Paul Finebaum on Mike Leach's controversial tweet: He would be in more trouble if not for coronavirus coverage
The start of the Mike Leach era at Mississippi State has been viewed by most as a big success as the Bulldogs managed to keep together the program’s 2020 recruiting class, Leach retained popular assistant Tony Hughes, added coveted graduate transfer KJ Costello and recently landed a commitment from four-star Texas quarterback Sawyer Robertson.
The momentum of the Mississippi State program was clearly trending up under its new coach but Leach may have halted that for the time being after posted a tweet featuring a woman joking about knitting her husband a scarf. The tweet read, “After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf..”
The woman wasn’t knitting a scarf, she was knitting a noose.
Leach deleted the tweet and issued the following apology:
“I sincerely regret if my choice of images in my tweets were found offensive. I had no intention of offending anyone,” Leach tweeted last week.”
How much will this negative effect Leach’s Mississippi State program? The way SEC Network host Paul Finebaum sees it, Leach is fortunate the coverage of the sports world has largely been put on the backburner.
Here’s what Finebaum had to say when asked about Leach’s tweet during his weekly appearance on Birmingham-based WJOX 94.5 FM show “The Roundtable” on Monday.
“Yeah, I would say that it may end up being a blip. Now, if we weren’t going through what we were currently going through, I think he would be in trouble,” Finebaum shared on the show. “Because some of the things that were said about him on national programs Friday were downright scary, but I think the audience for national sports right now is so minimized and marginalized, that I suspect that Leach will survive.
“It’s really too bad that this all happened because I mean he was off to a really good start there.”
Finebaum then noted that this is the second time Leach deleted one of his tweets since his arrival at Mississippi State, which came back during the impeachment saga in Washington.
“I’m just giving you a snapshot judgment on Monday morning, but I suspect he will probably survive and it will be a blimp,” Finebaum added.
Considering Mississippi State has already lost one player to the transfer portal following Leach’s tweet, defensive lineman Fabien Lovett entered the portal on Friday, it’s fair to say the coach’s social media behavior has hurt his program to some extent.
Regardless of how bad this tweet hurts the Mississippi State program moving forward, Leach would be wise to think twice before hitting publish on Twitter in the future. At the end of the day, Leach’s job is to make the Bulldogs competitive in the cutthroat SEC and he can’t afford to make that job any tougher based on what he posts on social media.
It’s sad that it even made the news.
Oh give me a break… This isn’t news worthy. A freaking tongue in cheek comment. Good Lord! Stop with the nonsense. This should have never made it this far…
No, if this was a normal year, it wouldn’t have even made the news. Sports media just has nothing better to do so they have to make mountains out of molehills to fill minutes in their shoes and generate article clicks.
*in their shows
I can see how the humor of this could be offensive to the black athletes on Mississippi State’s athletic teams, and even the black athletes of other SEC teams, however, the humor was not directed toward them.
I identify myself as someone who seeks equality, fairness, and political correctness in most circumstances, but I think this incident has been drug out way too long, and over nothing.
What you talking bout bruh?
What does this article have anything to do with race? There was no mention of couples race. You need to go outside and get some fresh air snowflake
I guess POCs think only POCs got lynched/hung… I recommend looking up the execution pictures of the group that conspired to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln…
I should have said some POCs… not all.. my apologizes..
If not for the coronavirus, the tweet would not have existed. Quarantine was the entire context. Finebaum is an idiot.
Agreed.
People need to get a freakin sense of humor. Who, outside tuscaloosa gives a crap what finebam and those satellite dish ears, thinks. This is just evidence of our coddled, everybody fets a trophy spciety
Leach’s twitter post had nothing, repeat NOTHING to do with “racism”, even less with lynching.
Any black athelete so hypersensitive that they’re constantly on lookout for something to offend them should hit the transfer portal – and don’t let the door hit them in the ass on their way out of Miss. State. (Mississippi State – the first SEC school to hire a black man as head coach.)
This PC, macro and micro-aggression crapola has reached total insanity.
I would love to hear Sylvester Crooms’ take on this issue.
I wouldn’t.
How did a tweet about a woman wanting to hang her husband for getting on her nerves have anything to do with racism? Only sensitive liberals could come to that conclusion…
100% agree!
So, apparently, the mere site of a noose is enough to throw people into severe emotional distress due to the racial symbolism equated with a noose which evidently can not be decoupled in any context, yet these same people evidently are able to attend Mississippi State University, a formerly segregated institution, for four years, earn a degree, and in that timespan never once feel deterred by the distress caused by viewing a noose. I call B.S. They’re offended by whatever they choose to be like offended about.
