ANGELS WIN BY KO: I'm normally a huge fan of former ESPN personality and current Salon columnist Keith Olbermann, but I've gotta say I have mixed feelings about his latest, sky-is-falling piece in Salon on the sorry state of baseball. I'm with him in his criticism of Bud Selig and his pessimism related to the state of the game and its super-low World Series ratings. But I've gotta disagree when he talks about what a horrible World Series it just was. I disagree- the underdog Angels won, there were amazing comebacks in Games 2, 3, and 6, and there was the equally fascinating storyline of Barry Bonds finally making it to the Series and hitting four home runs. True, the starting pitching for both teams generally sucked, but like most things about the '02 Series, that was an abberation.
But even more troublesome in Olbermann's piece is his trashing of the Angels' organization, which does nothing but add credence to the hypothesis that Keith is just bitter that his beloved Yankees didn't make it this time. He even goes so far as to tar Angels team matriarch Jackie Autry as a "harpy," on the strength of her public trashing of former Angels star Wally Joyner more than 10 years ago. So what, George Steinbrenner has never criticized an employee publicly? And besides, considering reports of how Olbermann himself has treated both employers and underlings at various stops throughout his broadcasting career, to call him a "harpy" would almost be charitable.