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In Epic Sports Shouting Battle, Men On ESPN Clash Over Hank Williams And The South

My head is spinning. Generally, when one watches Outside the Lines, one expects to find some of the most level-headed analysis ESPN has to offer. Today, thanks to Alabama-based sports radio host Paul Finebaum, that…did not happen. The topic at hand: ESPN severing ties with Hank Williams Jr., longtime singer of the Monday Night Football theme. The people discussing it: Bomani Jones, who hosted The Morning Jones radio show and frequently contributes to various ESPN programs, Finebaum, and The Nation’s Dave Zirin. The result: mayhem, basically.

RELATED: Things also got heated on OTL when a gay journalist debated a former NFLer.

In a showing that might be described as “Buzz Bissinger on Costas Now“-esque, Finebaum was looking for a fight from the moment he first spoke, then about a comment Zirin made that Finebaum felt demeaned a song Williams wrote. He got so angry that Jones could only make bewildered faces. And it went downhill from there:

…Yeah.

So it’s worth pointing out that the Hank Williams Jr. song in question – “If the South Woulda Won” – does indeed fantasize about an alternate universe in which the South wins the Civil War, so much so that it even closes with the line, “Might even be better off.” Also worth pointing out: neither Jones nor Zirin “lectured” Finebaum about his background or heritage, as he apparently believed they did. And the Darius Rucker thing was a complete non sequitur.

RELATED: The Hank Williams Jr. interview that started it all.

I guess Finebaum’s rage stemmed from the fact that he apparently knows Williams personally; he’s been on OTL before without acting like this. and there actually appears to be an interesting comment he makes about Fox News personalities, or at least the hosts of Fox and Friends (“They are entertainers”). But that comment came wrapped up in so much nonsense – the dreaded “elitist” reference (really, we’re still using that one?), the refusal to accept that Jones is from the South, and Zirin’s lived there – that it was tough to catch (indeed, I only spotted it re-watching the segment later).

There’s other crazy stuff to go over, but that would take way too long, so we’ll leave you with these two tweets from Jones after the show. We’ll say it would be awfully nice if argument “tactics” like acting you’re more of a “real” Southerner, or “real” anything, than anyone else disappeared, never to be seen again. And we’ll admit that yes, this madness was must-see TV.