Tuesday Thumbs: Up for Finebaum, Down for Eminem

We're not even through three weeks of college football season and we already have a clear-cut winner.

Not surprisingly, the victor comes from the state of Alabama. It's not, however, the two-time defending champion Crimson Tide. It's their de facto voice: Paul Finebaum.

Finebaum, who returned to radio just in time for college football season and with a much bigger pulpit thanks to his ESPN affiliation, has made the most of his opportunity. Along with his daily radio show (available across the nation and online), he has made appearances on "College GameDay" and other ESPN outlets. Next year at this time he'll be the face of the SEC Network.

For this first installment of Tuesday Thumbs, Finebaum gets a deserved thumbs up. He's earned his seat, gets guests who share information listeners appreciate and knows how to engage an audience on radio, TV and social media.

This week, leading to Alabama's game at Texas A&M, provides the kind of attention and forum for Finebaum to be at his best. Thumbs up!

Here are a few other folks/moments, who merited a thumb this week.

THUMBS UP

• Chris Fowler, Chris Fowler, Chris Fowler. There, that should cover it for the next week or so anyway. He's the best studio host in the business, period. And its' because he's personable, prepared and ... rarely working in a studio. "College GameDay," college football's traveling circus that hits a different campus each week, thrives because of his ability to deal with the chaos -- both that created by the audience of students and that of his colleagues. It's hard enough to do such a show in an actual studio, but Fowler makes it look easy amid all the craziness. His contract ends this year, and he wants to do more (including play-by-play duties), but having him off "GameDay" would be a loss for the sport, and for him as well. When the time comes, hopefully ESPN can find some balance that allows him to work some games and keep the "GameDay" duties.

THUMBS DOWN

• CBS Sports plans to track Johnny Manziel's every move Saturday against Alabama with a camera dedicated solely to him. That's not what viewers want, and it's an approach that's not going to end well because we'll end up getting more evidence of some on-field Manziel misstep.
• Former NFL referee Gerry Austin remains the weakest of all links on ESPN's NFL coverage. Some might chortle about the caricature they believe Chris Berman has become, but at least he bring energy and sincerity. Austin remains hesitant to offer an opinion -- Mike Tiricio deserves credit for pushing Austin during the Eagles-Redskins game to specifically share what he though -- and indecisive and quiet is not a good thing for the guy who's supposed to interpret rules.
• Tie-ins with guest visits during a live sports broadcast to promote things rarely go perfectly, and Eminem's halftime chat with Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit at halftime of Notre Dame-Michigan last week certainly fit into that category. Whether the rap star was uncomfortable on live TV (his spin) or playing a part (the story from his PR folks), it was still a bumpy interaction, at best. Still, according to ESPN, the game averaged 8.8 million viewers and the interview -- including Eminem's spaced-out look for some uncomfortable seconds -- did go viral, so everyone probably got the attention they were looking for from the segment. You just wonder sometimes, though, if that's not something really good that could be done with a halftime segment instead of a celebrity shilling their goods. Maybe there's some good -- especially with a show originating from college campuses across the nation -- that could be featured or promoted instead.