Pablo Torre Finds Out — "The Legend of The Paul Finebaum Show (PTFO Vault)"

Podcast: Pablo Torre Finds Out
Host: Pablo Torre
Guest(s): Paul Finebaum, "Legend" (Gary Wilson), additional Finebaum Show callers
Date: August 26, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode is a deep dive into the unique and captivating world of The Paul Finebaum Show—a Southern sports radio institution famous for its raucous, passionate callers and the way it has become a cultural touchstone for college football fans, particularly in Alabama. Pablo Torre unpacks the show's mythology, its most iconic (and sometimes notorious) callers, and explores how this corner of sports talk radio has tapped into the broader American zeitgeist around fandom, class, and the longing for community.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. What Is the Paul Finebaum Show?

• Pablo tries to describe the essence of the program: a blend of sports, confessional therapy, and working-class populism, featuring characters who are "singular cultural institutions" themselves.
• Pablo notes the improbable fact that Paul Finebaum—a balding, 69-year-old Jewish man from outside Alabama—became the voice of the deep South's college football obsession.
  • “Paul is a bald, 69 year old Jewish guy who is not from Alabama, although he has lived in Alabama now for 45 years.” (04:09)

2. From Sitcoms to Iconic Callers — The Mythmaking of Finebaum

• Paul recounts the almost-birth of a Finebaum sitcom starring Jason Biggs, derailed by the pandemic.
  • “In 2019, ABC bought the sitcom. Jason Biggs...signed on to play me...Covid happened.” (05:29)
• The show's legacy, he insists, is about its connection to the ordinary fan, not TV stardom.

3. Why Alabama? The Show’s Regional Obsession

• Paul explains Alabama's unparalleled college football fervor stems from Bear Bryant’s dominance, subsequent misery, and then Nick Saban’s renaissance.
  • “It was a wasteland until Nick Saban showed up. So you go from 1982 to 2007 where nothing good happened, and then Saban shows up and only wins six national championships.” (07:54)

4. Legendary Callers and Wild Stories:

• Al from Dadeville / Harvey Updike Tree Poisoning Scandal

  • The infamous call where a man confessed to poisoning Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner trees out of rivalry.
    • "[...] I poisoned the two tumor trees." (13:07)
    • "He later spent time in the Lee County Penitentiary." (14:33)

• Smokey in the ER:

  • A man calls the show from the ER having a heart attack — the show becomes a space for confessional moments.
    • "So, Smokey, are you telling me that you're listening to the show while you're having a heart attack?" (15:39)
    • Smokey survives, becoming lore unto himself.

• Phyllis from Mulga:

  • Beloved for her impassioned rants ("I will eat your ass for lunch," 17:39) and remembered fondly for her homespun fury.

• Legend (Gary Wilson): The Sidewalk Alumni President

  • The episode’s focus shifts to “Legend,” a quintessential Finebaum caller whose life story is remarkable even by show standards.
    • Works as a steakhouse worker, former construction worker, and describes being "toothless in Alabama... because I love Paul Finebaum." (20:32)
    • Never attended Alabama ("sidewalk alumni"), but claims deep emotional and cultural connection via family.
      • "I'm president of the Sidewalk Alumni… The one that never went to school, that never got a diploma..." (25:31)

5. Legend’s Past: Crime, Redemption, and Evangelism

• Legend (real name: Gary Wilson) reveals his troubled past: at 17, killed a cousin in a fight and served 15 years in prison ("anybody that takes a gun and takes a life is committing an act of cowardsy…” 32:29).
• After prison, Legend becomes an evangelist, gaining his nickname from prison ministry audiences admiring his story.
  • “Over a hundred men came to know the Lord. And as I was leaving the prison, an inmate was running behind me, saying, that guy is a legend.” (36:44)

6. Finebaum’s View: Giving a Voice to the Marginalized

• Finebaum is proud of representing the "sidewalk alumni"—the fans without degrees, jobs in the ivory tower, or social prestige, but who are the heartbeat of college football.
  • "Legend is the president of the Sidewalk Alumni… and your colleague Joe Scarborough is the president of the upper crust elite Alabama Alumni… those folks have always needed representation…" (26:07)

7. National Impact: The Show as a Reflection of Populist America

• Finebaum discusses how his show resonates with working-class Americans, tapping into something even politics misses:
  • "I frankly think we found this audience before Donald Trump did." (03:26)
• The show becomes a confessional, a counseling session, and a release valve for everyday frustrations—blurring the line between sports and life.

