Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Sports talk radio has a tendency to attract some eccentric personalities who are usually very invested in the teams they root for and the shows they listen to. That’s certainly the case with Paul Finebaum and his fans, and if you need proof, you’ve got some thanks to a clip of a guy who refused to hang up after a tree fell onto his house.
There isn’t a single college football conference that treats the sport like religion more than the SEC, which has adopted a four-word motto that perfectly encapsulates the fervor its teams are able to inspire: “It Just Means More.”
Every conference boasts its fair share of diehard fans, but it’s hard to rival the collective passion in the one that produced the Alabama supporter who spent six months in jail for driving to Toomer’s Corner to poison the once iconic trees near Auburn’s campus after the Tigers beat the Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl.
Harvey Updyke, the man responsible, confessed to that crime when he called into The Paul Finebaum Show a couple of months after he committed the arborcide. That is easily the most notable tree-related call the longtime SEC stalwart has received during his lengthy sports talk career, but we’ve been treated to a very worthy runner-up thanks to what transpired earlier this week.
A guy who called into The Paul Finebaum Show declined to hang up after a tree fell on his house while he was on hold
Finebaum has attracted plenty of characters to his syndicated show over the years, as call-in staples like Legend From Alabama, Jim From Tuscaloosa, Tammy From Clanton, and Phyllis From Mulga managed to become minor celebrities in their own right thanks to their contributions over the years.
Now, we can add a new one to the canon courtesy of Vance From Georgia, who was seemingly in a part of the state that was impacted by the winter storm that caused a ton of power outages in the northeast region due to ice that took down powerlines and blanketed trees that came down as a result.
Vance called into The Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday to ask a question concerning LSU and the transfer portal, and after the host took his call, he revealed he was understandably “a little bit in shock” due to the tree that had crashed into his bedroom around ten minutes before he got the chance to ask his question.
He said he and his two dogs were unharmed and somewhat logically said he declined to hang up because there was nothing he could do to immediately address the problem.
It really does just mean more.