Photo from ESPN website
Paul Finebaum
TV and radio sports broadcaster Paul Finebaum is scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the third annual leadoff dinner and Vestavia Hills Sports Hall of Fame reunion on Thursday, Jan. 15.
The event, which will benefit the Vestavia Hills High School baseball program, will be held at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center and include a catered dinner, cash bar, silent auction and live music. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and tickets cost $100 per person.
Finebaum, a 1978 graduate of the University of Tennessee, came to Birmingham in 1980 and became a columnist and investigative reporter for the Birmingham Post-Herald and later for the Mobile Press-Register. From 2011 to 2012, he wrote a college football column for si.com.
He started making radio appearances in the early 1980s and started his own sports radio call-in show in 1984, becoming the top-rated sports call-in show in Birmingham. In 2001, Finebaum launched the Paul Finebaum Radio Network and syndicated his show across the Southeast. In August 2013, he moved his show to ESPN Radio and then began simulcasting the four-hour show on the SEC TV network. He also became a fixture on the College GameDay crew.
In January 2020, Finebaum was announced as the recipient of the 2020 Mel Allen Media Award, given to media members who have made a lifetime contribution to sports through their work. In October 2013, he was named a University of Tennessee Accomplished Alumni, and he later was inducted into the Hall of Fame for The University of Alabama College of Communication & Information Sciences.
In 2002, Sports Illustrated named Finebaum’s show as one of the top 12 sports radio shows in the United States, and in March 2013, Sports Illustrated ranked him one of the 20 Most Powerful People in Sports Media nationally (#17).
To get tickets for the leadoff dinner and Vestavia Hills Sports Hall of Fame reunion, go here.
