On talking about John L. Smith's money problems

If you follow me on twitter, you saw me ask at one point this afternoon why the recent news that John L. Smith is apparently flat broke is even news at all. For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone cares that a guy who may or may not be about to lose his job has pretty much an empty wallet. I mean, this was apparently significant enough information that USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer wrote an entire article about Smith's financial issues earlier today. His tweet about that article and those subsequent thereto were then retweeted to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands. The news garnered significant reaction on twitter and even a post on SB Nation's own home page for college football. People obviously care, I just don't get why.

On the surface, it makes sense for both the consumer and producer. The fact that the public's thirst for news is unquenchable doesn't mean that the media will stop trying. That makes things like this almost inevitable in a world with a 24-hour news cycle that discusses every issue to death and back countless times per day. There's only so much real "news" to talk about, and as long as people read the stories they will continue to be written. And I'm not trying to exhibit some righteous indignation at the gall of the media on a larger level, either. I'm not crusading for people to respect Smith's (or anyone else's) right to privacy.

Maybe I'm just bored with nothing ULM to talk about now, but this particular instance bothers me for some reason. It think the aggravating aspect of it for me is the rumor that Smith will soon be fired from Arkansas for their poor performance this season. Couple that with his recent "SMILE" outburst and it seems like we're kicking him while he's down. It's voyeuristic in a way that people are taking pleasure in the fact that the head coach of a major college football program might not be able to buy the latest iPad. People suggested when he took the job that he might have done it for the money, but as far as I know, his financial problems have not been linked to the team's performance in any way, so why is this news relevant? Who cares?

Am I alone in this?