Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann (born January 27, 1959 in New York City, New York) is an American news anchor and former sportscaster. He currently hosts Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, an hour-long nightly newscast that counts down the top news stories of the day.

Olbermann at ESPN

In 1992, he joined ESPN's SportsCenter, a position he would hold until 1997. His edition of SportsCenter was often hosted together with Dan Patrick, and the two became known as an anchor team. Olbermann quickly became known and loved for his acid wit, his brutally honest reporting style and clever catch phrases, as well for his tight chemistry with co-anchor Patrick. In 1995, Olbermann won a Cable ACE award for Best Sportscaster while co-anchoring the "big show" as he called it. Olbermann would later write a book called The Big Show about his experiences working at SportsCenter.

Related Topics:
ESPN - SportsCenter - Dan Patrick - Cable ACE award

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While at ESPN, Olbermann was instrumental in helping to launch ESPN Radio and ESPN2. However, he became increasingly unhappy with commuting to ESPN's studios in Bristol, Connecticut. Bristol's remote location and lack of an active social scene were particularly problematic for Olbermann because he was single, lived in New York City, and could not drive due to a head injury on a New York City subway car where his head got caught in a door and permanently damaged his depth perception. Additionally there were whispers that, internally, he could be difficult to work with or get along with. Ultimately, Olbermann's dissatisfaction with Bristol contributed to his departure from ESPN in 1997. Even several years after his departure, many people still consider Olbermann to be one of the best anchors that SportsCenter ever had, and his pairing with Dan Patrick the best tandem ever.

Related Topics:
ESPN Radio - ESPN2 - Bristol, Connecticut - Depth perception

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Olbermann is a dedicated baseball fan and historian of the sport. He has argued, for example, that New York Giants baseball player Fred Merkle should not be denied inclusion into the Baseball Hall of Fame simply because of a single baserunning mistake. Olbermann also took documentarian Ken Burns to task about the accuracy of Burns' television series Baseball, pointing out dozens of factual and anachronistic errors in Burns' documentary. In high school, Olbermann compiled an extensive list of first and third base coaches in baseball history. This documentation now sits in the Hall of Fame, and is considered the definitive compendium of first and third base coaches in baseball history.

Related Topics:
Baseball - New York Giants - Fred Merkle - Baseball Hall of Fame - Ken Burns - Baseball

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