Keith Olbermann trashes soccer on David Letterman show Tuesday
Was a time, ESPN host Keith Olbermann was considered cutting edge hip…
But times flies and you gotta keep up. That was hardly the case when Olbermann weighed in on the World Cup and Major League Soccer on the Dave Letterman Show Tuesday with Theater League main man Mark Edelman in the audience.
“Well, let’s talk aboutWorld Cup soccer,” Letterman intoned.
Whereupon Olbermann rattled off the usual anti soccer cliches that have long since bitten the dust among younger, more clued in sports aficionados.
“Somebody said the other day that soccer is the sport of the future in America and it always will be,” Olbermann told Letterman, who cackled while the audience cheered in approval. “And somebody dug the etymology of this thing up and it was in the LA Times in 1978. So we’ve been hearing this for 40 to 45 years, that it’s going to be tomorrow’s sport.”
As for the explosive World Cup television ratings, “It’s like the Olympics,” Olbermann said. “We love swimming – see you in four years – go practice your soccer and come back to us.”
Asked by Letterman how many teams there were in MLS, Olbermann masked his ignorance by responding, “Ten, 20, 30 – I don’t know.”
What Olbermann did know was that he was turned off by some MLS team names.
“This is one of the complaints that I have,” he said. “They try to be imitative of the European names – F.C. Barcelona and Real Madrid.”
“They did the same thing in Kansas City,” Letterman added.
“Right, Sporting Kansas City, fine except…” Olbermann began.
Whereupon Edelman started applauding loudly.
“There you go, there’s the one soccer fan,” Olbermann cracked.
Bogus, boring and uninformed, Edelman’s says.
“Hey, it’s a comedy show, but that was bullshit,” Edelman says. “I was the only guy applauding because I was the only guy from Kansas City, but you know when Dave mentioned Arkansas in his monologue, nobody applauded.”
Likening the state of soccer in this country to 1978 is just ignorant.
“Sporting Kansas City sells out all the time, Olbermann didn’t know what he was talking about,” Edelman says. “What’s wrong with what he was saying is that there are probably a million more kids playing soccer in the United States today than there were in 1978. He way over generalized and he was wrong, because soccer may well become America’s game in the coming years. This country is growing and we’ve got a lot more Hispanics.”
And likening soccer to swimming, please.
“That’s meaningless because there are no swimming clubs people follow and no swimming teams,” Edelman says. “People don’t follow swimming. You know what? He’s an old fogey, but that’s David Letterman and that’s the show.”
Olbermann is a has been and has been for over a decade. He was nothing on MSNBC and such a jerk that they got rid of him. Then he went off to some network so small that it mad MSNBC look like a player. Who knows if that was a flop since no one watched it either. So why ESPN picks someone who is offensive to a major block of its audience i beyond me, but they seem to do that with some regularity.
Gotta get the day started with a couple of gems from K.O.
“As part of the process by which you hire me, you hire me. You just don’t hire an hour of me to do a performance.”
Keith Olbermann
“Reagan’s dead, and he was a lousy President.”
Keith Olbermann
Once the Republicans get rolling, they assume they’re going to win everything. They are zealots, and zealots assume the last five percent of whatever their plan is will be taken care of by their own greatness or momentum or divinity.
Keith Olbermann
And ironically enough, this-
“An uprising of the reasonable is our only chance.”
K.O. doesn’t deliver the news, he says High Mass and delivers sermons to we sinners in the hands of an angry god. His outrage, conceit and condescension are evidence of a self appointed elevation to a ecclesiastically political position which assumes the high moral ground by virtue of his (K.O.) sanctimony.
He and Al Sharpton know how to hypnotize the chickens and that is what passes for news on MSNBC.
Sounds like Fox News to me…..
MSNBC is the yang to Faux News’ ying.
Really difficult to say who’s the bigger loudmouth, clueless, tantrum driven tool; Olbermann or O’Reilly.
I used to wish a couple of sports I love were more popular. But youth leagues taught me they would only be ruined with “real success”.
I went to Spurs games at Municipal Stadium. Watched a lot of club soccer in Philadelphia over the years. But I’m ho-hum about it now.
Don’t understand all the energy put into it by the haters.
KO is just a guy who thinks he’s the smartest person in any room, any time, any subject.
olberman will get his own show again…just a matterof time…and he is right..
lamar hunt bet huge amounts of money that soccer wold take over and look
what happened..it fell apart.
I have loved the world cup.Like the crowdsandcolor.
But remember the comets got 15-16K in kemper for their games and look what
happened.
right now…theres a serious lack of sports on tv exceptfor baseball.
so with americans and their attachmentto their usa team it was a perfeccttime
for the world cup.
