Olbermann smooching up to ESPN honcho, hoping to return?

For some reason while reading this thread, I had the following pop into my head: Love is fleeting, herpes lasts forever.

In KO's case, the herpes is assholishness.

 

In 1987, you could be a tyrannical ass as a sports anchor and it was okay.

As long as you pulled ratings.

Olbermann did this in LA.

He was a star there and became a megastar in Bristol. Only ESPN doesn't like stars, except for Berman and Stu Scott. Even Dan Patrick will talk about his negotiations for contracts there and it is just clear Bristol made very few people feel wanted. In 1994-96, they had KO, Patrick and Craig Kilborn on SC.

Yet the times changed on Olbermann. You couldn't be a pompous ass by 1996 or 1997 anymore. TV executives soon realized that, in most cases, it wasn't the anchor. It was the product that brought viewers.

When the Freeman book came out, Olbermann came off horribly except for trying to stop the sexual harassment running rampant in Bristol. How he treated Suzy Kolber, a pro's pro, was shameful.

I do think the Olbermann monster could have been kept in check longer if not for the bizarre decision to force him over to espn2 for those eight months in 1993-94. When Olbermann returned to SC after that prison sentence, he was much more cynical and looking to get out ASAP.

Bristol is odd in that, it is the Mecca for many sports anchors. It's like working for Jack in Boogie Nights. But, when a major talent leaves Bristol, they usually (not always) fade into obscurity, doing the sportscasting equivalent of jerking in a truck for ten bucks.

 

Agreed.

I'm assuming they don't want to bring him back to do SportsCenter. ESPN would be crazy to mess with the shows it has on before the evening SportsCenter because those shows have done pretty well for a pretty long time...

I know Dan Patrick tried pretty hard to get this done several (5-7) years ago, but Olbermann had enough stuff still going that he was able to still make enough demands to keep ESPN at bay. Or maybe the wounds were still too fresh.

He's a colossal talent and a colossal pain in the ass. When you're as good as Olbermann is, it says a lot when he's still such so reviled that he can't get a deal at ESPN, but he's burned bridges at every job he's ever had.

I haven't seen the Honus Wagner card 30 for 30. I have no idea how I could have missed that. That would have been appointment viewing in my house. I can't wait to see it.

Olbermann's best bet would be to continue to offer up his services for things like the 30 for 30 and if he's well-behaved, maybe they take a chance.

 

I like this analogy.

I think if ESPN had a glaring hole where Olbermann would fit, this would happen almost immediately. I don't like a lot of what ESPN does, but it's hard to say it's not working. And you definitely don't scrap what's working to make room for Olbermann.

 

I love watching Olbermann do his thing on TV. But what a mess he is.

I'm surprised that he and Bryant Gumbel don't walk around wearing capes.

Or do they?

 

Put KO on Comedy Central and have him do a sports version of MST 3K.

He can do commentary over highlights, over SC, and maybe even portions of games that would consitute fair use. And to stroke his ego, he can do MST 3K over MSNBC and FoxNews shows.

 

After getting run out of Fox Sports and the personal toll of covering and living through 9-11, Olbermann was much mellower when he started Countdown. In fact, for the first couple years the show was pretty entertaining and covered a wide range of topics, including stuff he would say "the producers are making me do." The show had his personality, but it was collaborative, and it was fun to watch him talk American Idol with a New York DJ friend of his, even if it was to watch him squirm.

But then the old, arrogant Keith came back. It was refreshing, really, to see his political stuff at a time when there wasn't much of a true, unabashed liberal outlet on TV. But that was when it was sprinkled in, not the point of the whole show. The worst thing, to me, was when he started doing those "Special Comments," and that there was an audience that responded to them. That fed the arrogant beast, and Countdown became unwatchable -- and I'm politically sympathetic to him!

The thing is, Olbermann, if he put his mind to it, would be able to create his equivalent of Glenn Beck's "The Blaze." In that case, it would be entertaining to see him bitch to himself about the car service he, the boss, hired.

 

I'd watch him on Sports Reporters, especially if he was hosting... Go to another Cornell grad.

Olbermann on ATH would be a train wreck. It'd be fun to watch, but it would be a train wreck.

 

If you want the gold standard you put up with the bullshit till he burns the bridge again.

Time will pass and he'll become someone else's gold standard till he burns the bridge again.

This will be his legacy.

I do like the idea of him being on ATH or PTI or a show to those effects.

 

I think you guys vastly overrate what ratings effect KO would have.

When he was with Patrick on Sportscenter a decade plus ago, it was fun.

Years later, he's now known as a prick, and Red State America thinks he's a liberal commie pinko.

Times change... he was on a loooong time ago. Sportscenter is now about viral videos and angry faux arguments and devoting an hour to the Harlem Shuffle.

 

I think they should do a version of PTI with him and SAS so his head will explode... Or Scoop Jackson... Or Bill Simmons (who I like...).

 

That's actually a pretty valid point. I'd still love to see him and Craig Kilborn both come back and do the Sunday Night SportsCenter...