was giving Finebaum and his audience a genuine reaction to content Finebaum had created in the past.
For Bayless, the factors are a little different. Count me amongst the many that don’t get the appeal of Skip Bayless. He’s a hot take cannon that fires without aiming. I kind of saw the writing for him and Undisputed on the wall when Shannon Sharpe left the show.
That being said, I understand that there’s a reason FOX was willing to go all in on Bayless when it had the chance to steal him from ESPN. He creates headlines, he creates reactions, and he doesn’t waste time wondering if his takes are right or wrong or how they make the people he is talking about feel.
Certainly, there are more responsible ways to do what Bayless does. A lot of players and colleagues clearly do not like him. But there are plenty of people who don’t like him and recognize that angry reactions can be a sign of someone doing their job well.
Finebaum and Bayless are not alone. There is a long list of sports talkers who have had to sit there and take it while the audience or the subject of one of their takes lays into them. The audience doesn’t react to people who have established themselves as stars in this industry in a vacuum. The anger over one comment is fueled by dozens of previous comments they have objected to.
That’s a good thing. It means people are watching and they’re reacting. You can be a lot of things in this business, but one thing you have to be is memorable. You won’t have a job for very long if you aren’t.
No one event creates the exact same memory for everyone. What keeps your audience coming back may make you a heel to the person you are talking about. They’re allowed to tell you that when they have the chance. Dealing with it is just part of the job. So is turning it into interesting content.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