But for it to be successful in America…you have to kill thegame. Add tons of
timeoutsfor comercials…make the video more inviting than a camera 3 mile
on top of the stadium….appeal to sponsors….but more importantly it has to
play well on tv.
yes….there was a lot of excitement about scoccr..and olberman was right..we
all watched swimming every 4 years (but now even the Olympics are in trouble
financially…no one wants to host them!!!)…we google at the ice skaters every
4 years but the rest of the time nothing.
How about bowling…remember I think the guys from yahoo or some billionaire
computer guy was going to make bowling a huge hit on tv and bought the
pba….wherer’s it now.
The key for soccer and only hope is that the number of sports channels is
growing. I think theres 3 or 4 new ones on now across the 1000 channels and
probably more to go. They will need programming to fill time….and maybe soccer
can be that secondary sport with its own network and a small but faithful
audience.
Its all about tv folks…the world cup is not the sporting kc. And timing.
From August til February the nation is all about 24/7 football (American football).
cant play outdoors in jan/feb/most of march. Then baseball. Royals get hot???
they take up the conversation.
One things for sure….they’ve done a nice marketing job for sporting kc.
But we’ve seen this before. The liewickes did the same for the comets and
filled up kemper. I think sporting kc fans are different…more loyal…and
definitely more fervent.
But without big tv numbers soccer will just be a fringe sport.
As for olberman… you say he’s wrong but stats prove him right. Yes there
are more Hispanics in America…they’ll be a third of the nation in 2040 but these
hsipanics will have grown up in America…not in a latin or Hispanic nation…and there
is a huge huge difference. Ask the people at telemundo or Univision.
As far as olberman’s future…just a matter of time til he’s probably back with
msnbc. They need him and his numbers. I can see him moving into something
in 2015….he still has a large following and with elections coming msnbc needs
his name bad. He sure would be better than the lineup they have now.
“olberman will get his own show again”
He currently has his own nightly show.
Bob, SEE? Harley is RIGHT AGAIN! Already!!
Harlinator makes Carnac The magnificent look like that Long Island broad that says she sees dead people.
You sure you are not a Wizard or a Warlock Mr. Harlinator?
I feel like I need to be drinking to make it through one of his posts. Just all over the place.
You know he has that rare DNA only true ‘Mericans have. All opinions are always correct.
That’s why everywhere but ‘Merica soccer has huge attendance and tv ratings.
And those 80,000 folks who attend the MotoGP in Assen to watch the motorcycles are just there praying harley shows up.
Harley – “The liewickes did the same for the comets and
filled up kemper.”
They might have gotten 15,000 into Kemper to see the Comets but only about 1,000 of those people actually paid for a ticket. So your analogy is all wrong. But do carry on…
Hot Carl, you are so right! I worked with Tim “liewickes”doing the vintage grand prix for the launch of the Folly Theatre. He was a promotional whirl wind and most everything they ever did down there was comp’d.
Regardless, Harley remains always right, all the time, won hunderd purcint of the time.
you make 40…he makes 8 million…whowon the deal?
the job of broadcasting the world cup was bad. They need to learn from the
u.s. networks how to cover this game….more cameras for sure…tighter shots…
more attention to personalities…I heard about messi and Ronaldo but never
really got to know who they were.
More field action….better commentary.
again…if they can’t sell soccer on tv like the nba/nfl/mlb/ it will never
reach its potential. Maybe the game isn’t designed for tv viewing…maybe its
designed for fans in the stands. If that’s the case…it will never be the potential
sport many think it should be.
“I heard about messi and Ronaldo but never really got to know who they were.”
You been living under a sewage treatment plant or something for the last decade!??!?
hahahahaha…..you losers are reading everything I write…but you can’t
answer or come up with any original writing…anything intellectual to say.
If you read my story the end pretty much summed up olbermans
current status…yes..he has his own show…but read this again…
“As far as olberman’s future…just a matter of time til he’s probably back with
msnbc. They need him and his numbers. I can see him moving into something
in 2015….he still has a large following and with elections coming msnbc needs
his name bad. He sure would be better than the lineup they have now.”
at the start of the article I said he’d get his own show…referring tohim probably
coming back to msnbc sometime…it may or might not happen….
the fact is that my article was filled with analysis about soccer…its marketing..
its analysis of what it need tov become a major sport…what it needed todo
to get the big tv audiences…how the Hispanic population might not have
as big an influence on it as the writer said (and that’s according to
the largest netwroks in the Hispanic/latin world)…I gave stats that getting
18,000 to the soccer stadium might not be sucha big deal bcaue minor league
indoor soccer drew 14-15K )although some people thought that number was
papered…maybe mark can tel us more.
