Clemson football: Gollum Speaks

Paul Finebaum has spoken on Clemson and Dabo Swinney again and, as always, it’s hilariously nuts.

If you are someone who gets into fantasy fiction, nerd out over medieval stories, or have just seen or heard of the cultural behemoth that is “The Lord of the Rings,” then you might be familiar with the character Gollum. He’s a tragic character who speaks, often to himself, when the most important thing in his life- his precious ring- is threatened with destruction.

In a weird, sad parallel to college football, it’s like when Paul Finebaum pops his head up from behind the rocks to mock the threats to his “precious” conference. The almighty, never to be questioned, without fault, Southeastern Conference.

The SEC lapdog propagandist poses as a “objective journalist” as his day job. But, in a world filled with hot takes (and a network that feels it’s best shot at staying relevant is hiring the loudest talking, moronic mal-educated drivel), Paul Finebaum has found his niche. Not only can he hold his “precious” in high regard on a daily basis, but he can lob verbal hand grenades at any potential outside threats to the conference without any remorse.

Dabo Swinney was a part of one of his latest tirades.

"“Are you telling me – I promised myself I wouldn’t do this, but I’m going to – are you telling me that Kirby Smart is inferior by one number to Dabo Swinney, in spite of that championship? I don’t need to remind you but look at the trajectory of the programs right now and where they are. I think Dabo Swinney is yesterday’s news, and Kirby Smart is where it’s at in college football today."

“Yesterday’s news.” Anything for his precious. Even for something as pointless as coaching power rankings, Finebaum must defend his master. Surely this pleases his overlord, Lord Salr…..I mean Greg Sankey.

But he didn’t stop there.

"“There is no doubt after reading social media (Wednesday) that the most insecure, paranoid fanbase of college football in America is Clemson,” Finebaum said. “The Clemsonites take it to a whole new level. It’s one thing if you’ve never won a national championship. But these guys have won two in recent years, and they are just so desperate for attention. They are so desperate for adulation. They are so desperate to be loved.”"

The sad part about this comment? He’s right.

I was naïve to this comment a year ago and would have gone to war on twitter to defend the fanbase. But if, like me, you have spent more than 5 minutes on a premium message board on any of your favorite Clemson sites (and 5 minutes is about all I can take), it becomes evident that there is a large faction of fans that buy in to the same garbage that Gollum….I mean, Finebaum is spewing.

Much like Frodo, Clemson fans have put on the proverbial ring and now have to struggle with the negativity that comes from every direction. Gollum waited for certain attacks to get his precious, even striking a wounding blow before meeting his demise.

Clemson fans have the ultimate power over the Paul Finebaum’s of the world, if they would just show some self control

That’s a lot of fantasy fiction talk for most, so what does this have to do with Clemson football? Simply put….stop giving this moron (and by moron I mean Paul Finebaum) clicks or attention. I don’t fault anyone from other sites from mentioning it in an article, but ultimately he knows that when nothing is going on, he can get a rise out of Clemson fans.

Let him spout his propaganda- it just makes moments like this better.

Anyway, if the fans are like Frodo, then Dabo must be Aragorn. And I’m feeling a “Return of the King” this fall. Sit back and enjoy.

Oh…one more thing. Never forget that Finebaum said this:

"“But I will say this, before anyone says it’s impossible to replace Nick Saban, I think the only person who can replace Nick Saban is Dabo Swinney.”"