Justin Connolly, the ESPN senior vice president who will take the phone calls from screaming coaches or athletic directors every time some caller to Paul Finebaum’s radio show makes mention of a “bagman,” seemed perfectly at ease Wednesday with his decision to unleash Finebaum and his pigskin-loving version of Howard Stern’s Wack Pack on the SEC’s branded network. The choice, which proves once again that ESPN understands better than its competitors that people love college football and love to argue about college football, also proves something else.
This conference network will look nothing like the Big Ten Network or the Pac-12 Networks. “At the end of the day, we want to differentiate the network,” Connolly said. “We don’t want to just fill our days with re-airs of live-event content. What Paul does is bring some appointment television and some wow factor.”
What’s the old expression – lie down with pigs, get up smelling like garbage? Only I don’t know if that pertains to the SEC, or those of us stuck paying the cable subscription fees supporting that nonsense.
Get The Picture 
‘Wow factor’? Is he serious?
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Finebaum on the SEC Network is really just another version of Honey Boo Boo. People in Kansas love to believe we all sound and act that stupid.
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This^^
Duck Dynasty meets Jerry Springer and viewership increases exponentially outside the SEC states.
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I guess the people in Kansas need somebody to look down on since most of the country thinks Kansas is full of a bunch of idiots too.
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Case in point – Westboro Baptist Church
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I won’t be watching Finebaum’s show on the SEC Network. Sadly, I know that enough people will to keep him on the air. That’s sad.
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+1 for the Howard Stern Wack Pack comparison by Andy. Not sure there’s a better description out there.
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If they don’t bring back College Flash Classics I’m going to shit.
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As someone who has spent thousands of dollars on donations, tickets, travel, merchandise, etc and millions of hours watching college football games of all types, I have ZERO interest in watching this clown. I’m not even sure I know anyone who has ever even listed to his radio show.
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That’s the thing, he’s so popular but I can’t get anyone to admit to listening to him.
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When I lived in B’ham, I listened to him and read his column in The B’ham News. He was not as much a clown back then. Having met him at several functions when Vince would come over, I can tell you he is an arrogant SOB. He has a way of stirring the pot, so to speak. People love that . We used to call him the Bret Munsberger of Alabama. My friends from both Auburn and Alabama could not stand him. But, that did not stop us from discussing the crap he wrote at our morning meetings.
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So I realize I am not the “growth market” for eye balls for the SECN being that I am reading/commenting on a cfb blog at 9am on a Thursday in May at work, but FFS espn. I better be getting a boat load of replays on this channel. Granted, with the dvr set, I don’t care if you air them at 3am, but one of my hopes is with the way storage capacity is becoming more accessible and that there are a gagillion program hours to fill across multiple networks, I can curate a nice little library of UGA football. Tammy and her screeching better not ruin that.
But if she does, it’s not like I’m gonna take my wallet and go home, so I’ve got no one to blame but myself.
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Hopefully they will air Pawwl’s show at 3am.
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@3:56 “I sat with Paul last week, he came to Bristol for the day. We want Paul to be Paul and continue to do what has made him great, and so valuable to the SEC fan base. There’s going to be tension and conversation with the conference but we’re going to cross those bridges when we get to them. Paul takes the heat for content that is created and generated by others. Paul in many ways is moderator and traffic cop.” Paul says, Giddy-Up, Bitches!
http://videos.nola.com/times-picayune/2013/05/justin_connolly_said_paul_fine.html
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Since when is the SEC only Bama and Auburn. Those not in that state don’t care about listening to his drivel.
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Thanks to ESPN the opportunity is nowhere for Paul to spread drivel well beyond the pericardial perimeter of the Heart of Dixie. If the ratings don’t love his shtick (and they liked Boss Hogg in the “Dukes of Hazzard” didn’t they?) they’ll do a stent replacement procedure and toss him out as biohazzardous waste quicker than they did with Ron Franklin
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“Wow factor” is more like “Gag factor”
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Couple of thoughts…. People in Ohio, New York, etc. already think we’re hicks and Finebaums show won’t change that. Also, how many people outside the footprint of the SEC are going watch the network? I have the B10 network available, don’t pay for it and wouldn’t watch much if I did. I think most outside the conference will do much the same.
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