Keith Olbermann was supposed to make his ESPN Radio debut on play-by-play for yesterday's Astros-Yankees game, but he was "under the weather," leaving Ryan Ruocco to fill in, according to the N.Y. Post's Andrew Marchand (TWITTER.com, 5/27). AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Alex Putterman wrote something to watch in Olbermann’s latest ESPN return will be "whether he’s swept into the ESPN-is-too-liberal narrative that has hounded the network the last few years." Olbermann has "never hid his left-of-center ideology, and although it doesn’t sound as though political or social commentary will be a big part of his role, his mere presence could set off some of ESPN’s right-wing critics" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 5/25). THE ATHLETIC's Richard Deitsch wrote as ESPN "fights a narrative that it employs too many left-leaning voices, they have hired a commentator who as recently as last November hosted a show called 'The Resistance' and said Donald Trump and his family 'have done more damage to America than (Osama) bin Laden and ISIS combined.'" But Olbermann has "stayed away from political commentary on his social media feed since announcing last November that he was retiring from political commentary," which might have "set the stage for increased ESPN responsibility" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/27).
DECISIONS, DECISIONS...: The POST's Marchand cited sources as saying that ESPN "considered offering" Olbermann the full-time 6:00pm ET “SportsCenter” show, but ultimately "decided against it for a variety of reasons, including logistics, as the show will continue" in Bristol, and Olbermann lives in N.Y. Sources said that when considering Olbermann at 6:00pm, ESPN did "factor in that Olbermann is partly known for hosting left-leaning political shows" (N.Y. POST, 5/26).