8. Sports, Fandom, and the Fine Line Between Passion and Extremism

• The show’s unapologetic callers are at once fanatics and, in some cases, criminals; yet Finebaum draws the line at loving passion versus destructive obsession:
  • "It's not a performance. I'm a fanatic… There's a difference. A criminal poisons trees… A fanatic might cuss his coach out, but he's doing all that...because he loves his team." (30:09)

9. The Changing of the Guard and the Alabama Malaise

• The episode takes place in the post-Nick Saban era, with Alabama fans (personified by Legend) deeply dissatisfied with new coach Kalen DeBoer.
  • "What I wish would show up under the Christmas tree was a 40 year old Nick Saban ready to go back to work...” (42:57)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Legend on Saban’s replacement:

  • "Going from Coach Saban to Coach DeBoer is like going to bed married to Beyonce and waking up with Whoopi Goldberg laying next to you, brother." — Legend (19:26, and again cited at 29:13)

• Finebaum on his show’s populist power:

  • “I can make it really simple: Legend is the president of the Sidewalk Alumni... those folks have always needed representation.” (26:07)

• Smokey in the ER:

  • "So, Smokey, are you telling me that you're listening to the show while you're having a heart attack?" — Paul Finebaum (15:39)
  • "Yes, I am. That's stupid, I know." — Smokey (15:43)

• Legend on self-acceptance and redemption:

  • "I killed a man, destroyed his life. I threw my life away as a young man. I destroyed many families associated. It was a horrible, horrible thing. I'm very ashamed of it." (32:29)

• Finebaum reflecting on show’s legacy:

  • "That will be my legacy. It won't be yelling at Stephen A. Smith or Greenberg or anyone else. It will be that." (29:43)

• Legend on being an outcast but proud fan:

  • "We are the castaways. We are the throwaway fans. ...We are real." (38:12)

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 01:21 — The mythic blame for "Paula Fine Bomb" and the offbeat tone of Finebaum callers.
• 05:03–06:00 — Near-sitcom deal for Paul Finebaum's life/show.
• 07:16–09:02 — The Saban era, Alabama fandom and the show's connection to football heritage.
• 11:04–14:33 — The “Al from Dadeville”/Harvey Updike tree-poisoning call.
• 15:01–17:09 — “Smokey in the ER” calls the show during a heart attack.
• 17:39 — Phyllis from Mulga’s legendary, fiery call.
• 19:26–22:25 — "Legend" delivers his infamous Beyonce/Whoopi Goldberg line and recounts his radio origin story.
• 31:43–34:13 — Legend candidly recounts the crime he committed, serving 15 years, and his path to redemption.
• 36:44 — Origin of the “Legend” nickname.
• 38:12 — Legend and Finebaum discuss the show's function as therapy and a home for outcasts.
• 42:57 — Legend’s Christmas wish for a "40-year-old Nick Saban."
• End (~44:00) — Pablo wraps up, underscoring the moving humanity and wild community at the heart of Finebaum’s universe.

Final Thoughts

This episode is a rollicking, at times shocking, and ultimately heartfelt tour through the Paul Finebaum ecosystem—where fans, outcasts, the deeply wounded, and the incorrigibly passionate all have a microphone. It's as much about sports as it is about the longing for belonging, about Southern life, redemption, and the boundaries of fanaticism.

If you want to understand how a sports radio show becomes a phenomenon, a makeshift confessional, and sometimes a pop culture lightning rod, this episode is essential listening—a Southern Gothic by way of the SEC and the American AM dial.