Olbermann suspended this week after twitter war with Penn Staters

Gulo Blue · Feb 24, 2015

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b5b8...-olbermann-out-week-after-penn-state-comments

Keith Olbermann has been taken off his ESPN show for the rest of the week after making insulting comments about Penn State students on Twitter.

On Monday, a Penn State alum tweeted to Olbermann the phrase "We Are!" and a link to an article about students raising more than $13 million to fight pediatric cancer. Olbermann replied "...Pitiful."

Olbermann, who often spars with commenters on Twitter, then refused to back down, saying he was referring to Penn State students in general and not the fundraising.

On Tuesday, ESPN said in a statement that "it was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN. We have discussed it with Keith, who recognizes he was wrong."

Olbermann also apologized on Twitter, saying, "I was stupid and childish and way less mature than the students there who did such a great fundraising job."

Michchamp · Feb 24, 2015

Now, there aren't many times you could say Penn St doesn't deserve it, but students conducting a charity fundraiser is one of those. Even if you're spoiling to go after Penn St, exercise a little discretion and wait for a better opportunity.

Side note & personal pet peeve: I think it's annoying how "it's for charity" is supposed to be some blanket exemption from all criticism, and justify "good guy" status. How much money are you really raising & are you getting a PR benefit in some way? Because it's not really for charity then. And is the money you raise really going to the needy, or some senator's or rich guy's wife who oversees the charity fund?

I suppose those questions are too deep for a twitter fight.

Gulo Blue · Feb 24, 2015

michchamp said:
How much money are you really raising & are you getting a PR benefit in some way?

I saw in a comment they've been doing this charity for decades. Since this is the 1st time I've heard of it, I think Olbermann just gifted them PR that would be near the top of their donation list. Too bad it wasn't with a day or two to go in the fundraiser.

Still. Good Guy Keith Olbermann. Willing to be the bad guy to raise awareness.

Michchamp · Feb 24, 2015

ESPN once suspended baseball writer Keith Law for defending the Theory of Evolution from noted deep-thinker Curt Schilling on twitter.

ESPN sucks.

tinselwolverine · Feb 24, 2015

michchamp said:
Side note & personal pet peeve: I think it's annoying how "it's for charity" is supposed to be some blanket exemption from all criticism, and justify "good guy" status. How much money are you really raising & are you getting a PR benefit in some way? Because it's not really for charity then. And is the money you raise really going to the needy, or some senator's or rich guy's wife who oversees the charity fund?

I suppose those questions are too deep for a twitter fight.

If the charity is actually being operated by Penn State students, it's more than likely pretty clean.

I don't see how students themselves would get any kind of PR benefit.

And students in general are too stupid and na?ve to have figured out how to run a good charity scam.

Gulo Blue · Feb 24, 2015

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_IFC/Panhellenic_Dance_Marathon

Largest student run philanthropy in the world. They say they spend 2% on administration, 74% on experimental theraputics, and 14% on patient care and family support, but their finances aren't open (and that adds to 90%).

Michigan has a dance marathon that brings in about half a million.

Michchamp · Feb 24, 2015

Gulo Blue said:
I saw in a comment they've been doing this charity for decades. Since this is the 1st time I've heard of it, I think Olbermann just gifted them PR that would be near the top of their donation list. Too bad it wasn't with a day or two to go in the fundraiser.

Still. Good Guy Keith Olbermann. Willing to be the bad guy to raise awareness.

I like Olbermann too, though I'm always concerned a lot of his act is just pandering, i.e. he's Ed Schultz with a sports background, and he doesn't at least share some convictions here with the left in practice. I have no reason to suspect that, but I just do.

his abrasive reputation maybe, although then again, if I was forced to work with a lot of the brainless former jocks and sleazy sportscasters on ESPN, I'd probably be considered pretty abrasive as well.

dislike of Penn State is a positive sign...

Gulo Blue · Feb 24, 2015

michchamp said:
I like Olbermann too

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sarcasm.

I never watch (or watched, he's not a news guy anymore, right?) Olberman, but I think he sounds like a moron and a bit of a d-bag in this. He was actually correcting people's twitter grammar and saying it indicated the value of a Penn State education.

Gulo Blue · Feb 24, 2015

michchamp said:
he doesn't at least share some convictions here with the left in practice. I have no reason to suspect that, but I just do.

Didn't he resign from one of his jobs over his campaign contributions?

tinselwolverine · Feb 24, 2015

michchamp said:
I like Olbermann too, though I'm always concerned a lot of his act is just pandering, i.e. he's Ed Schultz with a sports background, and he doesn't at least share some convictions here with the left in practice. I have no reason to suspect that, but I just do.

