Jay Mariotti writes online. With comments enabled. This can only be good...

Former Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti has returned to us as a superhero from a near, but distant future in which newspapers are obsolete. Mariotti made his AOL Sports debut today and spewed from the mouth as if he was the original hero of sports journalism.

To wit: A week into the Olympics, I was inside The Water Cube That Phelps Built when a voice-mail popped in. It was from the sports editor of the ailing Chicago Sun-Times, asking me to accommodate the newspaper's Paleozoic-era deadlines by doing something the readers wouldn't appreciate. He wanted me to write one column that had Michael Phelps winning that day's race and another column that had him losing. Both would be filed long before the event, which, in some quarters, would be considered an editorial directive to cook up fiction.

I would insert blanks for the finishing times, which a copy editor would fill in, and the bulk would be a lot of jibber-jabber that worked regardless of the result. The editors would decide which column ran based on the outcome. In other words, processed lunch meat for your 50 cents -- and it wasn't the first time. I usually just dealt with these hideous requests. This time, I balked.

It looks as if Mariotti took a page from the Eric Gordon media playbook. Let's break yesterday's news tomorrow and see who cares about it. The former Sun-Times blowhard who once believed it would be a good idea to trade Kerry Wood (the Cubs' only productive pitcher at the time) for Ivan Rodriguez (who by that time was probably coming off the juice) continues to wear out the keys on his laptop with more from his hallucination:

Then I looked across the table. Sitting there, relaxed and ready for action, were staff writers from a leading sports Web site. The columnist was flanked by the Phelps beat writer, and, nearby, an editor was leading the coverage. They had the luxury of analyzing the race, reporting afterward, waiting for the news conference, then writing the hell out of the biggest sports story of 2008. By no coincidence, several top national sites, including AOL Sports, all were read by staggering numbers of eyeballs during the Olympics.

It occurred to me, then and there, that this is why so many print stragglers are wheezing -- and why Internet sites such as the one you're reading constitute the new media mainstream and business model. Failing newspapers are a victim of their own stubbornness, stupidity and lack of foresight in moving their news initiatives to the digital world.

Finally, the joker known as Jay firmly plants his lips on the behind of the Trib just in case all the web servers in the world crash at the same time.

The large paper in Chicago, the Tribune, started a digital transition years ago and gave itself a chance. The Sun-Times? The owners became jailbirds, preferring to siphon profits rather than invest in the future.

And while AOL's only redeeming quality is its AOL Instant Messanger feature, the former online titan has attracted one more reader. If only to read the "Mariotti sucks!!!1!!!@!!" comments.

Mariotti Madness

The madness that surrounds former Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti is not over.

The blogosphere (understandably) is still in celebration mode now that Public Enemy No. 1 is moving on. Hell, it's not just the blogosphere, everyone's joining in on the celebration.

Hell, even Mariotti's former employers are getting their digs in. Former colleague Chris De Luca dropped this barb on the newly departed former columnist.

"Word of Jay Mariotti's split with the Chicago Sun-Times reached the White Sox' clubhouse minutes after their victory Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, and the reaction could be heard outside.

Once again, Mariotti should've been there to witness it first-hand.

Ozzie Guillen -- the top target of the venom-spewing columnist who called for the Sox to fire their manager this season despite the team being in first place -- said his e-mail inbox had a record number of new arrivals by Wednesday afternoon."

And don't think it's just his former cohorts that are getting at him, it looks like his one friend in the industry, Sun-Times E.I.C. Michael Cooke is getting his cuts in, too.

"We wish Jay well and will miss him -- not personally, of course -- but in the sense of noticing he is no longer here, at least for a few days."

Those are all sharp shots directed at Mariotti, who by the looks of this story, did his stories from his mother's basement. Maybe blogging is right for him after all.

The blogosphere is getting their shots in too:

(The Chicago Tribune's Jim) Kirk reports that Mariotti is talking with “a lot of Web sites.” And that when he e-mailed in his resignation to Sun Times editor Michael Cooke that Cooke replied, “You kidding?”

Then, I’m sure he pulled a hamstring jumping for fucking joy to be rid of the prima donna dipshit. [Desipio.com]

We finally got it done. Sort of. Not really. He's probably just taking some time off to write a shitty book and moving to Sports Illustrated or something. [Fire Jay Mariotti]

How about this from former colleague (and enemy?) Rick Telander, via The Big Lead:

"There were celebrations in the White Sox locker room that was described to me as being like the final game of the 2005 World Series. At our own paper, people were high-fiving. In press boxes, people were high-fiving. I called the paper and the first thing someone said to me was ‘ding-dong the witch is dead’. I am not selecting people that just didn’t like Marriotti. I am talking about this as a professional matter as someone who could undermine so much that can’t even believe it.”

