Sadly, legendary SEC commissioner Mike Slive passed away last week, and a memorial service was held for him over the weekend.

On occasions like that, it’s always hard to find the right balance of mourning and humor, as humor can be a powerful way to cope with loss. During the service, it sounds as if ESPN host Paul Finebaum got it just right while delivering a eulogy.

While recapping his speech on WJOX’s “The Roundtable” on Monday morning, Finebaum re-shared the story of how Slive managed to bring a smile to Nick Saban’s face during an argument between then-Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer, who was at Florida:

“This is who Mike Slive was,” Finebaum said. “He was this grandfather who you always saw holding Abigail, his grandchild. It was the simple, quiet man who quoted Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and Churchill. But he was also this man who, in late May of 2009 at the SEC spring meetings, he sat down with the 12 football coaches at the time and a kindergarten class broke out between Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer. Kiffin had accused Meyer of cheating, if you remember. Meyer came back at Kiffin, and they were arguing like petulant children.

“And Mike slammed his fist on the table and uttered a string of three- but mostly four-letter words. The room turned stone silent. And what I said Friday was this: [Slive] telling Lane Kiffin to shut the blank up even brought a smile to Nick Saban’s face.”

Slive’s legacy will be felt for a long time in the SEC, as current commissioner Greg Sankey tries to continue the conference’s upward trajectory.

And it’s safe to say that particular story about Slive still brings a smile to Saban’s face.