Dan Patrick Dismisses Rumors That Keith Olbermann Has Reached Out to ESPN, "The Mothership"

Today Dan Patrick said Keith Olbermann would be better suited to the MLB Network, not ESPN, where it is rumored that Olbermann is trying to get his job back there. 

Patrick said he wanted to make it clear he himself would NEVER attempt to return to "The Mothership," as he calls ESPN with a certain ironic disdain.

Patrick made it clear that most of ESPN employees are fine people but a few producers "behind the scenes believed they were bigger than the talent and you can't have that."

"I outgrew the Mothership and they outgrew me so we're both better off," he said, in my attempt to capture Patrick's words as good as possible. 

Regarding Olbermann, Patrick said he was "too polarizing" for ESPN and while he'd provide them "good buzz" the buzz would be short-lived.

For the record, I'm a huge Dan Patrick fan, have been for 25 years, so you know whose side I take.

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Comments

[Angelo]

Stripping this down to the basics----putting politics aside and even putting Olbermann's image/reputation as a jerk aside---the bottom line is that he really isn't needed at ESPN. He isn't that good at sports coverage/commentary. He wouldn't add enough to the mix to make it worth their while. Now, when you add in the fact that he's reported to be extremely difficult to work with, polarizing toward the audience---and better known now for political commentary---this seems to be a no brainer. ESPN needs to steer clear. They should think back to the Rush Limbaugh hiring as evidence that political personalities (on either the left or right) don't need to be part of sports coverage. Many of us follow sports to escape politics.

[Earl_of_Cloves]

Interesting to look back at these prognostications several months later.

With the first 2 wks of his popular new show under his belt, Olbermann appears to have settled in quite nicely at-- hey look, it's ESPN!

He won't have some of the headaches with management that Patrick had because, for one thing, Olbermann doesn't need the money. He's doing this show for fun and viewers are responding positively to Olbermann's new-found cheerfulness and celebrated knowledge of sports.

If the show has one drawback, it's that the network keeps inexplicably moving its start time. But viewers seem to understand that's not Olbermann's fault as they patiently strive to find the show every night.