When Scarbinsky came to Birmingham, there was the Post Herald, to which Finebaum was the top dog, and the News, to which Clyde Bolton was #1. Bolton decided to retire after an Arizona company (I believe it was) decided to purchase both and combine the two.
Finebaum still operates as if he were Paul Bryant's personal scribe, although he was little more than a snide upstart who just happened to figure out where his bread was buttered.
Scarbinsky had a style much like Frank Deford and practiced human interest stories when he began here but really had no choice but to join in on the ignorance of what is the Alabama-Auburn fray. Very knowledgeable of basketball, and much more of a pure writer than anyone on staff or in the state for that matter IMO; Scarbo was relegated to second fiddle from the beginning and it is my guess that for many reasons, family included, he has decided to stay for better or worse and play out his hand.
I always felt that Tuberville wouldn't give Finebaum the time of day which was the reason for the animosity toward the coach. Dye, our caricature much as I thought Frank Boyles to be long after he stopped coaching, has played the bufoon long enough for Finebaum. I do not have a sense of how Chizik fits in among the news types but he seems to keep it to coach speak only for the most part which is a plus.
Chizik and his staff have taken recruiting nationally which is what I have always wanted Auburn to do in order to neutralize Alabama. And though the six straight wins over Alabama were impressive, recruiting was left wide open and areas were left undefended enabling Saban to walk right in. I do not think Rich Rodriguez could do the same.
That is one of the few complaints that I have with Tubs but it is a huge one.
Auburn under Tubs could have delivered a crippling blow to Tuscaloosa, but failed to do so. Still, what is a rivalry with a pathetic opponent that narrowly escaped the death penalty in light of what happened to the SWC because of SMU.
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