Alabama Football: Finebaum scores again with Terry Bradshaw and Phyllis
By Ronald Evans
Paul Finebaum consistently drives emotions that elicit love and hate from Alabama football fans. A recent episode starred Terry Bradshaw and Phyllis from Mulga.
Paul Finebaum is a journalist and an entertainer. He is good at both. Alabama football fans mostly enjoy his antics even when the Alabama Crimson Tide is under attack. On Monday, Paul had NFL great Terry Bradshaw as a featured guest.
Bradshaw talked trash about Nick Saban and the University of Alabama. He even attempted to sully Paul Bryant. Phyllis, ever ready to go to war on behalf of beloved Alabama football brethren took Bradshaw to task.
Which side wins in such altercations matters not to the Finebaum format. What matters are the number of eyeballs and ears. Stirring up emotions is the product of the entertainment industry. Facts and informed opinion matter little.
In case you missed the show, here is what Bradshaw said as reported by SEC Country
"“I understand Saban, that’s your coach. What’s he making, $12 million now? That is the entire athletic budget at Louisiana Tech. The entire budget. That’s shameful! Shameful!”"
Never letting facts get in the way of a good story is excusable if the “story” illuminates a greater truth. But in the digital age, many facts can be easily checked.
In the 2014-15 year, Louisiana Tech’s entire athletic department budget was $21.8 million. That is roughly double what Saban will make in the first year of his new deal. Source: USA today on NCAA Finances.
The bigger and more complex question is what are the returns on investment in athletics. In the data referenced above, Louisiana Tech generated $360,000 more in revenue than its athletic department budget. In the same cycle, the Alabama athletic budget of more than $132 million, generated revenue of more than $16.5 million above its budget.
Another worthwhile comparison from the data is the percentage of each athletic department’s budget that was subsidized. At Louisana Tech, 43.6 percent of the budget was subsidy; at Alabama, that number was 1.76 percent.
We do not know what Bradshaw studied at Louisana Tech but it is safe to say those studies did not include budget analysis.
We are also not impressed by Bradshaw as a college football prognosticator. In his exchange with Phyllis tennessee.247sports, he predicted:
"“I’m a Volunteer fan, and they’ll probably walk all over Alabama. Tennessee is back.”"
Bradshaw further attempted to diminish the Alabama football and Paul Bryant as reported by al.com.
"“Alabama recruited me, Bear Bryant was all over me, and I told him no. I didn’t want to go to Alabama, I wanted to get an education.”"
Of course, all of the staged brouhaha was mere filler for college football’s dead period of May, June and July. Paul, Terry and Phyllis played their roles skillfully. Bradshaw has clearly become a student of Finebaum’s provocative style. He has long played the buffoon and we cannot fault someone striving to improve their skills.
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There are reasons for concerns about athletic department budgets at most schools. One of the reasons Louisiana Tech currently struggles financially is reduced television revenue in the Conference USA broadcasting packages. Last year, the league’s new broadcast deals went down significantly.
The TV bubble burst for Conference USA. They are not likely to be the only conference to see future television dollars shrink.