Shortly after 9PM, I learned that Keith Olbermann had done his last show with MSNBC. At first, I was in denial. Without knowing the details, I figured he wouldn’t be gone long, as was the case when he was suspended in November. But there won’t be a reprieve for him this time. This is really the end.
It came as swiftly as my end came at WCWP last August. On a Wednesday afternoon, August 4, hours before going on the Spirit of New York’s Smooth Cruise, it was Rick Braun and Richard Elliot that week, I got an e-mail that stopped me in my tracks. Long story short, six days later, I wrote the following:
Effective immediately, I am stepping aside from “Evening Jazz” on 88.1 WCWP. I wish the best of luck to those involved with the format. It was a privilege to be on board for the first seven months. It was equally an honor to be considered as a host when the format was proposed a year ago.
I stand by what I said then. I will admit that I’ve had bitter moments since the decision. No one likes to step away from something they love, but that’s the business of media. I wouldn’t have been part of “Evening Jazz” had it not been for Martin Phillips, who I trust has done a fine job in my place.
There is one glaring difference between Olby and me: I didn’t use my show to lob personal attacks at my competition or people I disagreed with politically. For that, I did not like Keith, after loving his work at ESPN and Fox Sports earlier in his career. I’ll never forget how listening to the audiobook for The Big Show by Keith and Dan Patrick got me and my family through the car ride to Florida in December 1997, or how listening to the same audiobook got me through an hours-long power outage in September 1998 (though not days long like last March’s Nor’easter). That made it hard for me to suddenly dislike him beginning in 2006 when he took liberal blog-inspired shots at Bill O’Reilly. Then, I discovered Olbermann Watch, where Keith’s misinformation and embellishments were questioned and debunked. It dulled the pain of the personal attacks, unless I witnessed them while recapping segments for the site.
To the chagrin of his fans, to recap what I said at the top of this post, tonight was the end of the line for Keith Olbermann at MSNBC. You can watch his farewell here.
I don’t know where either of us will end up next, but for my sake, there must be some place out there for me. I hope I don’t regret posting this.
The End of an Error?
A few words about Keith Olbermann, possibly the biggest, loudest Fox hater on any news channel. We first dealt with Olby back in 2004, and still recall how his behavior then served as a template for so many smears that were yet to come. It was one of Olby’s trademark O’Reilly attacks, and this one was about ratings: …
1/24 UPDATE: The Olbermann reportage carried over to today, as documented at J$P. Included in the links is this video:
Despite Keith’s departure from MSNBC, Bill O’Reilly still won’t mention his name on the air, as we saw tonight on The O’Reilly Factor in the Weekdays with Bernie [Goldberg] segment. Jeff Poor elaborated on that move at The Daily Caller. It’s a good move because Olbermann still has Twitter to snipe back on and rally his base. The new #FOK, or “Friends of Keith,” hashtag is one way that base is rallying.
Jay Rowe is hosting his 9th annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert on Saturday, April 30, in his hometown, Milford, Connecticut. The concert will be 8PM at the Parsons Complex Auditorium. It’s located at 70 W. River St., Milford, CT 06460.
On Friday, April 29, one night before the main show, there will be a jam session at the Daniel Street club. (6/22/12 UPDATE: Daniel Street closed in January.) The 8PM jam session will feature Steve Cole and Jeff Kashiwa. Tickets are $20.
To purchase tickets, send a check or money order made payable to Smooth Jazz for Scholars Inc. to:
P.O. Box 3723
Milford, CT 06460
I received an e-mail today from Team WordPress and the Stats Helper Monkeys. They gave me the option of posting the stats in the e-mail to The Mike Chimeri Blog. I chose to do that:
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 8,800 times in 2010. That’s about 21 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 37 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 180 posts. There were 1039 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 6gb. That’s about 3 pictures per day.
