Paul Finebaum's Embarrassing Personal Attack on Illinois Coach Bret Bielema

"Knowing Bret Bielema for a long time, the only thing that surprised me is, understanding his voracious appetite, that he didn't bite the microphone and try to swallow it, because he doesn't seem to mind running his mouth," Finebaum said in a recent radio hit on 971 The Fan. "He had a good season last year by Illinois standards – plus .500. I would worry more about maybe being successful on the football field so he doesn't get fired there, like he did at Arkansas, as opposed to running his mouth and making allegations that there is no chance in the world he can back up."

A few quick thoughts:

– Finebaum works for the SEC Network, and he has a reputation for being a bit (and maybe a lot) of a shill for the conference's football interests. Whatever. This wasn't really his battle to fight, but he came screaming in from the sideline to make it so.

– If you're somehow overwhelmingly compelled to make a fat joke – and let's be clear that we are not endorsing that in any way, shape or form – do better. Eating the microphone? C'mon, Paul, this isn't Chuckles in the old strip mall on Route 1 just outside of town. Take some pride in your material.

– In all seriousness, and most importantly, journalists who take public personal shots at their subjects should quickly be rendered ex-journalists. Finebaum isn't Charles Barkley or Stephen A. Smith. Reporters, and even columnists and commentators, are meant to be held to a bare-minimum standard of professionalism and objectivity that Finebaum obliterated with his unwarranted rant.

Perhaps there's bad blood there, or maybe Bielema just rubs Finebaum the way he does some others.It doesn't matter.Finebaum was so far out of bounds that he might as well have been tailgating in Lot 49 on Florida Avenue. If Bielema's initial comments were unsubstantiated (which is up for debate), Finebaum's response was off topic, juvenile and, for a longtime member of the media, pathetically lizard-brained.

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