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Paul Finebaum vs. Michigan, ‘Sniveling’ Wolverines Fans Is Highly Entertaining

Also in Traina Thoughts: Patrick Mahomes impresses on ManningCast; Bad Beats; Penn State–Michigan ratings; and more.

Jimmy Traina

In this story:

1. Whether you agree or disagree with Paul Finebaum’s stance on the Michigan cheating scandal, you have to admire his ability to stay in the trenches and not back down when it comes to tweaking the Wolverines and its fan base (unless you’re a Michigan fan, of course).

And if you don’t have a dog in the fight when it comes to this Michigan saga, you have to be grateful to Finebaum for providing some great entertainment.

It started on Nov. 1 when, before the Big Ten eventually suspended Jim Harbaugh, Finebaum said on ESPN’s Get Up, ”Two weeks ago, I sat here with you and made the biggest mistake of my professional career. I gave Jim Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt. Never again. ... This is a disgusting story with every revelation which happens every single day of the week. And the fact that the Big Ten has not done anything yet is inexcusable.”

Finebaum doubled down last week and angered the Michigan faithful when he said that if Jim Harbaugh was not suspended, a Wolverines national title win this season would be tainted.

By this point, Wolverines fans were frothing at the mouth when it came to Finebaum. However, the longtime ESPN college football analyst stood had no intention of backing down.

And trust me, some of the backlash against Finebaum was not only intense, but also completely unhinged.

So with Finebaum aggressively calling about Michigan and Jim Harbaugh in recent weeks, it was no surprise that he’d go all in on the coach for saying Monday that the Wolverines should be “America’s team.”

And Finebaum did not disappoint, accusing Harbaugh of living in an “alternate universe” and being “detached from reality.”

Finebaum also dropped the hammer on Wolverines fans Monday, saying on The Matt Barrie Show, “As somebody who deals with fan bases from primarily one conference, but it branches out a little bit broader beyond that, I’ve never come in contact with a fan base that’s as insecure and consumed with their own self worth in a false way. There’s no more sniveling fan base in America than Michigan, either.”

Well, hot damn! Tell us how you really feel, Paul.

This is serious stuff. Even “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair is pissed at Finebaum now.

And Finebaum is still going. On Tuesday’s First Take, he called Harbaugh a “cartoon character.”

2. Speaking of Michigan, the game Saturday against Penn State drew 9,156,000 viewers on Fox. Despite the controversy surrounding the Wolverines, it was only the sixth-most-watched game of the season.

3. It’s not surprising that the best quarterback in football would know what he’s talking about, but this was still good stuff from Patrick Mahomes, who clearly has a future as an analyst after he wraps up his Hall of Fame career.

4. Here is this week’s edition of Bad Beats.

5. Paul Finebaum isn’t the only person with strong feelings on Jim Harbaugh and Michigan. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo gave one of his vintage rants on his SiriusXM show Monday.

6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features no guest. It’s an all–“Traina Thoughts” edition with weekly contributor Sal Licata from WFAN Radio and SNY TV.

This week, I detail my struggles in trying to book a guest for this week’s podcast, we reminisce about the horrible experience they had when we took pictures with Larry David and we discuss the NFL’s prime-time schedule woes and flex-scheduling changes that need to happen. We also discuss Troy Aikman’s call of Chargers-Jets on Monday Night Football, including his repeated criticism of New York quarterback Zach Wilson, and we speculate about LeBron James’s recent streaming issues with YouTubeTV.

We also address tweets regarding whether sports can be enjoyed without gambling on them, an important trait for NFL play-by-play folks, the Apple TV remote control and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I told you in Monday’s “Traina Thoughts” that I’d be featuring Bill Burr videos all week in this spot. This rant seems timely.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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