Keith Olberman, don't rain on Lance's parade, please.

The BBQ Pit
1

While listening to the radio this morning, I heard a sports update by Keith Olberman. This is a brief feature that highlights one or two major stories in the world of sports, and has commentary as well.

Ordinarily I like Olberman’s take on things. But today just pissed me off.

He announced that Sports Illustrated has named Lance Armstrong its Sportsman of the Year; an honor which is long overdue, in many people’s opinion. I was starting to wonder if Lance had to scale Mt. Kilamanjaro in his skivvies to earn SI’s recognition.

But Olberman then went on a tirade which smacked of petty vitriol, bespoke a definite agenda, and appeared to be nothing so much as trying to knock Armstrong off whatever “pedestal” he had been placed.

Olberman’s contention was that Armstrong was a rat and a weasel for crossing a picket line in order to make a commercial. Armstrong had joined that union to be able to make commercials in the first place, and when they struck, he ignored the picket line. Olberman pointed out cynically that at the time, Armstrong made the rationalization that he was a cancer survivor and needed the money to help support his family. To which Olberman responded that there were probably plenty of other people who were on strike who also had cancer in their families and could probably have used the money they would have earned by breaking a picket line.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m neither for nor against Armstrong’s crossing the picket line. At least, as far as this is concerned. That’s not the issue. I’m not complaining that this is not a valid point, for what it’s worth.

I’m angry that Olberman took it upon himself to use this particular event in Armstrong’s career to get up on a soapbox and make a plea for union solidarity. Agenda, Keith? I know you’re supposed to provide commentary on such things, but if tossing a turd in the punchbowl like this is your idea of journalistic integrity, I have news for you – it made you sound petty and puts you in the camp of people who go to the opposite end of the extreme, trying to pick apart people who persevere and achieve.

Lance Armstrong is not a god. He’s not a paragon of virtue. He beat cancer and is an inspiration, but he’s a flawed human being. As are we all.

It would have been nice to give him this moment of recognition for the high points in his career without dredging up his flaws and mistakes.

2

Ugh. Tastelessness has been redefined. Kiss my red ass, Olberman.

3

I’ve never heard the guy on the air, but he sounds like a tactless douchebag.

Just out of curiosity, would Olberman be in that same union? Any way of finding out? It’s bad enough if he’s saying this thing as a disinterested third party, but it’s all the more petty and trite if it’s because his precious widdle toes were stepped on.

4

Keith Olbermann was great on Sportscenter. Unfortunately, in every job since then he has shown himself to be a self-important blowhard who is apparently so much smarter than the rest of us that he can critique any piece of news or action that occurs.

Screw him.

5

After Oberman left Sportscenter he has been a failure of epic proportions. His attempt at news reporting was a farce. People openly laughed at how bad he was.

Then he tried to slink back into sports, but only could muster an offer from the crappy ass Fox Sports Network. His ratings of course are pretty craptastic. Now no one even remembers him, and he needs some attention to try and save the career he ruined.

And this is his attempt.

So it is with great pleasure that I point and laugh at your destroyed career and complete irrelevance in the sports reporting world.

6

…with previously-expressed sentiments regarding the once-interesting-but-now-a-washout Keith Olberman.

And I for one don’t give a fucking rat’s ass about some incident with Lance and a goddamn union picket line. IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO, KEITH, YOU FUCK?

SI could not have picked a more appropriate athlete than Lance. His accomplishments under difficult circumstances speak for themselves.

And, I would like to jump into the receiving line with the others, pull my pantalones down, and have Olberman gimme a big wet anal pore smooch. What a moron he’s become.

7

More evidence why Keith is not really liked by anybody he comes in contact with.

I don’t recall the actual context but I’m almost positive he referred to Ken Starr in the same vein as Himmler.

8

I am constantly amazed at how media types are always trying to undermine the accomplishments of Lance Armstrong. Wasn’t there some other columnist during the Tour De France that claimed that bicyclists were not true athletes and went on and on about Armstrong being an over-rated personality. I guess the only way Olberman can get his name in the papers is by jumping on the ARmstron-bashing bandwagon.

What an idiot

9

The Trent Lott of sports broadcasters. :smiley:

10

As I said, he may have a valid point in Armstrong’s actions re: the strike.

And I find his sports commentary pretty good, overall.

But this was just bad timing.

I mean, I may think Roger Clemens is a jerk (and I wouldn’t be alone), but I also acknowledge that he’s one of the best pitchers of his generation. And when (not if) he is elected to the Hall of Fame, I’ll say he deserved it and save the commentary for another time.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if Olberman does belong to the same union.

11

Several actually did this, Ron Borges (MSNBC) being the most prominent. An online survey showed he had 95% of his readers thinking he was a dickhead. Several other pinhead writers joined the trend briefly until they realised what dickheads they were being seen as.

Sorry, but when pampered, fatass, chauffered, played-one-game in-single-A-baseball-in-college-while-getting-a-“Communications”-degree, sprots writers say what is and isn’t an athlete, I think they should be forced to bike up the Rockies a few times on a bike with a rusted chain.

12

On the whole I like Keith but he does get upset about the strangest things. Last year he was mad because Playboy had a poll about which woman sportscaster was the best looking and not all of the nominees took offense. I couldn’t follow his logic but Keith felt that this somehow damaged all sportscasters credibility. I myself took offense because Fox’ Pam Oliver didn’t win the poll :slight_smile:

As for Lance Armstrong being awarded Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, I say good for him, however, I also say that the US Postal service should spend its advertising dollars closer to home rather than on Armstrong and his team in a French bike race but that’s a rant for a different place.

13

I wondered what happened to that guy. :eek:

Regarding the OP, I am that way myself sometimes, i.e., if someone does something that I consider “bad” then I consider that person wrong in everything. I don’t do this all the time, but I have done this. It’s not a attitude I like, but it’s an attitude I sometimes have.

Regarding Lance, I say more power to him. As some have pointed out, he’s a cancer survivor and that’s a tribute in itself; that he’s gone on to accomplish what he has is icing on the cake.

Olberman used to having biting insight and was generally regarded as a pretty good sports reporter, when he was on Sports Center.

My how the mighty have fallen. :frowning:

14

Was this that commercial actors strike from a year or two ago? A bunch of cat food actors went on strike to get a few more cents in royalties. The SAG supported them and acted like the commercial actors were on a par with Rosa Parks and Gandhi. I say to all commercial actors, FUCK YOOOOOOOOUUU!!! Get a REAL fucking job!!! I hate commercials anyway.

Lance Armstrong is, if anything, completely UNDER rated and deserves any accolades he gets. IMO he had no obligation, whatever, to participate in a strike with a bunch of whiny, self-important shampoo pimps.

15

Congratulations, Mullinator, for being the only person in this thread so far to spell Keith Olbermann’s last name right.

Of course, maybe some of the misspellings were sly ways of registering additional irritation.

16

Olberman attended the same journalism school as Jim Gray, Tacky U.

17

A little off-topic, maybe, but I think Olbermann detractors might enjoy a laugh at the whining he does in this article. I don’t think he’s kidding, either