Paul Finebaum says no issues with Greg Sankey, picks fight with Tim Brando over SEC schedule

Paul Finebaum was live on the SEC Network — as he usually is from 3-7 p.m. ET every weekday — when news broke of the SEC’s decision to maintain an eight-game schedule in 2024. The decision received mixed reviews, to say the last, and Finebaum had commissioner Greg Sankey on the show shortly after the announcement.

The interview, however, didn’t sit well with FOX announcer Tim Brando. He emphatically called out Finebaum during an interview with Crain & Company earlier this week, accusing him of being “scared” of Sankey because he didn’t press him on the new schedule.

“I couldn’t get over the frothing at the mouth that was going on Finebaum’s show, because Paul couldn’t ask the direct questions either for fear his Bat-phone was going to ring,” Brando said, via AL.com’s Mark Heim. “So he’s asking all these guys from web sites to tell him what he already knew. And that is the SEC presidents had their hand out wanting more money from ESPN. Why should ESPN pay them more money? They have a $300 million deal… Are you kidding me? Here’s what happened and no one wants to say this: He made that television deal too early.”

Friday, Finebaum responded during an interview on WNSP-FM 105.5. He made it clear he doesn’t have an issue with Sankey. However, he didn’t want to make waves with Brando.

“Listen, I don’t want to create another headline by going off on Tim,” Finebaum said. “Tim’s had a great career. He’s welcome to his opinion. He chooses to take cheap shots on Twitter. I try to contain what I have to say within the confines of a 4-hour program every day.”

Although Finebaum said he doesn’t listen to what Brando has to say about him, he further called out Brando’s social media usage and how he blocks people on Twitter.

“The thing, I think, that exposes him more than any other aspect of his being is the fact that he can’t handle criticism,” Finebaum said. “And you ask me, why do I say that? Because if you criticize him on social media, he’ll block you. And I don’t believe a public person should do that. … To me, if you are willing to sit behind a microphone or a camera or a computer screen, you ought to allow the free flow of information.

“Now, there are certain limits to where you can handle on a radio show. That involves corporate policy and federal low. Most radio stations, if not all, are licensed by the FCC. But, for a public person — especially one with a career that he has had — to get into the food fights that he does and to block people on Twitter, I think, speaks for itself.”

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