Courtesy the Washington Post

(September 3, 2010) By this point, most of you surely have your own opinions about Rob Dibble's hiring and subsequent firing by the Nats. His fitness as a broadcaster has been one of the biggest online Nats debates for more than a year, which is why many of you, I'm sure, would prefer I never mention his name again.

Regardless, the Dibble reviewers -- both positive and negative -- felt like a pretty small club up until the time he got fired. And then the national voices chimed in. Here's just a sample of the national ESPN voices who expressed an opinion on Dibble's ouster this week.

Tony Kornheiser: Ok, Dibble was wrong, Strasburg needs Tommy John surgery, but Dibble was a terrific broadcaster: passionate, insightful, and a hundred percent for the Nats. They should not have fired him.

Michael Wilbon: He can't possibly be out of work for long, right? That passion comes through. People like to hear Rob Dibble.

Colin Cowherd: This Rob Dibble thing really bothers me, and I'll tell you why....I think radio is raw. I think when radio is at its best, its uncomfortable. If you're not getting hate mail, get out of the business and go sell Hallmark cards. This is an uncomfortable business....What Rob Dibble said on his SIRIUS XM radio show, it wasn't even during a Nationals broadcast, to show you how thin-skinned they were. He was talking about Stephen Strasburg, who lets be honest, the guy's been babied. The guy had some very if not nebulous, kind of abstract injuries - stiffness, inflammation - little abstract. He didn't pull a muscle. Kind of unspecific, vague, abstract stuff....

More Cowherd: What Dibble said in the moment, with the information he had was -- we're kind of babying this guy -- [was] the way a lot of people felt. That was completely legal and completely accurate. Now you go back and say ok we did an examination, and this and that. That's not fair. That's like your wife holding something against you you said three years ago. I just don't buy that. I don't think his comments are controversial at all. and by the way, if you hire Rob Dibble, that's what you get. You get strong opinions. If you can't handle it, hire somebody who's boring. You know what I mean? Buyer beware with Rob Dibble. Buyer beware with Rush Limbaugh. Buyer beware with Stern. Don't hire 'em if you're gonna watch every word they say."

Mike Greenberg: I would just say this, if you don't want Rob Dibble, don't hire rob Dibble. It just doesn't make any sense to me. You've just fired Rob Dibble for being Rob Dibble.

Mike Golic: That's him, you knew what you had with him, and you got rid of him. I'm with you. I would agree with you.

Greenberg: Obviously when you then find out [Strasburg's] seriously hurt, it looks terrible, it comes out looking terrible, but the reality is...you're shocked to find out that Rob Dibble is outrageous? You're shocked to find out he's gonna make statements that make people uncomfortable sometimes, you're shocked to find out that he's a little wild?...Whether he's the best commentator or the worst commentator, you just fired Rob Dibble for being Rob Dibble, and that's the part of it I don't understand.

Mark Schlereth: You're absolutely right, he's being Rob Dibble. But don't forget that they nurtured Strasburg along in the minors, then they came out and he had shoulder stiffness in one outing in the bullpen and oh, we'll shut him down, we can't have him go out there, and somebody had to make a spot start for him on his behalf, so it's not like there wasn't some things that led up to this.

Golic: That's the thing, the Nationals, they hired him. You know what Rob Dibble is like. He's gonna tell you what he think, and sometimes you may like it, and sometimes you may not like it. You're right, they fired Rob Dibble for being Rob Dibble.

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