The busiest day of the year was January 27th with 280 views. The most popular post that day was Bold & Fresh Tour at Westbury!.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were tesh.com, homepage.mac.com, facebook.com, olbermannwatch.com, and magicisland.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for joyce cooling, empty stage, ken navarro, john tesh radio show, and gib gerard.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
MikeChimeri.com 
Suddenly off the air: Olby and me January 21, 2011
Posted by Mike C. in Commentary, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Politics, Radio, TV.1 comment so far
Shortly after 9PM, I learned that Keith Olbermann had done his last show with MSNBC. At first, I was in denial. Without knowing the details, I figured he wouldn’t be gone long, as was the case when he was suspended in November. But there won’t be a reprieve for him this time. This is really the end.
It came as swiftly as my end came at WCWP last August. On a Wednesday afternoon, August 4, hours before going on the Spirit of New York’s Smooth Cruise, it was Rick Braun and Richard Elliot that week, I got an e-mail that stopped me in my tracks. Long story short, six days later, I wrote the following:
I stand by what I said then. I will admit that I’ve had bitter moments since the decision. No one likes to step away from something they love, but that’s the business of media. I wouldn’t have been part of “Evening Jazz” had it not been for Martin Phillips, who I trust has done a fine job in my place.
There is one glaring difference between Olby and me: I didn’t use my show to lob personal attacks at my competition or people I disagreed with politically. For that, I did not like Keith, after loving his work at ESPN and Fox Sports earlier in his career. I’ll never forget how listening to the audiobook for The Big Show by Keith and Dan Patrick got me and my family through the car ride to Florida in December 1997, or how listening to the same audiobook got me through an hours-long power outage in September 1998 (though not days long like last March’s Nor’easter). That made it hard for me to suddenly dislike him beginning in 2006 when he took liberal blog-inspired shots at Bill O’Reilly. Then, I discovered Olbermann Watch, where Keith’s misinformation and embellishments were questioned and debunked. It dulled the pain of the personal attacks, unless I witnessed them while recapping segments for the site.
To the chagrin of his fans, to recap what I said at the top of this post, tonight was the end of the line for Keith Olbermann at MSNBC. You can watch his farewell here.
I don’t know where either of us will end up next, but for my sake, there must be some place out there for me. I hope I don’t regret posting this.
11:32 PM UPDATE: Here’s a supportive tweet from Johnny Dollar:
I replied by thanking him for the support. Check out his site’s links for today. Since the announcement, it’s been Olbycentric.
1/22, 12:55 AM UPDATE: J$’s weekend thread has more Olbycentric links.
1/22, 5:39 PM UPDATE: The final Olbermann Watch post…for now.
1/23 UPDATE: J$’s Fox Haters Week in Review closed with a segment on Olbermann. Here’s a preview:
1/24 UPDATE: The Olbermann reportage carried over to today, as documented at J$P. Included in the links is this video:
From NewsBusters, it’s Keith Olbermann’s greatest hits.
Greg Gutfeld: Olby’s Exit.
Despite Keith’s departure from MSNBC, Bill O’Reilly still won’t mention his name on the air, as we saw tonight on The O’Reilly Factor in the Weekdays with Bernie [Goldberg] segment. Jeff Poor elaborated on that move at The Daily Caller. It’s a good move because Olbermann still has Twitter to snipe back on and rally his base. The new #FOK, or “Friends of Keith,” hashtag is one way that base is rallying.
1/25 UPDATE: Today’s round of links
The Red Eye version of Greg Gutfeld’s commentary (Gregalogue):
1/26 UPDATE: Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel replied to Goldberg today.
1/30 UPDATE: Phil Mushnick: The real reason Olbermann lost his show
Fox News Watch on Keith’s dismissal:
2/8 UPDATE: Keith is headed to Current TV. With that, attacks on everyone he disagrees with will resume.
2/9 UPDATE:
3/30/12 UPDATE: Keith Olbermann was fired by Current TV earlier today.
4/1/12 UPDATE: From Howard Kurtz: Keith Olbermann’s Angry Email Trail Traces Breakup With Current TV
4/2/12 UPDATE: John Gibson weighed in at the end of his Fox News Radio show this afternoon: