When he's not busy taunting Rachel Maddow, beloved blowhard Keith Olbermann is hard at work procuring new jobs for himself. Last month, Turner Sports announced that he would host TBS' studio coverage of postseason Major League Baseball in the fall. But that's apparently not enough air time for Olbermann: the Daily News reports that he is in negotiations with ESPN to return to the station where he first gained fame with a new late night talk show.
Their sources say the negotiations are still “very fluid” and no decision on green-lighting Olbermann or the project has been made. Olbermann worked for ESPN from 1992-1997 and was arguably its first breakout star anchor, but he successfully pissed off all his colleagues along the way. "I was enraged by Olbermann. Guys like that just piss me off, you know, because there's no loyalty. It's just me, me, me," said ESPN chairman emeritus Herb Granath in "Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN." When Olbermann left in 1997, many were relieved, including fellow ESPN anchor Bob Ley: "Our long national nightmare is over, huh? We felt not so much relief when Keith left as unrestrained f--king joy."
But with lots of changes at the top of ESPN, they've apparently softened their stance toward him. ESPN boss John Skipper told Hollywood Reporter recently, "I wasn't here when Keith was here, but he is very talented. So I had dinner with Keith...And I would not have had dinner with him if we didn't sit around and think about whether there was a reason to bring Keith back. I haven't met with him again, but we don't have a policy here that you can never come back."
ESPN is also likely looking for a way to undermine the August launch of rival network Fox Sports 1. The network is also reportedly considering unleashing a multi-million dollar SportsCenter advertising campaign that would air around the launch of FS1. Hopefully Olbermann will bring back some of his old wardrobes if this does happen:
