Fan: Keith Olbermann

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I've been a fan of Keith's since the late 1980s, when he was a sportscaster on KTLA TV 5 in Los Angeles.  The first time I watched him give his smart-aleck summary of the day's sports, he immediately became my favorite local sportscaster.  That the anchor would look at Keith at the end of his segment like Keith had two heads just made me like Keith even more.  I was happy that he left KTLA for KCBS, then KNTX, which was a sign that he was moving up in the world.

When I moved out of L.A., I moved away from Keith.  During my first marriage, I didn't have cable TV in the house, so I didn't get to see Keith's arrival on the national stage. Only after the divorce did I get cable, and was able to see Keith replace Phil Donahue on MSNBC.  Back then, Countdown was just a snarky news show, not the political force that it would become later.  As Keith became more political, I became more of a fan, not less of one.  I had already started drifting to the left after the divorce and the election of George W. Bush, so his views and mine were already in synch.

I was sad to see Keith leave MSNBC, but glad to hear he would be back on Current TV.  My wife is as big a Keith fan as I am, and we switched providers from WOW to Direct TV just so we could watch him again.  His show on Current TV debuts tonight.  My wife has already programmed the DVR, so we can watch it when I get home.  I had hardly wait!