Results tagged “ricktelander”

Finally. Someone from one of the two major newspaper in town has come out as opposed to the city's 2016 Olympic bid and it happens to be one of the higher profile sports writers. Of course, we've expressed our qualms about the bid here and The Reader's Ben Joravsky has also been all over the bid and the TIF entanglement therein. But it seems with the Parking Meter Debacle continuing, Telander has had enough.

If there's one things Cubs can get excited about this Spring, it's the emergence of Ryan Theriot as a power force to be reckoned with. As of today, Theriot is tied for second on the team with five homers and 17 RBIs, plus he boasts a .297 avg, a .372 slugging, and he is tied for first on the team with 38 hits. All five home runs this season have come in May and he only hit one all of last year. But at least one Chicago sportswriter is murmuring with concern.

Rick Telander visited the On the DL Podcast this week in an outstanding interview. We've always been partial to Telander as far as the Sun-Times' sports writers go, and the interview just further cements his status. Listen to what he has to say about working with Mariotti and running into him in a sauna by clicking here [MP3]. We also loved this segment [MP3] on the Cubs' playoff flame-out. Hell, the entire interview is worth checking out, so get clicking. [via Awful Announcing]

At the risk of turning into Mariottist, we couldn't pass up this story. Last week, Mariotti wrote to Michael Miner at The Reader in response to Miner's post regarding Mariotti's alleged deal with the Trib falling through. During that response, Mariotti had this to say about former co-worker and fellow S-T columnist Rick Telander:

I feel sorry for these people you quote. They need to get a grip, do their work, break some stories and concentrate on writing good sports columns. Who cares about me? I could spot Rick Telander 890 words of Rick Reilly, and he still wouldn't write a relevant 900-word column. He's a bitter old man stuck in 1973.

Now that the euphoria of Mariotti's resignation has faded a bit and we're basking in that lovely afterglow, one question keeps gnawing at us: why did Jay leave? Sure, we know he said he's gonna sell his soul to the interwebs now, but...really? Mariotti had just secured employment with the S-T through 2011, the S-T is not undergoing a bloody purge a la the Trib, the Sox and Cubs playoff chances were sure to be a boon for his rantings, and his side-job at ESPN has to be bringing in decent bank. So why jump ship when everything is looking okay? We just don't fully buy the interwebs argument.

Ozzie Guillen hates Jay Mariotti. Jerry Reinsdorf hates Mariotti. Andy MacPhail hates Mariotti. Dan McNeil has gone head-to-head with Jay. Charles Barkley has called Mariotti "a loser." Everyone at JayTheJoke.com certainly hates Jay Mariotti. Now it seems that even Jay's co-workers are hatin' on Jay - and you probably would too if he called you his "soft colleagues," who "fear Guillen's wrath, enjoy how he rips me, work for one of the Reinsdorf-controlled broadcast outlets or are afraid of getting on the chairman's bad side." Even worse, "I ignore what they write and say about Guillen, and I'd advise any reasonable person to do the same." Oh, snap.