Bombastic? Not-so Fantastic

so long again



One of my favorite personalities has overstepped someone else's boundaries again. As a result, Keith Olbermann is out of work (though I suspect NOT out of money).
When ESPN was in its infancy, Olbermann was one of the co-anchors of the evening SportsCenter. His teammate was Dan Patrick, and the two of them were simply incredible together: witty, insightful, and playful. They were unafraid to show the sporting world in something less than the straitjacket seriousness that sport has always taken upon itself; yet, they were incredibly knowledgeable, which created a bromance for every sports junkie of the male persuasion.
Somewhere along the line, though, Olbermann ran afoul of something or someone at ESPN and left under something of a vindictive cloud, landing on his feet at MSNBC where he made "Countdown" a staple for everyone not madly in love with "Bill-O the Clown" or anyone else vaguely associated with the more conservative talk show network. He was golden during the last presidential campaign even though I though he was also a bit too snarky for my tastes.
About the time "news" came to mean "one particular point of view, like it or leave it," Olbermann was at his peak. Then, abruptly he left to take over special duties at a new network: Current TV which was owned by Joel Hyatt and Al Gore. Certainly, Olbermann could coexist peacefully with someone the right made out to be a Commie who made up the whole "global warming" thing! Not so much.
Eleven months after he began, even resurrecting "Countdown" on Current TV, Olbermann is again off the air. A dispute with the owners seems to have been long-simmering, and there is acrimony on both sides, one suspects. While I don't get that channel, I can imagine the heated rhetoric Olbermann produced might have been too much for Gore and Hyatt, and I probably would not have tuned in.
At any rate, he's gone.
Maybe ESPN is hiring. for my money, the "old" Keith Olbermann would be a welcome addition.