The raging inferno that is Keith Olbermann's feud with Mike Francesa and the rest of WFAN radio and the New York local sports scene went into its third day on Thursday.  In the words of the great Jim Ross, business has been picked up!

When last we left this delectable duel, the sports pope had finally entered the fray with a backhanded takedown of the ESPN2 host including these bazooka shots:

"I think he is kinda lost, what is this his 8th job in the last 5 years?"

"When I went head to head against Olbermann it was ugly.  The ratings were ugly."

"Olbermann is just a jerk… we used to bury those guys in the ratings."

Keith Olbermann needs a protagonist to make him and his television persona work to its maximum capabilities.  Mike Francesa is his new George W. Bush.  The only thing missing is KO derisively calling him "Mr. Francesa."  Make no mistake, Olbermann is going to get the last word in, whether that happens this week, this month, or April 2024.  Heck, he was advertising #FrancesaWorstPersons on his Twitter page to get viewers to turn in to see him verbally annihilate Mikey.  He lives for this!

Last night on Olbermann, KO came with his full arsenal.  As fans of all of this insanity, this was our "this is awesome (clap clap clap clap clap)" moment…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_gKDgRohxaY?end=150

Yes, Keith Olbermann called Mike Francesa "Christopher Russo's sidekick."  Russo's sidekick!!!  We've been gleefully covering media feuds and Twitter Wars for a couple years now and that may be my favorite single moment from them all.

However, Olbermann does lose points for his terrible Mike Francesa imitation that sounds more like this and not any New York radio hosts.  Leave that to the professionals, Keith.

In the midst of all of this, noted curmudgeon and get-off-my-lawner Phil Mushnick of the New York Post did a run-in with a steel chair.  And in a stunning turn of events, he didn't go after longtime nemesis Mike Francesa who he's called a bully amongst other negative things.  No, he cold cocked Olbermann…

"While transient big-shot Keith Olbermann, back with ESPN, continues to regard himself as far above the fray, he’s right down there in the slop. He’s another sucker-shot, insult artist who can’t take the slightest poke in return. A bully.

And it was Olbermann’s great sense of great self-regard — Olbermann is Olbermann’s favorite topic — that this week sent him into an anti-Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason spew. They, too, had the gall to note, vis-a-vis the Richie Incognito story, that Olbermann also has a track record for an inability to play nicely with teammates.

Olbermann never misses a word written or spoken about him, then makes his public judgments on people based only on what they said or wrote about him. It’s the mark of the megalomaniac!"

Even though we don't exactly endorse Phil Mushnick's antiquated commentary all the time, you have to give him props for the use of the word "megalomaniac," which is one of the most underutilized words we have in the English language.  Also, as we've seen during the last few days, Olbermann craves the attention this feud is providing.

With this round approaching the rarefied air of the 9th round of Gatti-Ward I, Boomer and Carton were back at it this morning with Craig Carton basically putting Olbermann's career in the grave and doing everything but delivering the eulogy.  Again, tip of the cap to EliisElite for the audio…

I'm starting to worry a bit about Olbermann's positioning in this feud as he's now fighting a battle that's currently 4 on 1.  Doesn't anyone at ESPN want to publicly stand up in Keith Olbermann's defense?  I mean, it doesn't help that he's banned from Bristol in bringing people to his defense.  But still, can't Jason Whitlock or Colin Cowherd at least just take one shot at Mike Francesa to even the ledger a bit?

Olbermann's rant aimed at Francesa was the highlight so far, but the numbers game is catching up to him.  Francesa may try to dismiss Olbermann after getting in his shot and try to appear as the bigger man.  In this battle that's about ego more than anything, just stopping out of some sense of grand self-importance to not lower yourself to the level of your fellow pugilist could be a decisive winning blow.  I'm scoring this round an even 10-10 with the total score 39-38 in favor of WFAN.

Will we see a Round 5?

Earlier:

Round 3 – Francesa fires back at Olbermann

Round 2 – Carton v Olbermann II

Round 1 – Olbermann blasts Boomer & Carton