On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 10:21 AM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > Olbermann as a > > broadcaster is about a lot more than his politics. > > That used to be true. I'm not so sure anymore. I mean, do you honestly > think Keith would take a job as a sports anchor... that he could > silence his idealogical opinions? He wasn't able to cover the '08 > elections without spouting his beliefs, and he got demoted by NBC > Prime because of it. > We don't have to guess about this too much. He had a job as a sports guy on NBC's Sunday Night Football (this was in the full heat of his political orgasms on MSNBC, I think for several years from the late Bush Administration maybe to Obama's first year (he may have left before that). He was fine. He had some occasional leakage of his politics (but then, so too occasionally does play-by-play man Al Michaels) but he was professional and articulate as always (SNF is better without him though, only because it was just too crowded. They pruned several personalities from that show, and now it is about perfect). "Sports Anchor" is a specific job, and no, I don't see him anchoring SportsCenter or anything like it regularly. But he has never lost his passion for sports and his ability to write well, originally and at times profoundly about it, and I could definitely see him doing a show that included a high fraction of sports content (and of course, Countdown had some sports stuff on it anyway). I posted here several times during the 08 campaign that I was uncomfortable with Olbermann's injection of opinion into the MSNBC coverage, and I had given into KO-fatigue even before that on Countdown, only checking in occasionally, and often just on the internet. He is thin-skinned and self-important and moralistic. Mostly he is convinced that he is always the smartest guy not just in the room, but on the planet (and he is only right about that once in a while). There are lots of valid criticisms to make about Keith Olbermann. But lumping him in with the partisan loudmouths who predominate on cable news and talk radio is not one of them. He is sui generis, and a force of nature. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
