Tony Kornheiser Should Probably Take A Deep Breath

Something that has surprised us — but probably shouldn't have — about the aftermath of Tony Kornheiser's debut on "Monday Night Football" has been his reaction to (relatively small) criticism of his performance. For a guy who, being in the media, should be used to all this, he's lashing out a lot. He went after Mike Golic — who, to be fair, pretty much deserves whatever he gets — on Dan Patrick's radio station yesterday, and in today's Washington Post, he talked about throwing up on "that putz in Style" who gave him a bad review in Tuesday's paper. The "putz," Paul Fahri, responded (kind of) to Kornheiser's criticism.

"A couple of my colleagues have said, 'Ooh, look out for Kornheiser, he's going to be mad at you,'" says Farhi. "He's a big boy. He can take it."

Farhi also told Kornheiser that he should think about "getting a tan," which is a strange thing to say about a guy who just won a battle with skin cancer. But the point remains: Considering most people — us included — very much enjoyed Kornheiser and have said so publicly, why does he seem so thin-skinned?

Perhaps the tale of Slate's Stephen Rodrick can be illustrative. Rodrick wrote a column in early 2005 criticizing print journalists for cashing in from ESPN and getting lazy, a column that at the time seemed scandalous but now seems, frankly, obvious. Kornheiser, at the time, exploded on Rodrick, calling for his firing on his radio show. (Rodrick wasn't even that hard on Kornheiser, saving most of his vitriol for Stephen A. Smith.) Remember, too, Kornheiser's one-sided feud with Chuck Klosterman late last year.

Listen, Tony: We like you. We really like you. Relax.

Whaddya Mean, Don't Quit My Day Job? [Washington Post] Farhi Scores Clean Tackle [CJR Daily]