Paul Finebaum

Paul Finebaum is an American columnist, author, television and radio personality based in Birmingham, Alabama. His primary focus is sports, particularly those in the Southeast. Finebaum was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended the University of Tennessee, where he received a liberal arts degree.

News Reporter

Paul Finebaum arrived in Birmingham in 1980 and became a columnist and investigative reporter for the "Birmingham Post-Herald." Finebaum broke the story of Antonio Langham, a University of Alabama football player who signed a contract with a sports agent while playing for the school, which led to a probation for the school. He was also first to report the firing of Auburn University coach Terry Bowden. [ [http://www.finebaum.com/finebaumbio.html Finebaum.com: Finebaum's biography] ] Finebaum is currently a columnist for the "Mobile Press-Register".

Radio and Television

In 1993, Finebaum began his afternoon sports-talk show on WERC-AM. Finebaum was the sports director for WIAT-TV from 1997-2002. In January 2007, his radio show moved to WJOX-FM. " The Paul Finebaum Radio Network," comprised of Finebaum with producers Pat Smith, Kerry Adams and Dave Sibley was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the top 12 sports radio shows in the United States in 2004. [cite news|url=http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/sports/070120/radio.shtml|title=Finebaum joins WJOX radio station|publisher="The Decatur Daily" (via Associated Press)|date=January 20, 2007]

The fourth hour of Finebaum's show was, for a time, simulcast on XM Satellite Radio channel 165. The program was dropped from XM altogether in 2006 and Dave Ramsey fills the slot today.

Publications

By Finebaum

Finebaum's books include his popular "I Hate..." series, including "I Hate Notre Dame: 303 Reasons Why You Should, Too," and several dozen similarly-titled works which humorously attack most major college athletic programs.

Finebaum's other books include "The Worst of Paul Finebaum" (ISBN 1881548120), a 1994 compilation of some of the newspaper columns he has written; and "Finebaum Said" (ISBN 1931656037), a 2001 collection of columns and interviews.

About Finebaum

As a spoof, his friend and colleague Tommy Charles published "I Hate Paul Finebaum: 303 Reasons Why You Should, Too" in 1996.

References

* Barnes, Susan. (Summer 2005) " [http://pr.tennessee.edu/alumnus/alumarticle.asp?id=628 The Devil We Know] ". "Tennessee Alumnus Magazine". Vol. 85, No. 3 - accessed April 16, 2006
* Paul Finebaum is "the most influential sports-talk personality in the Southeast" - Huntsville Times, August 21, 2003.
* "Paul Finebaum, the state's most influential sports columnist and talk-show host" - New York Times, May 4, 2003.

External links

* [http://www.finebaum.com Paul Finebaum Radio Network official site]
* [http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/116921267611600.xml&coll=2 Finebaum headed to WJOX, "Birmingham News"]
* [http://www.cranehill.com/ihate.html Cranehill Press "I Hate..." Series]
* [http://www.bhamwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Paul_Finebaum Paul Finebaum] article at BhamWiki.com