Well, he got to be rich as bejaysus doing it, that might have something to do with it?

Michchamp · Feb 24, 2015

Gulo Blue said:
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sarcasm.

I never watch (or watched, he's not a news guy anymore, right?) Olberman, but I think he sounds like a moron and a bit of a d-bag in this. He was actually correcting people's twitter grammar and saying it indicated the value of a Penn State education.

it's no more than your run-of-the-mill "I've been drinking, and I just discovered Fanbase X is around and dumb enough to serve as a punching bag til I log off and call it a night" and let he among us who hasn't done that on an ohio state board cast the first stone.

Michchamp · Feb 24, 2015

Gulo Blue said:
Didn't he resign from one of his jobs over his campaign contributions?

I forget why he left MSNBC. Checked his wiki page. that was it. suspended over contributions to Democratic candidates in 2010; MSNBC policy required him to clear contributions with mgmt.

Later he was fired from Current TV for personal reasons, allegedly. it was acrimonious, and resulted in a lawsuit that was settled & sealed.

Gulo Blue · Feb 24, 2015

michchamp said:
it's no more than your run-of-the-mill "I've been drinking, and I just discovered Fanbase X is around and dumb enough to serve as a punching bag til I log off and call it a night" and let he among us who hasn't done that on an ohio state board cast the first stone.

That's probably fair. You get away with it from an anonymous account. Similar to Dave Brandon's emails. I can't count how many times I've behaved worse...anonymously.

Thumb · Feb 24, 2015

michchamp said:
ESPN once suspended baseball writer Keith Law for defending the Theory of Evolution from noted deep-thinker Curt Schilling on twitter.

ESPN sucks.

Kieth Law is a tool of epic proportions. ESPN could have suspended him for breathing and been in the right.

Michchamp · Feb 24, 2015

Thumb said:
Kieth Law is a tool of epic proportions. ESPN could have suspended him for breathing and been in the right.

I don't know anything about him except the tweets in that article.

byco42 · Feb 24, 2015

Thumb said:
Kieth Law is a tool of epic proportions. ESPN could have suspended him for breathing and been in the right.

Because he thought Trout should have won the last three MVPs?

Michchamp · Feb 25, 2015

okay, so this slate article reveals a few more facts about it that put Olbermann in a more positive light. And FWIW it's worth, the article is written by a Penn St alumnus.

Olbermann didn't go out of his way to troll them; one of them tweeted at him first, with the STUPID "We are!" thing, and linked to the fundraiser link. guessing Olbermann didn't bother to click on it, and simply started mocking them. Although even if he did click it and still decided to mock them, I'd be okay with that, for reasons I stated above, and for which the author seems to agree with me (see below).

the article states:

Keith Olbermann makes no secret of the disgust he harbors for Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal; in January, he declared the NCAA and PSU ?the worst in sports.? His well-documented disdain for the institution is probably what inspired a Penn Stater to mention him Sunday in a proud tweet about the 2015 Penn State Dance Marathon

guessing the student figured he'd click the link and say something nice about Penn St.; I don't think it was intended to be the PR trap it turned into.

also, along the lines of the point I made in my first post:

As a Penn State alumna who knows the difference between your and you?re, I?m pleased to see him get spanked on this one. But I also think that he wasn?t entirely wrong to roll his eyes at attempts to use THON to deflect criticism about the university.
...
The results are great, and many of the participants are entirely sincere. But still, some students, especially Greeks, use it to excuse a lot of things: You can?t criticize fraternities?we raise money for kids with cancer!

Penn State still sucks.

Thumb · Feb 25, 2015

byco42 said:
Because he thought Trout should have won the last three MVPs?

Not exactly because of that no. But how he talks to anyone who disagrees with any analysis he makes. When Cabrera won the MVP after his triple-crown season, Law called the BBWAA "Luddites", and anyone who who commented or tweeted to him about it, "morons", and "couch potatoes".

He's a Dick. and that's likely why he was suspended, because he goes too far on twitter when someone has the audacity to disagree with him.

byco42 · Feb 25, 2015

Thumb said:
Not exactly because of that no. But how he talks to anyone who disagrees with any analysis he makes. When Cabrera won the MVP after his triple-crown season, Law called the BBWAA "Luddites", and anyone who who commented or tweeted to him about it, "morons", and "couch potatoes".

He's a Dick. and that's likely why he was suspended, because he goes too far on twitter when someone has the audacity to disagree with him.

Sounds like he'd fit right in with this forum.

Michchamp · Feb 25, 2015

byco42 said:
Sounds like he'd fit right in with this forum.

I'll tweet him an invite, and call him a cockmaster & an idiot if he declines.

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