Keith Olbermann/O'Reilly feud

WashingtonPost ^ | 05/12/04 | Richard Leiby

[Pikamax]

Yeah? Well, My Agent Can Beat Up Your Agent

• Keith Olbermann, the offbeat sportscaster-turned-offbeat news anchor, goes gonzo in his criticism of a competitor in the June issue of FHM magazine, which hit the stands yesterday.

Keith Olbermann: A "tortured soul." (Courtesy MSNBC)

"The key thing that's left out of Bill O'Reilly's career is that he got to where he is by being an abject failure at every step. He was kind of the buffoon of local news in New York and in Boston," the host of MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" tells the mag. "Bill O'Reilly is not of this Earth. He has an exceptionally well-designed television show, but it is neither news nor truth. The number of factual errors on that show on a given night exceeds our audience."

Well, for those counting, Olbermann's show drew 309,000 nightly viewers in April, according to Nielson figures, and O'Reilly's "Factor" on the Fox News Channel drew more than 2.2 million.

O'Reilly is on vacation, but a Fox News spokesman was happy to respond in kind yesterday: "Since he stopped reading sports scores, Keith has attracted fewer viewers than a test pattern and his career has been nothing short of a train wreck. We pity his tortured soul and wish him all the best."

[B Knotts]

Ha ha. Olbermann is calling O'Reilly a failure! Oh, the irony!

[lormand]

You won't find me defending O'Reilly. I cringe when he is called a Conservative.

[TheBigB]

"Since he stopped reading sports scores, Keith has attracted fewer viewers than a test pattern and his career has been nothing short of a train wreck. We pity his tortured soul and wish him all the best."

That's gonna leave a mark...

[GSWarrior]

Remember the lame World of Wide Sports bit Olberman used to do on Channel 5 in LA? That was back when he had his dork haircut.

[keysguy]

About the hottest thing "Blaberman" has ever done on his show is throw balled up paper, he's a Nat on O'Reilley's butt at best. He probably sees the handwriting on the wall--some, body new in his time slot and soon.

[cripplecreek]

O'Reilly I just want to turn the channel. On the other hand i want to track Olbermann down and wear myself out with a little batting practice.

[The South Texan]

Keith Oberman and the MSNBC ship is going down faster than water being flushed down the toliet after a 30 minute, read the newspaper , session on the toliet. With former CNN boss and Clinton buddy Rick kaplan running the whow over there, it will go down further.

[Bluegrass Federalist]

You said it. Ouch. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy, though. I hate Olberman.

[Petronski]

"We pity his tortured soul..."

Ouch. That's brutal.

[cyborg]

I'd like to punch him. He's always looking so fricking smarmy.

[Moose4]

Olbermann had the world by the curlies when he was teamed with Dan Patrick on ESPN Sportscenter. Ever since he thought he was too good for sportscasting (which is all he's good at), his career's been in free-fall.

}:-)4

[Hodar]

The key thing that's left out of Bill O'Reilly's career is that he got to where he is by being an abject failure at every step.

Oh, to be cursed with O'Reilly's failures. A best selling book, syndicated radio show, and one of the top watched daily news shows in the country. Sounds like jealousy to me.....

[B Knotts]

No, but I actually used to like watching him on SportsCenter. Still, his career hasn't exactly prospered lately, largely due to the fact that he's apparently quite the hothead, and liberal twit.

[NYCVirago]

Keith Olbermann is the guy who, in the words of one former ESPN co-worker, didn't just burn his bridges there; he napalmed them. And don't forget how he already quit MSNBC once, then got fired from Fox Sports for boring people (I think there's another network he's alienated, but I've lost count.) He's the last person who should be talking about the way somebody is perceived at their job.

[Christian4Bush]

"Ha ha. Olbermann is calling O'Reilly a failure! Oh, the irony!"

You know, IIRC, I remember someone else who ran for a lot of offices, and lost almost everytime, except for his last two times.

I believe his name was Abraham Lincoln.

[The Scourge of Yazid]

Ah... This is a real Hobson's Choice.

It's kind of like choosing between Hitler and Stalin or Freddy and Jason. Who do we go with? The right-wing, arrogant, loud-mouthed idiot who does radio commentary for WOR, or the left-wing, arrogant, loud-mouthed jerk who used to do radio commentary for WABC?

I'm perplexed.

[ishabibble]

I mentioned something about this article to my husband and he had a meltdown. According to him, Keith Olberman is the culprit who brought that cheap shot,snide, suckerpunch style of commentary into (gasp!) sports reporting.
Oh yeah, shocked, I tell you!

[Steve_Seattle]

O'Reilly and Rush seem to embody the Peter Principle in reverse: they failed at small things, yet somehow rose to their level of competency and succeeded immensely in much bigger things. Some people may hate them, but no one can deny their success.

[txlurker]

I really don't understand these people like Olbermann and Franken...it is like they don't have an original thought in their heads and have to use other people's ideas as their own. O'franken factor etc.....their lives must truly be miserable to begrudge anyone their success. O'Reilly has a popular show so he must be doing something right!