Jay Mariotti Is Heading Back To Chicago

It was almost a year ago that Jay Mariotti resigned from his position at the Chicago Sun-Times. In the meantime, Jay has tried his hand at blogging and continued his appearances on "Around The Horn". You would have thought that those jobs were enough, but apparently Mariotti hasn't annoyed the city of Chicago enough in his mind. Mariotti is officially heading to the Chicago Tribune this September. Sports by Brooks has the scoop....

I’ve learned that effective September 1, Mariotti will join the Tribune as a weekly columnist - this the same man who spent nearly two decades mocking the same venerable daily which now extends him a byline. I do expect a seamless transition period though, considering the Trib set up Mariotti’s inbox long ago. (Uh, Jay, I thought ‘newspapers were dying‘?)

Mariotti’s contractual non-compete clause with the Sun-Times officially expires at the end of August, one year after he quit his position. So you can expect his ink-jetted invective to begin emanating from the Tribune in September.

It’s an interesting hire, considering Mariotti and the Tribune have very different motives with the move. The Tribune is bringing in Mariotti to fight off the startlingly advance of ESPN into the Chicago sports media marketplace. (Ironically, Mariotti also happens to be a prominent employee of ESPN.)

I'm sorry Chicago. I know how you must feel right now, and I can't sympathize with you enough. It's like a patient being told that he/she has beat Cancer, but now they've gone into remission, and it has returned. You can fully expect Mariotti to use this position to trash the Sun-Times, every chance he gets. Good times.

Official: Jay Mariotti Moving To Tribune On Sept. 1 (Sports by Brooks)