Keith Olbermann: New studio host for post-season MLB games

[bankshot1]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/business/media/olbermann-to-return-to-tv-anchoring-postseason-baseball.html?ref=sports&_r=0
 
 

Keith Olbermann — the sports anchor, not the political news one — is returning to television. Turner Sports announced on Wednesday that it had reached a deal with Mr. Olbermann to host its studio coverage of postseason Major League Baseball in the fall.

 If Dennis Miller can do football, oh yeah, he sucked at it. 

 

[JohntheBaptist]

Awful news.  Utterly incapable of hiding how big of an asshole he is at any moment.

 

[bankshot1]

But look at the bright side, he's a MFY fan.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/business/media/olbermann-to-return-to-tv-anchoring-postseason-baseball.html?ref=sports&_r=0
 
 

 If Dennis Miller can do football, oh yeah, he sucked at it. 

Sure, because Dennis Miller had hosted SportsCenter for years, hosted MLB on Fox (kinda funny to think about that now), MLB on NBC and Football Night in America.

He'll be fine. People who already hate him will claim they can smell his bias but he'll do an inoffensive, cromulent job until he rages at a producer and gets fired.

 

[bankshot1]

Sure, because Dennis Miller had hosted SportsCenter for years, hosted MLB on Fox (kinda funny to think about that now), MLB on NBC and Football Night in America.

He'll be fine. People who already hate him will claim they can smell his bias but he'll do an inoffensive, cromulent job until he rages at a producer and gets fired.

 I used to enjoy Olbermann, but IMO he became obnoxious, and I'm speaking as someone who is typically just left of center on most social issues. 

 

[jayhoz]

Keith Olbermann is incapable of not talking down to his audience regardless of the subject matter.  That won't play well with the casual playoff only fans looking to be spoon fed easily digestible information that they can regurgitate at the water cooler the next day.
 
I do applaud any situation that gives Olbermann an opportunity to self immolate and further his descent into irrelevance however.

 

[DJnVa]

He

He'll be fine. People who already hate him will claim they can smell his bias but he'll do an inoffensive, cromulent job until he rages at a producer and gets fired.

 

It's Keith Olbermann.  He won't be inoffensive.
 
He may be fine to start, but his condesencion will come through loud and clear.

 

[Gary Geiger Counter]

I might be the only one, but I loved Dennis Miller on MNF.  I got a kick of of him bemoaning the lack of Cantonese food at the HOF game and name-dropping the House of Plantagenet and similar stuff. 

 

[Spacemans Bong]

Keith Olbermann is incapable of not talking down to his audience regardless of the subject matter.  That won't play well with the casual playoff only fans looking to be spoon fed easily digestible information that they can regurgitate at the water cooler the next day.
 
I do applaud any situation that gives Olbermann an opportunity to self immolate and further his descent into irrelevance however.

If Olbermann is able to raise the IQ of the pregame show a bit then great. He'll have a capable studio partner in Eck.

 

[ifmanis5]

At least KO likes baseball and has deep knowledge of it. It'll be hilarious though in 3 years when he's burned all his bridges there and leaves in a huff about poor car service or some silly reason.
 
Everybody in the media loves to criticize the Old Boy Network in sports and how the managerial wheel always turns to the same old guys, but it's even worse within the media and sports TV in particular. There's really no one else under the age of 55 who can do this stuff?

 

[mascho]

Will there be "Special Comments?"  

 

[Sox and Rocks]

I hate Keith Olbermann, and his politics have little to do with it.  Then again, I hate most sports hosts who think they are as big as the game.

 

[Sox and Rocks]

I might be the only one, but I loved Dennis Miller on MNF.  I got a kick of of him bemoaning the lack of Cantonese food at the HOF game and name-dropping the House of Plantagenet and similar stuff. 

I didn't love him on there, but I didn't hate him, either.  OF course, unlike Olbermann, Miller is actually both intelligent and, at times, funny

 

[bosockboy]

So Matt Winer just out?

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

I'm patiently awaiting the "Keith Olbermann Fired As Studio Host For Post Season MLB Games" thread.

 

[ifmanis5]

I'm patiently awaiting the "Keith Olbermann Fired As Studio Host For Post Season MLB Games" thread.

If history is any guide, you won't need to be that patient.

 

[AlNipper49]

How many times can this fucking imbecile get fired? Egads.

 

[ToeKneeArmAss]

Most important aspect of this story for me - this confirms that the ALCS will be on Fox this year, right?  (I.e., if I want to watch from the parking deck behind Fenway, I just need a digital antenna, not a satellite dish rig, correct?)
 
If so, this is the best news I've heard in months.

 

[the1andonly3003]

I feel bad for Matt Winer.  Maybe he gets to do PBP.
 
Ripken, Wells and Eck with Olbermann...

 

[JimD]

Meh.  He's a studio host for a few weeks in October - hardly worth getting worked about this.

 

[OCST]

I am on the same side of the political spectrum as Olbermann, and like some of what he has to say, but he is just too pompous and polarizing.  I don't blame anyone who is turned off by his politics and his persona, so I think this is a bad hire.  IMO, there is a place for people of explicit political persuasions, and sports host is not one of them.

 

[Bozo Texino]

But look at the bright side, he's a MFY fan.

 
He's not, actually.  He constantly talks about it on Twitter.

 

[ForKeeps]

He is truly awful. And I say that as someone who aligns with him completely wrt to politics.

 

[ifmanis5]

The many different looks...

 

[Jinhocho]

I generally enjoyed his sports stuff and always remembered him fondly from his years at ESPN, but I share the views of many here.  He is just now revealed to be an asshole of such breathtaking proportions that it is hard to want to listen to him talk about anything.