Back in the wild west, it was the hanging of prisoners that was the social event of the month or year. Lots of people came to see; it didn’t matter the color of the prisoner; people wanted to see the neck snap! They were criminals after all.
I’m Black and not offended at all. Nor any other BLACK MALE ATHLETES, that I know and I’m contact with, I live in Metropolitan Atlanta, where there are plenty of Black ATHLETES, D-1/NFL talented. Not one them have even MENTIONED THIS …AT ALL. AND HE RECRUITS ALOT OF SKILLED AND TALENTED BLACK ATHLETES PN HIS TEAM, SO I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THEY WOULD PLAY, IF LEACH WAS RACIST… THIS SHOULD NOT EVEN BE REPORTED WITH SUCH MEDIA MAGNITUDE, SMH
Ignorance has no color, young man, it is very expensive though.
Wow I’m shocked you didn’t call him an Uncle Tom. After all that’s what you do with anyone who doesn’t follow the race baiting narrative. Ask Walter Williams, Clarence Thomas and basically any other black conservative.
He didn’t joke about RACE or Lynchings. Only a NOOSE, A cloth NOOSE, that doesn’t define a person of color. He never mentioned a RACE.
Please go somewhere and read history. Racism today is not overt it is covert.
So in other words, the speaker doesn’t determine intent, you do. So we have to live in constant fear of being accused of this covert racism to which you refer. That is the single most asinine thing I have ever heard. You want to label me a racist, go right ahead, I don’t give a d@mn. But I’m not going to play this game or trying to placate someone who thinks I will always owe them something.
Courageous Paul is virtue signaling.
So if I understand correctly, the speaker doesn’t determine intent, you do. That’s the single most asinine thing I have ever heard. If there’s anything driving divisiveness, it’s these types of attitudes. Eventually, people get sick and tired of everything being a race issue or being told by others that they owe them something.
Sorry Rico, was trying to respond to Maya Angelou in the post above there.
With no real college football news…Paul is merely trying to piggy back onto another story…which let’s face it…really was not much of a story to begin with.
Gary Condit would have been in more trouble were it not for 9-11 coverage and we all likely would have been eaten by sharks by now if I remember 9-10-11 correctly.
01…not 11
If you found this offensive, it’s only because your parents were unfit to raise children.
Unfortunately, we live in the ultra age of PC…especially in the media. It seems most in mainstream media are constantly scouring the landscape for any quote, image, soundbite or misstep to sensationalize or overhype. It’s not fair, but it’s real.
Friends and foes routinely regal Mike Leach’s nom de guerre “Pirate” personna. While his sometimes quirky behavior is entertaining to some, others are bound to be offended. Now that he’s a Mississippi representative, the scrutiny will be even more intense. Once again, not fair but true.
There’s no doubt Mike Leach meant no offense to anyone. In these troubling times, he made an attempt at humor. Some got it – others were offended. When confronted with the unintentional sleight, the man immediately apologized and removed the comment. Reasonably, what more could he have done?
Let it go.
“I’m just giving you a snapshot judgment on Monday morning, but I suspect he will probably survive and it will be a blimp,”
A “blimp”? Really? ok, MEDIA IDIOTS, think about how stupid the average mediot is and then realize the one’s who went into sports are on the low side of that IQ deficient lot.
Don’t you just love America. Here, we tolerate the morally corrupt just as long as you stay politically correct.
A lot of Ado about nothing.
And adore the morally bankrupt because they aren’t
Oh goodie, here’s our resident liberal to tell us all what’s moral.
And you voted for Hill-dawg. Can’t get much more morally bankrupt than the Clintons. But don’t worry, they’re nice and PC for ya.
Trump is more bankrupt and morally bankrupt.
Any piece of crap whining about being offended by this needs to GTFOH.
Come on people, it’s a joke. You wouldn’t believe what all my wife has tried to do to me lately.
Really??? The Political correctness in this country has gotten way out of hand! I retweeted the same thing days before the Coach did & got no back lash at all. It was a joke based on people being stuck in their house with their spouse during the quarantine. With all that is going on in the world & our country can’t you nuts talk about something else? Like how Clemson is going to win their 3rd Natty in 5 years. Now that should get you talking.
Yes, PC culture has definitely gotten out of hand. I should be able to wear my red hat without wetbacks and librels screeching at me. I’m not racist, I hate everyone.
Is that how you you knuckle dragging idiots do it?