If you were confused about the timing of Stephen A. Smith staring his own blog, be bewildered no longer: At long last, the Philadelphia Inquirer has officially ended its relationship with Stephen A..

Stephen A. hasn't written for the paper since August, when the paper dropped him to a "general assignment" reporter, a position he obviously wasn't going to accept. There have been rumors of a lawsuit, but Stephen A. wasn't talking yesterday.

But the days of typing out newspaper columns on a Blackberry are over. He is now, just like all of us, merely a blogger. We hope ESPN starts showing his URL below his name.

Inquirer Fires Stephen A. Smith [Philly.com]

Contact information for this author is not available.