 

[ifmanis5]

KO burned all his bridges when he left the WWL but many of those bridges have moved on, so he's getting a second chance at ESPN2...
 
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/sports/after-16-year-absence-olbermann-is-said-to-be-returning-to-espn-to-host-show.html?_r=0

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

KO burned all his bridges when he left the WWL but many of those bridges have moved on, so he's getting a second chance at ESPN2...
 
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/sports/after-16-year-absence-olbermann-is-said-to-be-returning-to-espn-to-host-show.html?_r=0

 
God, I hope they make him wear the leather jacket again.

 

[ifmanis5]

Olbermann is expected to host his show from the ABC “Nightline” studio overlooking Times Square.

No Bristol blues for KO.

 

[the1andonly3003]

how did Dan Patrick react to this news?

 

[E5 Yaz]

God, I hope they make him wear the leather jacket again.

 

 

[kenneycb]

Screw the jacket, let's get that duster back.  Who wouldn't want a mustache ride?

 

[ifmanis5]

Updating, there will be NO politics...
 

“George Bodenheimer and Bob Iger blessed it,” an insider tells me. Meanwhile, during a phone call with media today, the former MSNBC and Current TV liberal host said he’ll just be doing “a sports show” and pledged “no political segments, no cultural segments, are planned”. Olbermann also denied any “content clause” exists in his ESPN2 contract. “No need for one. They’re not restraining me. They don’t have to.” Olbermann’s demeanor was obsequious to ESPN president John Skipper during the media call, and the infamously arrogant host went so far as to say, “I appreciate the fresh start.”

 

[mauidano]

This is not going to end well for ESPN...again.

 

[Section30]

Shouldn't this be in the ESPN is Pathetic thread? But retitled, "ESPN, even more Pathetic with Olbermann"

 

[canderson]

This will end in spectacular fashion.

But we do not live in a just world when this ass gets multiple do every and shows yet Norm McDonald is doing cut-rate auto insurance commercials.

 

[shlincoln]

I won't watch this because I never watch TV at eleven pm, but the warm fuzzies of nostalgia make me glad to see him back doing sports at ESPN. Asshole or not he's better than Bayless, or Berman.

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Asshole or not he's better than Bayless, or Berman.

That's like saying herpes is better than AIDS.

 

[mabrowndog]

I guess I'm the only one here looking forward to this. I have no love whatsoever for his politics or his pomposity, but the following statement is indisputable: Keith Olbermann possesses more intelligence, baseball knowledge and historical appreciation for the game than all of ESPN's on-air employees combined.
 
He's also a great writer and skillful commentator who's always had strong opinions on the sport. I want more of that and less of the sanitized bullshit and faux-debate crap that The Worldwide Leader has been foisting upon its brain-dead viewers.
 
If he's a train wreck off-camera, I really don't give a shit. So long as he stirs the pot on-screen with meaningful context (something Bayless and the like are utterly incapable of), that's all that matters.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

This show is pretty good.
 
Edit: the fact that in the first twenty minutes we heard mentions of Deadspin and Olbermann's "Welcome to the beginning of the end of my career." line from his first show on ESPN2 is kind of refreshing. Now take on ESPN for the NFL/PBS stuff.

 

[Buffalo Head]

This is the sports version of "Countdown" via 2006-08, which was a pretty entertaining era for that show, so this could be good.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

Cuban called ESPN the "Bayless network".  Awesome.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Yeah, this is good stuff

 

[CaptainLaddie]

Yep.  I'm in.  I like Olbermann's sports stuff.  He might be pompous but he knows his shit.

 

[Corsi]

That didn't suck.

 

[Rocco Graziosa]

Yep.  I'm in.  I like Olbermann's sports stuff.  He might be pompous but he knows his shit.

 
 
He does.  Its really a breath of fresh air for the world wide leader, which has been spitting the same stuff out a 11pm for, what, 15 years now?  I'm an unabashed fan of ESPN (unlike most here) and I really welcome this show. 

 

[cromulence]

This is the sports version of "Countdown" via 2006-08, which was a pretty entertaining era for that show, so this could be good.

 
My thoughts exactly. I had flashbacks to when I used to watch and enjoy Countdown, before he went off the rails with it. He's very good at talking to a camera by himself and holding your interest, which really isn't that easy and is very rare in the sports world.

 

[mabrowndog]

I love being right.
 
That show kicked ass. Everything I thought (and hoped) it would be.

 

[mabrowndog]

Then there's this from the Twitterverse, from last night:
 
Gerry Callahan ‏@GerryCallahan 13h
Best thing to happen to Fox Sports 1. “@ESPNOlbermann: In two hours...@KeithOlbermann makes his return to ESPN."
 
Keith Olbermann @KeithOlbermann 13h
@GerryCallahan Thanks for the pub! Nice to see you still haven't been able to get a better job in 25 years!

 

[Dehere]

Keith Olbermann @KeithOlbermann 13h
@GerryCallahan Thanks for the pub! Nice to see you still haven't been able to get a better job in 25 years!

 
As much as I respect his chops this is the kind of stuff that keeps me from being a fan. Is it really necessary to get into a dick-measuring contest on twitter with every person who makes an obnoxious comment? There's also some irony in KO ripping GC for being in the same place for so long when he is now right back where he was 20 years ago himself.

 

[Corsi]

 
As much as I respect his chops this is the kind of stuff that keeps me from being a fan. Is it really necessary to get into a dick-measuring contest on twitter with every person who makes an obnoxious comment? There's also some irony in KO ripping GC for being in the same place for so long when he is now right back where he was 20 years ago himself.

 
Except now Olbermann has a nightly show with his name on it and the paycheck certainly dwarfs what he was making at ESPN previously.  Callahan, for all intents and purposes, has the exact same job he had 25 years ago (and he hasn't broken into other mediums a la Felger).