I’m having a dream that Keith Olbermann spent the first 13 minutes of his new show on the New York Jets. And that his rant included the takedown of a New York Daily News sports reporter who dared to suggest the coach could get fired after his No. 1 (or 2) QB got hurt in the final quarter of a meaningless preseason game.
And then, and this is where my dream really got bad, I saw Jason Whitlock with Olbermann, and Whitlock is praising Deadspin, which has made a name for itself by assaulting ESPN.
I figure Rick Reilly, and probably countless other ESPN staffers, didn’t see the rest of Olbermann’s show, because they destroyed their TVs after hearing Whitlock’s comment.
But of course, it didn’t happen because it was just a dream, right?
Oh my goodness.
I mean, really 13 minutes on the Jets? This is what happens when you live in New York and do a show from New York. The problem is, nobody outside of Manhattan besides Mike Greenberg cares about the Jets. We have had enough with that goofy franchise and its goofy coach.
Would Olbermann have gone on the same rant if a similar situation had occurred with the Jacksonville Jaguars? How about if Cam Newton got hurt in the fourth quarter of a Carolina preseason game he had no business playing in? Would that have warranted 13 minutes? You know the answer.
Then Olbermann extended his target to Manish Mehta, the Jets beat writer for the New York Daily News. He jumped all over Mehta for daring to suggest that Rex Ryan could get fired as a result of his bonehead decision. Was that really such a stretch for a coach who probably will get canned sooner than later?
“Reporting is dead,” Olbermann said. “Long live making something out of nothing.”
What? Are you kidding me? Keith, have you seen what your old/new network is pumping out these days? It’s all about making something out of nothing.
Also, to say Mehta and the New York Daily News represents all of sports newspaper journalism is ludicrous. And a reminder, Keith: Your new/old network currently is hiring reporters to staff all 32 NFL teams. The majority of those new hires are newspaper beat reporters. So by extension, you just insulted your new teammates at ESPN.com.
And speaking of sports journalism, Dave Zirin of Edge on Sports asks in a tweet:
How does
@ESPNOlbermann not do a full segment on NFL/PBS/Frontline doc this week? Keith was made to cover this story.
Indeed, remember what they say about glass houses, or in your case, big glass picture windows overlooking Times Square.
The Whitlock segment went off the rails when he praised Deadspin. “We need somebody to watch the watchdogs,” he said.
OK, thankfully I didn’t destroy my television.
As for the rest of the show, I thought Olbermann had a good interview with Mark Cuban and I enjoyed his Worst Person in Sports segment. And nobody does sports highlights like Olbermann. Obviously, there’s plenty of potential for a compelling program.
However, I never make it to those segments if I wasn’t reviewing the show. I would have tuned out two minutes into that Jets stuff. And I have to think a significant number of viewers did.
As I have written previously, I am a big fan of Olbermann and have high hopes for the new show. So I’ll admit I was disappointed in show No. 1, especially the first half.
I’ll tune in again with the hope that Olbermann reports on the sports world beyond the Hudson River.