But wait, there's more. Are you ready for the buried lead? Via Deadspin:

According to two reliable sources, Mariotti, just back from Beijing, wanted to write a column on Barack Obama. But it wasn't Jay's turn to write — it was Rick Telander's — and Telander also wanted to write on Obama .... Sun-Times says no, Jay, wait your turn.

...

And so Mariotti, showing the maturity he's famous for, calmly assessed the situation and figured he was not going to let it bother him. Just kidding! He threw a fit worthy of a three-year-old.

Again, I revert to my first days at my current employer, the Daily Egyptian.

When I first got to the DE, I wanted to big as soon as I stepped into that newsroom. And to be honest, there's nothing wrong with that. If you don't wanna be great at something you love, you obviously don't love it. But I knew that I had to wait my turn, and I made the most of it.

In closing, I sit here at the DE making minimum wage because I love writing for a newspaper and hope to write sports (in whatever forum) when I graduate. And Jay Mariotti expects to make seven figures off a blog.

Wait. Bloggers get paid?

When did I miss the memo?

This, from the White Sox today.

BREAKING: Jay Mariotti resigns and what that means to you and me

Look, it's 2:40 a.m. and I should be sleeping.

But this is when I do the Daily Dosage. I Google search beautiful girls, recap the Cubs and Sox games and find cool links for you people to read.

No, this site doesn't get much pub other than the people that get the links on Facebook, know me personally or know my work through a friend or a co-worker.

So I usually don't break news this early in the morning but I must...

Jay Mariotti is out at the Chicago Sun-Times, via resignation.

Why wait until the World Wide Leader covers it? Why wait 'til one of the big-time sports blogs cover it? I say do it now because dad gum it, I'm a blogger whose focus has been on Chicago sports since I came out the womb.

Anyway, on with the news of the day.

Mariotti's out. This from the Sun-Times:

Sports columnist Jay Mariotti has left the Chicago Sun-Times to pursue other opportunities. Mariotti, also a regular panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn," joined the Sun-Times in 1991.

But wait, I could have sworn Mariotti just re-upped with The Bright One...that's right he did...in June.

This from the Chicago Tribune:

He said that he "is talking with a lot of Web sites'' and added that the future of his business "sadly is not in newspapers.''

Do you know what this means people?

Put your hatred aside and think about it. The most polarizing force in Chicago sports media is talking with Web sites and not with newspapers.

Think about it.

Everyday we talk about the dying media that is newspapers. And by "we" I mean everyone at the Daily Egyptian, professors in the journalism department and my friends and family.

If a character like Jay Mariotti needs to hit the Web to get across, people like myself are fucked. And you might think I'm going off the deep end. But we (those of us in the sports journalism) are fucked!

The business is no longer in newspapers? That's all I've wanted to do with my life since I was young.

But wait, there's more:

"I'm a competitor and I get the sense this marketplace doesn't compete,'' he said. "Everyone is hanging on for dear life at both papers. I think probably the days of high stakes competition in Chicago are over.

"To see what's happened in this business...I don't want to go down with it.''

Since I was a kid I've always wanted to be a sports journalist. All I've ever wanted to do is write sports in my hometown (Chicago). Harry Caray, the great Cubs announcer and my idol, told me that one day I'd make it.

He was probably drunk. Or maybe he had an eye on the blondes behind me in search of his "autograph." The point is that I was young and impressionable, and I'll be damned if I don't fulfill the prophecy given to me by my idol.

The worst news (AND THE BURIED LEAD) is that Chicago is going to become a one newspaper town. Everyone suffers when there's no competition. When there's no competition, you tend to become complacent. You settle for less than your best. I, for one, will NOT stand for mediocre sports journalism!

Currently, I'm Assistant Sports Editor at the Daily Egyptian, the student newspaper of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and you can ask anyone that has known me since I was a freshman at SIUC, my goal from day one was to work on the DE's sports desk.

And it's been four years in the making but I'm finally here. And believe me, it was worth waiting the four "next year's" to be here.

If it wasn't for Sean McGahan, who was the managing editor when he recruited me even though he couldn't guarantee me a spot on the sports desk, and Jeff Engelhardt (our incoming hoops expert) who gave me my first shot at the DE sports desk, I wouldn't be where I am today.

So while I realize that blog commenters and critics will rejoice and pop a bottle like they were members of the 1972 Dolphins, realize that the face of sports journalism is changing.

And that's why I'm here. Check it. That's why we're here at The Big Dead Sidebar, and elsewhere.

I realize now I've gone off course, but understand the idea that the newspaper industry is slumping and when a top columnist (love him or hate him) resigns to take opportunities elsewhere because what he's doing "is not with newspapers," bothers me.

If you're a sports journalist out there, it should bother you too.