Deadspin: Chicago Tribune

Mariotti To Tribune Apparently Just A Matter Of When, Not If

Rick Chandler — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:30:46 EDT

Get ready Chicagoland, your Jay is back. Jay Mariotti to the Chicago Tribune! Let those words luxuriate on your tongue for a moment. At least that's the word according to two of our sources, one of whom is quite close to the situation. Tribune higher-ups — and by that I mean higher than the editorial department — are reportedly trying to figure a way to get around some no-compete contract clauses that would allow them to install Mariotti as a columnist on the print side. Already a done deal is Mariotti joining the Trib's web site. An announcement could come as early as Monday.

Says our tipster:

"I'm told that it's a matter of when, not if. It appears that Mariotti has a pretty strict non-compete clause, but they have lawyers working very hard to get around it. It is definitely being driven by the new regime, and not the newspaper people. Lee Abrams and Randy McMichael as the drivers, with no mention of Sam Zell, but that certainly doesn’t indicate he’s not involved. Word is that these guys want a provocative “shock jock” type as in radio (Abrams’s influence, apparently), and there is absolutely no regard for journalistic tenets, or Mariotti’s standing among colleagues and those he covers.

And then there's this from Chi-ball:

Sources told Chi-Ball something could happen by Monday on the Marriotti front. Interest in him is coming straight from the top, Sam Zell, Lee Abrams, etc., not from the people who are responsible for the day to day paper. They (Trib) are looking into his contract to see if there is any way he could be in the paper as well as on the internet. There are a lot of ticked off people about this, especially considering the Trib just trimmed 80 people. Now Marriotti is probably going to come in as a highly paid star.

This should get very interesting. The ball's in your court, Ozzie Guillen.

Sources: Decision On Mariotti Could Come Monday [Chi-ball]

Those Pesky Mariotti-To-Tribune Rumors Will Not Dissipate

Rick Chandler — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:30:21 EDT

Rumors continue to flutter over Chicago this afternoon concerning sensitive Around the Horn talking head Jay Mariotti and his possible move to the Chicago Tribune. A couple of sources close to the situation have emailed me and said that the Trib's editorial staff are taking the rumors seriously, and that "mass resignations" would result if Mariotti were to be hired on the print side of the operation.

From the Chi-ball blog, from which we linked this morning:

Sources tell Chi-ball that Jay Mariotti has had talks with the Chicago Tribune. Mariotti, can not write for another newspaper until his contract runs out with the Chicago Sun-Times. There is nothing however stopping the Trib from hiring the controversial Mariotti to be strictly an internet columnist. According to the source, this would not be a popular move within the Tribune staff .

Said one Deadspin emailer: "People at the Trib have heard this rumor just like the rest of us, and it has definitely been a cause for concern for the staff. I would say more people believe it to be true than not. ... Either this is being handled at a very high level (and/or is being compartmentalized as some sort of web-only deal) by one of the Zell-ots, or it isn’t happening at all. If it does in fact happen, expect resignations."

Just to add to the speculation, Rahula Strohl's sports media blog in the Tribune had this account of Monday's Around the Horn:

"Mariotti "won" the show and in his final face time, called himself "between newspaper jobs." Wait, didn't he say that newspapers were dead?

Earlier in the show Mariotti was discussing the Bears' upset of the Colts, and said: "Three Chicago teams in first place at once, that is shellshocking." Reali's reply: "Wish we had a writer who wrote in Chicago."

Mariotti To Tribune? [Chi-ball]

It's So Cute When Newspapers Fight Over The Cubs

rickchand — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:20:25 EDT

The Chicago Tribune hates the Chicago Sun-Times, and vice versa ... it's like Spy vs. Spy, only with the threat of layoffs. (For myself, it's hard to pick sides: One paper is owned by Sam Zell, the other employs Mariotti). This round goes to the Tribune, however, who secretly embedded an intern into the Sun-Times' video contest to save the Wrigley Field name, and won the whole thing. Boy was the Sun-Times mad when they found out.

The Chicago Sun-Times announced earlier today that Katie Hamilton, a 22-year-old college student, won its "Zell No" video contest. The newspaper says her entry "chastises [Tribune CEO Sam] Zell for pondering the sale of Wrigley Field's naming rights." What the paper didn't seem to realize was that Hamilton is an intern at the Chicago Tribune. Yes, that Tribune. The one that Zell owns.

The Tribune was doing quite a bit of crowing Wednesday night over their shenanigans, forgetting that they are still owned by Zell, who could convert the entire operation into a meat processing plant on the slightest whim.

Anyway, below is a submission I liked better. And I'm sure it would have won if the youngest kid's guitar had been plugged in.

Trib Takes Sun Times' Prize [Chicago Tribune]
Chicago Tribune Claims Win In Chicago Sun-Times Video Contest [USA Today]

Jay The Joke: For All Your Jay Mariotti Mocking Needs

Rick Chandler — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:30:48 EDT

For skewering of our friend Jay Mariotti, quite frankly, we like to think we take a back seat to no one. Well, excepting perhaps Jay the Joke, a new blog dedicated to, as they put it "uniting Cubs fans and Sox fans through a common hatred of Jay Mariotti." And in so doing, does this blog not unite us all? Of course we chronicled the existence of Jay the Joke last week, which helped prompt this mention in the Chicago Tribune, which is always good:

But as comprehensive as we've been on the Mariotti-Guillen story, Jay the Joke is still the only site in which you gain access by "clicking on Jay Mariotti's smug face." It is the only site with posts entitled "Guillen Apologizes to every Homosexual except Jay," and "In Which Jay Tries, Once Again, To Sit On Mark Cuban's Face." And in today's post, "Desperate Column From A Desperate Man," the author reports that Mariotti is turning to old Chicago sports standby Michael Jordan to salve his wounds.

Columnist Gets A Slow Roasting [Chicago Tribune]
Desperate Column From A Desperate Man [Jay The Joke]
The Manly, Manly Sports Reporters [Deadspin]