Jay Mariotti resigns

Well, that's flat out wrong.
I've never lived in Chicago, don't live and die with ESPN and you can take all the time I've watched ATH and Beej would have a damn long romp (for him).

 

Read it again, slappy.
Are you not in the newspaper business?

 

Amen, Mustang, amen.

 

you know, the timing of this does blow, after two weeks on the company's dime in beijing, but if the guy had a revelation -- one that changed him somehow -- and it's legit, more power to him.

in all likelihood, though, he got a better offer from somewhere (espn, sportsline) and has a non-compete to sit out.

dislike the guy all you want, but everyone has to admit this one thing: he is a workhorse who churns out copy.

 

This shit, along with the sebaticle of Dan LeBatard, kills me. These two pampered, pompous balls of puss are (were) sports columnists at major metropolitan newspapers. They got to travel the world and write about whatever they wanted. They had the run of the mill, the world in the palms of their hands, and they had to quit because they weren't satisfied? Give me an f'in break.

Mariotti went to Beijing to cover the Olympics and had a bad time, things didn't go exactly the way he wanted, weren't enough colleagues there to stroke his ego? Give me an f'in break. Take an hour-and-a-half road trip to cover your local prep football team, then travel back to the office and have to write a gamer and layout the section in two hours and then tell me life sucks.

He got to witness, and write about, some of the most amazing things that ever have ocurred in sports (Phelps, Bolt, etc.), and he got to do it in a place on the globe most people can't even visit. He got to experience one of the oldest and long-lasting cultures in the history of mankind, and he comes back unsatisfied? That makes me sick.

And this shit about not wanting to drown with the sinking ship that is newspapers? Well, I guess the rats are the first jump ship. How about manning up and championing the industry's cause? No, that might be something someone noble would do.

A slew of people are struggling to meet day-to-day needs in our profession, and he was working from the mountain top, and it wasn't enough for him.

I used to have a modicum of respect for him because, according to Tony Reali, he once read a column of mine, enjoyed it and passed it along to Reali, and it was discussed in an off-hand way on ATH. Now I hope he ends up writing blogs for the Afgahnistan national soccer team.

Geesh, give me a break. Where's the perspective?

 

he's not the first to jump ship, and at this point, i don't blame him. he's seen too many others get shoved off not to wanna jump off and swim to shore on his own.

bully for him getting out before beancounters decided he was next.

 

Who?

 

I agree to an extent, but didn't he just re-sign a new contract?

I'm sure he has enough jack that even if the bean counters decided it was time for him to go, he wouldn't struggle while looking for a new gig. Again, like it or not, he was at the top of our profession, so he would have been one of the last to go.

And his claims of there being no competition left in Chicago is way out of perspective. How many two-paper cities are there left?

 

his comments were directed at the newspaper industry, not at the chicago situation. it was an elitist comment, spoken of someone who refuses to let the fat and happy days go, but it was a damn good point: the business is dead, and you can thank the men running the show.

 

Can't argue that. The leaders in our business have failed us miserably.

 

He just signed an extension this year through 2011. How many newspaper people have that much security? Between Bob Novack and Marriotti, the Sun-Times will be a less grumpy place.

 

A lot of people return from the Olympics disenchanted, exhausted, ready to kill their editors and in need of a good stiff something. But I seriously doubt Jay had his epiphany in Beijing. If so, good for him, because it's always nice when we can toss away the bad karma and start over.
And think of it this way: his salary could save three jobs, if the Sun Times is so inclined. Or maybe they'll hire another columnist! :