NBC Sports eagerly awaits Ed Olczyk's return: 'The seat is always open'
NBC/NBC Sports Network president and executive producer Sam Flood said the plan for analyst Ed Olczyk’s return to work is whatever Olczyk wants, or needs, it to be.
Olczyk, who announced he was battling colon cancer in early August, still has weeks of chemotherapy ahead of him. However, Flood recently visited him in Chicago and told him he can return when he wants and in whatever role he wants.
“The seat is always open,” Flood told Paste BN Sports. “And if he just wants to be in a confined space and be in a controlled environment, he can come in the studio any night he wants. If he wants to come to New York and be in the studio, he can do that, if he feels up for it.”
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Flood said Olczyk’s health comes first, but his “(NBC) family is always there to welcome him in to call games or be in a studio as an analyst if he wants that distraction.”
Mike Milbury will be Mike Emrick’s television partner on a temporary basis and has games scheduled through New Year’s Day. However, it’s possible Olczyk might not return to the booth until the playoffs.
NBC's plan for Milbury in the booth is purposely open-ended.
“I want him out of the booth as soon as possible,” Flood said, “because I want Eddie in the booth where he belongs.”