Why Elizabeth Edwards is a big Olberman fan

[LTR]

This has probably been posted, but it's a pretty touching story.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5909092/?#040907

Even with my comparatively limited exposure to the means of politics, I could smell this from a million miles away. Oh, Elizabeth Edwards is a viewer? Who are we kidding here? I've been wined-and-dined before, symbolically and literally. If it hadn't happened since I switched to news, it had already happened while I was in sports.

(snip)

You probably know that the Edwards lost their first-born son, Wade, in a freakish automobile accident in 1996, when he was 16.

You probably didn't know they watched SportsCenter together.

I sure didn't.

"I have to just say that on a completely personal note, and not kissing up to you in any way, I said before this interview started what a great treat my son would have thought this was for me to be spending any time talking to you after he was a devoted watcher of you while you were on ESPN with Dan Patrick and Chris Berman."

Hadn't felt too good lately about having being on that program.

Mrs. Edwards kind of changed that.

Right now I'm very proud to be part of one of her warm memories about her son.

[Cha]

1. Is that Sweet or what?!

I'm wondering how msrnc tolerates Keith Olbermann and his glorious agenda?!

[jezebel]

2. Yeah, I saw her second part tonight on the show and she told him.

It really was touching. She seems so genuine, I like her more and more each time I see her.

[buycitgo]

3. I saw that.........I really like her

Olberman deserves to catch on in a big way

he REAMED David Dreier last night, QUOTING AlQaeda, when they said that they WANTED Bush to win, cause Kerry would go after them

NOT one dem, to my knowledge, has used that against the pugs

he's the BEST surrogate we have on TV; way better than Carville or Begala, with the added benefit of having the cachet of semi-impartiality; he constantly nails Kerry's feckless on the campaign trail, ripping his appearance on Jon Stewart the other day, giving him hell for not responding personall to the Cheney slime.

[bermudat]

4. What's up between Olbermann and ESPN?

I have only been watching O this year per the recommendations of the folks on this forum. So only know him from Countdown. He did a bit about not being invited for 'old home week'? on some sports show. What does he mean by "Hadn't felt too good lately about having being on that program"? He jokes about being fired a lot. Does he have a temper or problems getting along with folks? Seems congenial on the tube, but the pod people on faux news seem congenial at first also.

[LTR]

7. I'm not clear on the specifics

I guess Olberman had a nasty falling out with ESPN (where he became a big name on SportsCenter). He bailed and went to FOX Sports. From there, he went to NBC to cover the Athens Olympics, but he started doing some fill-in work on MSNBC, and his show became a hit. Since the show is growing and is getting some buzz, Olberman pulled out out of the Olympics coverage and went full-on with "Countdown".

Good thing, too.

[bermudat]

8. Olbermann worked for Faux?

Guess you got to eat.

[LTR]

9. Well, it was FOX Sports

There is somewhat of a difference.

[Protected]

13. He takes jabs at Fox as often as he can

[Virginian]

12. I think his show is great and it isn't the same when he isn't there.

Loved E. Edwards tonight, too. She is just sooo... everything good.

[Shopaholic]

14. Resident DU Keith O fan here. . .

He parted on pretty bitter terms with ESPN and left to go to MSNBC to do news (the first time around). He left MSNBC after a little over a year to go to Fox Sports because he got tired of covering the Monica thing. He was there for about a year and a half before Murdoch got pissed off when he reported on a rumored LA Dodgers sale (which Murdoch also owned). They paid him to sit out the rest of his contract and let him go. Then he showed back up on CNN for a few months in 2002 before he was re-hired at MSNBC in 2003.

Keith is known to be very outspoken, brilliant, and a perfectionist. He apparently likes poking management whenever and wherever possible. When he was at ESPN he testified on behalf of several women there who had filed sexual harassment suits against the network. This did not sit well with management. He later cooperated with a book about ESPN in which he had some pretty unflattering things to say about the network's management. They've never forgiven him for it. Earlier this week, they aired a 25th Anniversary SportsCenter special on ESPN. I think I counted 3 KO appearances in the two-hour span. Craig Kilborn only merited 2 appearances. He was once quoted as saying that his impression was that he wouldn't ever be invited back to ESPN if it were on fire and he possessed the only bucket in the world. So the ESPN folks are pretty vengeful where Olbermann is concerned. He wrote an apology of sorts to them on Salon a couple of years ago that's worth looking up (Mea Culpea is it's title). But it seems not to have made much of an impression on them.

[spooky3]

18. Thanks for this info. I have even more respect for him now, knowing he

supported co-workers who were harassed. It's a tough thing to fight bad management.

Here's the link to Mea Culpa. You're right; it was worth reading but (for me) raises more questions than it answers.

http://www.salon.com/news/sports/col/olbermann/2002/11/17/meaculpa/

[spooky3]

16. I wonder if politics is a part of it. Most of those egomaniacal

sportscasters are also Rethugs. Keith strikes me as confident but more down to earth and honest, and not a Rethug.

But maybe his problem was not with the on-air folks, but rather with the network.

[Shopaholic]

19. He said 2 nights ago that he didn't vote for B/C 4 years ago. . .

and I think it's pretty safe to say that he leans to the left from watching the show. He's the managing editor and according to him, writes the majority of the broadcasts each night. He did a Hardblogger during the RNC where he talked about what a conservative world sports in general was and laughed off the idea of a liberal press--saying that while some reporters might be libs, that the majority of owners were conservatives. From all the articles and interviews I've read or heard with him, his problems did seem to be primarly with management.

[Andromeda]

5. She is adorable...

charming, intelligent and I just love her.

She will make a great second lady. :)

[spooky3]

17. I've been so impressed with her since I first heard her introduce JRE.

(last Sept, when he announced).

She is wonderful.

[GaryL]

6. I think he's MSNBC's alternative to Jon Stewart.

Though he's much more of a news announcer. And he does a good job. One of the few tolerable folks on cable news today. And secondly, Elizabeth Edwards, the next first lady after Kerry does his eight years, is a saint. I can see why John Edwards has trouble sinking the the gutter levels of the VP's rhetoric with her as his mate.

[dennis4868]

10. Ms. Edwards....

is also a fan of DU!

[JI7]

11. that's really nice

[Bozita]

15. Listening to Elizabeth Edwards just make me feel better

My thanks to Keith.

[blueblitzkrieg]

20. Aw.

I love Elizabeth and Keith.