One of these days, the Chicago police are going to find Mariotti's body in a back alley outside US Cellular. I don't envy them the task of whittling down the suspect list.

the difference between Chicago and New York is that Chicago has only one axhoal sportswriter in town baiting the teams with pseudoslander in the lean, tense times.

What a putz.

I really hate this prick. Whatever I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies, I wish on him. Nothing could ever make me feel sorry for him. He deserves it all.

"When I'm being critical of our writers, it's to try to unify."

Unified in that they want to use you as fish chow?

Isn't that a real "Dog Bites Man" headline?

Here is some video, but not thee video.

it is an interview of Rick Telander. Telander has some great things to say about the industry if you listen to the whole thing.
If not, Maridiot comes on at about the 3:30 mark.

interesting: From about the 10:00 minute mark on, Telander pretty much calls Maridiot to the mat, as if to a fight ..

.. "Lets get it on!" .. "What are you gonna do, call a lawyer? .. I used play football, ya know!!" :)

One of these days, the Chicago police are going to find Mariotti's body in a back alley outside U.S. Cellular. I don't envy them the task of whittling down the suspect list.

Who's to say the body won't be found outside the Sun-Times building...alongside the body of the person who just extended his contract?

If Dave Kingman had sent Mariotti a dead rat, few would have objected.

Who is this Mariotti guy?

Telander would kick the crap out of Jay if he could get the little ##### to actually fight.

I had the honor of getting in Mariotti's face one on one and he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Thee are a few writers who seem to have made a career decision to want to get on your last nerve: CHB, Lupica, Simers. But Mariotti tops them all, IMO.

I don't even live in Chicago and the little I've read of Jay Mariotti makes Bill Plaschke look like a Pulitzer Prize winner by comparison.

The funny thing is, when Mariotti isn't talking about baseball, he's really not as bad as this. Somehow baseball brings out the worst in him. Not that he's Frank Deford or somebody when he's talking about basketball, but he's not consistently rock-bottom abysmal.

I don't even live in Chicago and the little I've read of Jay Mariotti makes Bill Plaschke look like a Pulitzer Prize winner by comparison.

Every now and then Plaschke will actually sit down an write an article that's not being driven by an ulterior agenda- those articles actually are not bad.

If Mariotti ever actually writes an article that doesn't blow chunks- it doesn't get linked here...

This is a fellow who needs to examine the newspaper business, where it is right now, where the Sun-Times is in this market and maybe get his act into gear and help us win this battle


SteveM, I'm afraid you buried the lead. This quote form Mariotti about Telander is the real insight in the piece. Mariotti sees his role as rock-thrower in a street fight for readership. He wants all his fellow columnists on the same page. Judging by how he is treated, it appears Mariotti is on the same page with his bosses.

I guess this strategy may work in the short run, but without the steak, all the sizzle in the world won't lead to long-term success. There's a reason the circus is in town only one week a year, and baseball sells out for six months.