Keith Olbermann is one of the most outspoken people on television, rarely pulling punches in either the sports or political worlds. So it should come as no surprise that his most recent case of vitriol-spewing has landed Olbermann in temporary hot water with ESPN, which suspended him from his self-titled series for the next week after the host engaged in a Twitter war with students from Penn State University, a college that he openly and wholeheartedly hates.
It all started when a PSU student tagged Olbermann in a tweet linking to a story about the college raising over $13 million for a pediatric cancer organization. The student wrote “We are!” and Olbermann responded with “…Pathetic.” And though the sportscaster was basically just making a rip on PSU students in general, everyone came out of the woodwork to call him out for shitting on a huge fundraising success. And instead of taking his licks quietly, Olbermann held ground on his platform and shot back with messages like this.
And this.
It went on for a while, with Olbermann trash-talking PSU and its student body in every response. It seems like he had to know some kind of punishment would follow it, yet he kept going. And perhaps even more telling, he hasn’t deleted any of the tweets after ESPN brought the suspension down on his head. But he did apologize, although the genuineness behind the words is certainly up in the air.
ESPN released a statement predictably removing themselves from the situation, saying that this was all on Olbermann's time. The suspension will last for the next week, and Olbermann will have its host back next for Monday's telecast. And I'll eat a Penn State hat if he doesn't make some kind of a backhanded comment before the first commercial break. Incidentally, if you want to hear him go off even more, check out this video from last month.
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