Olbermann: Firing Gardenhire a "cowardly act" by Ryan

[Parker Hageman]

ESPN's Keith Olbermann has taken his shots at the Twins as of late, first chastising the front office for their marketing survey emailed to ticket buyers and now taking aim at general manager Terry Ryan for firing manager Ron Gardenhire.

 

Olbermann tacked on "cowardly act, #Twins" to Will Carroll's initial tweet that considered Terry Ryan not loyal for firing Gardenhire.

 

 

 

 

[Mike Sixel]

Ridiculous statement. They stuck with a manager after three seasons of losing 90 games. They stuck with a manager whose teams didn't play fundamental ball. They stuck with a manager that refused to part with his pitching coach, even with evidence he wasn't doing well.

 

Ridiculous statement.

[chopper0080]

Wonder if Olberman would feel the same if it was his long term financial advisor who had lost him money the past 4 years.  It is easy to profess loyalty when you aren't tied to the success of the individual.

[John Bonnes]

I think Will is referencing the dismissal a decade ago of the Twins longtime trainer. I'm completely blanking on the name of the trainer. Will wrote about that at the time, and it happened under some weird circumstances. We never really found out why other than Ryan saying something like "He knows what he did."

[John Bonnes]

I think Will is referencing the dismissal a decade ago of the Twins longtime trainer. I'm completely blanking on the name of the trainer. Will wrote about that at the time, and it happened under some weird circumstances. We never really found out why other than Ryan saying something like "He knows what he did."

 Just found the name: Dick Martin. 

[twinsnorth49]

Good lord, I'm as sick of Olberman as I am of Jeter. Does he actually think people put any weight into what he has to say?

[Boom Boom]

Gardy was a coach for the same team for near 25 years... it doesn't get more loyal than that in professional sports.  

 

Olbermann's rants on Jeter were gold, but this is just confusing.

[ashbury]

Used to enjoy Olbermann.  His act is tired now.

 

Take a survey of Ryan's peers, I doubt you'll find a man better thought of.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Blergh. I want to like Olbermann but then he says stupid crap like this.

 

Number of managers in the history of baseball that lost 90 games four consecutive years who were not employed by the Twins or did not own the team but managed to keep their job the following season:

 

0

[Twinsarenotgood]

Gardy is just as much to blame for he is the one that kept Rick Anderson employed all these years.  The guy couldn't coach a 10 year old how to pitch.

 

Let's also not forget that few years back, when the Twins were good, gardy would basically throw the Sunday games and trot out a AAA lineup.

 

Gardy is not a good manager and not a guy you would want to manage a group of talent if the Twins were ever capable of assembling any.  Not likely to happen soon as the Twins prefer to sign guys like Nolasco and Pelfrey.

 

Gardy and the players are equal in this.

[bird]

Keith Olbermann just reaffirmed who Keith Olbermann is.

[D. Hocking]

I think Olbermann is smart, can be witty, and I probably agree with him more often than not.  However, he does get tiresome after awhile, due to a combination of his ego, always so sure anyone who disagrees with him is not only wrong but really wrong and possibly a bad person, and his need to feel he always has to say something controversial.  There is a reason for his many jobs, where he will initially spike and generate interest, only to burn out and leave or be asked to leave (I suspect he is also not always the easiest to person to work with or for in the office.)

[Winston Smith]

My guess is that Olbermann hasn't watched a single Twins game in the last 4 years!

[nicksaviking]

I agree with a lot of what Olbermann says, but he will take any opportunity to grab headlines.

 

Does Olbermann care if the Twins win? No.

So does Olbermann care if the Twins have a modern manager who can help them win? No.

[Squirrel]

heh ... no loyalty?  I think the problem was too much loyalty rather than a lack of it.  I find that statement laughable.

[iTwins]

"No loyalty"!? Are you daft Olbermann? This organization is loyal to a fault.

 

Lately, I feel KO will only offer a "take" on a topic if he can make it controversial or go against the grain. When he's on point, he can level some good insight and sometimes provide a new perspective to an issue. Other times, he goes off the rails and says things like...this.

[Whammy]

In related news, Olberman calls out Lassie for not being loyal to Timmy

[diehardtwinsfan]

If anything, it was loyalty that kept Gardy around several years longer than it should have.

[ashbury]

In related news, Olberman calls out Lassie for not being loyal to Timmy

In fairness, she did let the kid fall down a well.

[nicksaviking]

 

In fairness, she did let the kid fall down a well.

 

 

I heard she pushed him.

[D. Hocking]

In related news, Olberman calls out Lassie for not being loyal to Timmy

Lassie really was never the same after she battled her tail off.

[gil4]

Blergh. I want to like Olbermann ...

 

I never had that problem

[Seth Stohs]

I wouldn't say 'cowardly'... frankly, it just was the easy decision... It would have been brave to have kept him around...

[DaveW]

Olbermann is 100% right, say what you want about his political thoughts, but this dude is always on point when it comes to MLB.

[CharacterGroove]

The tweet is so absurd that I'm forced to believe Olbermann misunderstood what he was commenting on.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 Just found the name: Dick Martin. 

Yup.  Sounds like this is entirely about Dick Martin for Will Carroll.  Numerous mentions of those two around the web:

 

http://aarongleeman.com/2004/02/10/4782/

 

Carroll also "began awarding the Dick Martin Award to the best MLB medical staff of the season, 'named after the long-time Twins trainer that helped set the standards that today’s athletic trainers and doctors aspire to.'":

 

http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2011/04/30/simile-saturday-minnesota-twins-edition/

[Kwak]

Baseball s Olbermann's favorite sport and Gardenhire's firing requires him to comment.  Olbermann rants because he needs ratings.  People won't watch a bland, balanced, middle-of-the-road TV show--they require entertainment to keep watching.  When people tire of Olbermann's act--he will be fired for the third time.

[gil4]

Olbermann is 100% right, say what you want about his political thoughts, but this dude is always on point when it comes to MLB.

 

I thought he was out to lunch on the Twins marketing department, too.  It was one innocuous question mixed in among many.

[drjim]

Baseball s Olbermann's favorite sport and Gardenhire's firing requires him to comment.  Olbermann rants because he needs ratings.  People won't watch a bland, balanced, middle-of-the-road TV show--they require entertainment to keep watching.  When people tire of Olbermann's act--he will be fired for the third time.

 

I doubt he lasts another year. People like rants but too much with no balance wears you out.

[nicksaviking]

I doubt he lasts another year. People like rants but too much with no balance wears you out.

 

I don't know, somehow the guys yelling the opposite yet equally or more extreme rubbish keep their shows for decades.