I spoke about olbermans opinions and how statistically he was right…
and I disagreed with mr. edleman in a polite courteous fashion without trying
to be a fool.
Yet herer come 2 boobs and they read my article…say nothing pertaining to the
article…refute nothing I say…they agree with everything I say so I have proven I
am an experet in this field.
instead of trying to catch me withbad grammer or spelling…or maybe like this
time not being more specific butstill being correct…maybe show the world that
you know something and can contribute to the comments in an intelligent
and civil way.
by the way…what is your opinion on my article and can you prove me wrong…
you cant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and that’s what drives these people nuts…..he’s obsessed…
they just can’t prove me wrong EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“hahahahaha…..you losers are reading everything I write…”
Nah. I read the first sentence of your post, notice the length of your post, and then decide I have better shit to do than abuse my eyes trying to decipher your prose.
One bite of a shit sandwich is sufficient to get the flavor.
The admin would prefer you say used food, expat.
Soccer is like curling … people will think it’s the best thing ever in 4 years.
*yawn*
jack…I used to think like you til the management of the team took me to
a game ….its incredible and fun.
its a greattime….but they’ll eventually have to kill the game to make
it amendble to tv viewers in the us.
I suggest you go see a game…the cauldron is a riot….rightnow they’re
itmaking billiowns with the game and 5 billion fans…maybe keep the game
tuned to that audience…and let the 300 million u.s. market make what
itcan and keep the game as it is.
what is really exciting was watching rugby and the head to head hits
there…wooooow …….talk about contact…..
they’ll all dowell…there will be 60 sports channels by 2020 and all
will be making bukooo bucks!
Harley – “I gave stats that getting 18,000 to the soccer stadium might not be sucha big deal bcaue minor league indoor soccer drew 14-15K )although some people thought that number was papered…maybe mark can tel us more.”
THOUGHT it was papered? It’s common knowledge it was papered, you dolt. Go ahead and ask Mark (I can only guess he’s one of your many Sybil-like personalities) I’m sure he’ll tell you.
we knEw it was papered…I saw the numB ers….b ut hell hot carl 75% of the
teams in the nfl paper the house…only their numbers might be
closer to 20-30K so it can get on tv. MAYBE HIGHER!!!!!!!!!!!
its common practice…go ask kctv 5 how manytickets they’ve bougth
in 2009=2012?
all sportsdo it…nba does it…the old wizards do it…i’msure the
sprting kc did it at first….its a common practice to fill the stands
for various financial and image reasons!!!!!
but here you are arguing with me over a correct comment I made..read
it…I was right…while your in your cubicle and mr. liewikce obviously
did something right going to run nba teams/nhl teams and aeg (one of the
largest entertainmentcompanies in the world…have you heard of them
karl?… and you’re backing up my quote on papering the house while
tim and his brothers did some big time career moves…
sound funny karl….maybe youmissed your calling…i’msure you did
sitting making 30-40 k in your cubicle.
WHERES ALL YOURBIG SUCCESSIS IN LIFE??????????????????
HA! caught you guys again!!!!!
again..hot carl..you showed your stupidity….papering a house has a lot
more involved than just givingaway tickets. If you or Wilson or the dude
kne3 this you would undeerstnd 3why its a lot more complicated than
handing out tickets for free
go ask the hunts about that…they’ll give you the story…three more to this
tnan you might think…thanksfor making me look like a genius!!!!!!!
nascar has 150,000 ….soccer is big…but
not in the u.s…..
harldy 18,000 in kck. move on…
i’ll eat you up with stats to prove you wrong again.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the guy you hammer made 8 million dollars a year as head of aeg…not bad
for papering kemper and asmall time event.
when you get those numbers call me…or when you live in a 5 milliondollars
house call tim.
the fools show their colors again….
complain…bitch…argue…you’re all small time potatoes making 30 k
a year….
the guy you attack made 8 million with a 30 million dollar buyout…
that sure buys a lot of burnt ends for you country swines at Oklahoma joes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
still none of you can argue with my figures and notes.
sad…but it shows why you’re on the shore waiting for your boat to come in.
bring on some real facts…we’ve established the fact that kemper was
papered..what about the other facts…you can’t prove me wrong…so youre
tge reak losers in this battle of wits.
use your brains..not your cock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who canceled their appearance on Letterman? That’s the only way Olbermann could have gotten a spot on the show. Someone cancelled and Letterman’s producers scrambled to find someone in NYC who wasn’t doing anything else.
Olbermann has been relegated to late night on ESPN2. (see what I did there…English Premier League soccer term).
He’s a non-entity.
keith still probably makes acouple million a year…not bad huh???????????????
All these opinions….
And the only one with a television show is the a-hole?
Okee dokee, artichokee!