Like a zombie that just won't stay dead, pretentious left-wing talking head Keith Olbermann has somehow managed to find a way to befoul Americans' living rooms once more.
Thankfully, unless you are a baseball junkie, you won't have to witness his bloviations since Olbermann is scheduled to serve as a host for the Turner Broadcasting System's coverage of post-season Major League Baseball playoff games.
The move is a logical one for Olbermann, who began his television career as a sportscaster for almost 20 years before spewing his venom on politics for the liberal MSNBC and Current TV channels.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Olbermann will lead TBS's Atlanta-based studio show with Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley and possibly a second analyst. This season, the channel will cover both Wild Card playoff games, 18 of the 20 League Division Series contests and even has exclusive rights to the National League Championship Series.
“It’s well known that Keith is a fan of the game, and when you combine that with his studio experience, keen insight and passion for baseball and its history, he’ll add a new dimension to our MLB post-season studio shows," David Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports at Turner Broadcasting, said in a statement.
We're excited to have him join Dennis in studio and look forward to Keith sharing his in-depth knowledge of the game, MLB teams and players with our viewers for three great weeks in October.
THR reporter Marisa Guthrie stated that Olbermann -- “a dedicated New York Yankees fan with an encyclopedic knowledge of the game” -- got his start sportscasting for CNN in 1981, later becoming one of the original hosts of ESPN's “SportsCenter” franchise from 1992 to 1997.
Not long after the show got underway, the host complained that it was consumed with the Monica Lewinsky scandal, so he quit and went to work as a producer and anchor for Fox Sports Net and Major League Baseball of Fox from 1998 to 2001.
On March 31, 2003, Olbermann returned to MSNBC to host “Countdown,” a weeknight news and commentary program in which the host ranked the five biggest news stories of the day, as well as listed his choice for “The Worst Person in the World,” who was almost always a conservative Republican.
Olbermann was also known for his lengthy "Special Comments" slamming his favorite targets, President George W. Bush and anyone in his administration. During one such segment, the liberal host went so far as to claim that the GOP occupant of the White House “hates kids.”
But by 2010, the ratings for “Countdown” were falling, and on Jan. 20, 2011, Olbermann surprisingly announced that day's edition would be the last for him on MSNBC.
Just one month later, Al Gore's Current TV announced that Olbermann would bring his “Countdown” program to that liberal channel.
In March of 2012, Olbermann was very publicly fired by network co-founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt after feuding with them for months over his numerous demands. The deranged former host responded by suing the business for violating his five-year, $50 million contract, and both sides agreed to a private settlement just three weeks ago.
In her TMR article, Marisa Guthrie wrote that over the past several months, the liberal broadcaster has kept busy by writing on his baseball blog and attending Yankees games. He wrote a sports-related blog last April for The Huffington Post and unsuccessfully begged ESPN to re-hire him.
Along with Olbermann's struggle to find gainful employment, this has been a difficult year for liberal cable channel hosts. Just a few days ago, Larry King -- who was once considered the linchpin of the CNN prime-time line-up -- agreed to host two weekly programs for the ratings-challenged RT website channel.
However, the TBS announcement also noted that including his hosting work, “Olbermann has covered 19 World Series and 28 MLB post-seasons during his career.”
One can't help but wonder how many weeks or months Olbermann will last in this most recent gig. We won't exactly be surprised if his next incarnation is as an extra on "The Walking Dead."
