Paul Finebaum, ‘Get Up’ crew, rail on NCAA for Jim Harbaugh penalty

At some point, there will be an end to the Michigan sign-stealing allegations news cycle, but that hasn’t come yet. Almost every day, we get leaks, more media takes (documentaries even), and more surrounding the NCAA, Jim Harbaugh, or Connor Stalions. And there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

As it happens, ESPN — most notably, Paul Finebaum — has been quick to react and jump on it. In fact, just late last week, Finebaum appeared on “Get Up” to rail on the NCAA for what amounts to a hollow show-cause penalty handed down as a result of — not the sign-stealing scandal — but the fallout from contact with recruits during the COVID-19 dead period.

In Finebaum’s eyes, the penalty rings hollow and wreaks of something done just to send a message without any real repercussions.

“I’m searching desperately, because I’m a writer, for new words to come up with new words to describe the NCAA, but the same ones apply every time,” Finebaum said. “They are completely dysfunctional, they are vindictive, they are petty, but mostly, and I think everyone can sing the hymnal here, they are laughable. Nobody respects this organization, nobody really cares about them anymore because Jim Harbaugh is never, ever coming back. I know I’m citing Taylor Swift here, but he’s not coming back to college football. That’s why he left. He left to get away from this posse … Had Harbaugh said, ‘I get it, you got me,’ he may have been suspended for a game. Instead, he’s been banned for life and sentenced to a firing squad. That’s how absurd this is.”

.@finebaum and @Espngreeny react to the NCAA handing Jim Harbaugh a four-year show cause order for recruiting violations. pic.twitter.com/sDGXeYyfWj

Look, I get some of this. Sure, the NCAA is kind of a paper tiger these days and is searching for anything to exert its influence. However, there’s a separate side that would argue that if Harbaugh didn’t want to receive unrealistic penalties, maybe he shouldn’t have gone up to and crossed the line. — Get Up (@GetUpESPN) August 8, 2024Look, some of this I get. The criticism of the NCAA is not without merit. It is an organization that seems to be more of a paper tiger than anything else, searching to exert any influence it has. However, there’s surely another side of this thing that would argue all Harbaugh had to do was not go up to and cross a line and the NCAA wouldn’t be trying to rationalize its existence at his expense.