Mariotti's latest.... wow

I knew this site had to exist somewhere.

And no, I didn't start it, and I don't know who did, but whoever they are, God bless them. ;D

http://www.jaythejoke.com/blog.html

 

This is some funny shit. I'd love to find out who's doing it and why.

 

In his Chicago Tribune column Teddy Greenstein interviewed the guy behind the jaythejoke.com website.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...enstein,1,3540463.column?coll=cs-home-utility

 

First, Mitch Albom. Now Jay Mariotti. Two people disgracing our industry, and two of the biggest examples of columnists who now think they're bigger than their subjects of discussion.

I'd ask for both to take a bow, but their egos would cause both a hernia in the process.

 

I find it amusing that Donny Deutsch hauls in JT the Brick and John Rocker on his show to talk about Ozzie for an hour (and yeah, I agree with Ozzie and him about sensitivity training being a crock of shit and window dressing), but no one but us here on SportsJournalists.com are talking about the real underlying issue of Mariotti and his reasons for not going into the locker room, and his continuing penance of writing like a kid who had his glasses busted because he deserved it.

 

Oh pish-posh. Albom's ego busts out of his britches sometimes, and over the years, he's gotten way way way too comfortable with writing about things the way he'd like them to be, rather than the way they really are, but on the scale of personal reprehensibility, Albom is honorable-mention all-county, while Mariotti is an Olympic gold medalist, world-record-holder and first-ballot Hall of Famer.

And yes, I've met both of them. I met Albom before he became Mitch Albom, Superstar, and he seemed like an OK guy, if maybe a bit standoffish. Mariotti was nothing but an absolutely arrogant dick.

Albom's biggest fault is he always tries to make everyone happy. Mariotti always tries to make everyone miserable. At least in that respect, he is spectacularly successful.

I mean, I don't read him every day (my Pepto-Bismol budget won't accommodate it, plus I have some kind of life to lead), but can anybody ever remember, ever, a Mariotti column that was unequivocally positive?

Oh yeah yeah yeah, I know, after the Sox won the Series, and the Bulls won their titles, he wrote a couple of things that seemed superficially positive -- but they always had a few little pissy zingers buried down in the body graphs. "Yeah, sure, they won the world championship, but remember all the years they sucked? And they'll probably suck again next year."

 

Pish-posh?

 

Very valid points on Eddie and The Dwarf.. .I've met and talked to both of them when they first arrived in Detroit and you're right on target with both.
Think about this with Eddie: Those columns weren't (to me) as much superficially positive as much as bandwagon jumping -- albeit a fleeting ride...

Now, about pish-posh....

 

Here's a list of demands and crimes against poor Mr. Munster from yesterday's column... I feel so sorry for him because everyone is picking on him...

I have to chuckle at some people -- including some writers -- using this opportunity to blame me and tell lies about how I do my work. Would people like to explain what I've done here, other than my job? To cut through some of the b.s. I've been reading, hear this: I have nothing against locker rooms and clubhouses as long as they're civil. Again, if Guillen wants me to join his nightly OzFest charm sessions before games, he and Sox management will have to address and apologize for a history of threatening and unprofessional episodes. It's certainly not about fear. It's about dignity, couth, professionalism and a refusal to lower myself to laws made by jockdom.

One incident involved Guillen himself on a night in Baltimore when he stood naked behind me in the clubhouse and -- how do I put this? -- pretended to have sex with me. If that happens out on the street, he gets arrested for lewd behavior. A screaming Carl Everett, mean guy, confronted me outside the Sox' clubhouse last October. Oh, and before a playoff game, while I joined a live ESPN "SportsCenter'' segment on the field, Guillen yelled at me from the dugout, "Get off our field before I kick your ass!''

So, do you want me on your field, Ozzie, or do you not want me on your field? Can't have it both ways. I'm confused.

There have been incidents involving Frank Thomas and a bat he wanted to put up my butt "sideways.'' There was a disturbing 15-minute standoff with a screaming Tony Phillips. Aaron Rowand always yapped about wanting a piece of my hide. Hawk Harrelson blathers on in that drawl about some bird, and all it does is enflame fans who make threats on e-mail and voice mail.

 

Here is the biggest difference between the two in my mind: Albom has talent. Albom can write well and on more than a few occasions, he wrote something that I read and said to myself, "I wish I wrote that." (Like some of his dreams deferred pieces until his entire career became writing variations of dreams deferred). At no point have I ever read something by Mariotti where I wished I had written it or he gave me a new perspective on an issue.

Besides some of the obvious differences, I re-read some Royko last night and was struck by a big difference between Jackoff Jay and The Man. Jackoff Jay doesn't have the talent to approach an issue from any kind of creative direction. He just writes, "X is good," or "X is bad," until you want to yell, "Shut the fuck up, you unctous prick" and impale him with a javelin. Can anyone think of a column where Jackoff Jay approached the subject from anything other than a conventional straight-on "torpedoes be damned" method? Royko was the exact opposite. We've all heard the conventional arguments about the flag burning amendment. But Royko made his point by calling various police/fire chiefs across the nation and asking how many flag fires they had encountered. When we landed on the moon, he watched with a man who was born in 1875 and stayed in the background to let the man write the story for him. Jackoff Jay doesn't have the talent to do that, so he just shouts at the top of his lungs instead.

 

There are some legit comparisons between The Dwarf and Eddie Munster, but . . .

I've bashed Albom on this site as much as the next person, but I will say this--the man can write. I just don't particularly like the directions he's taken with his career [all the sappy shit] or the way he goes about his job. But at the core, the guy is a really good writer. I think even his detractors [and there are plenty, and rightfully so] would admit that.

Mariotti is not a good writer. Never was. Never will be. He's as one-trick pony as they get and his whinefest is becoming a national embarrassment to him and his paper. Don't get me wrong--I think Ozzie is wrong, too. The bottom line is that both are bullies, only different kinds.

And going back several pages, I agree with whitlock. there is a fundamental difference between Sports Reporters and ATH. SR still lends itself to actual intelligent commentary, whereas the other show is a shouting festival, and is set up that way.

 

My Brit friends assure me that the usual usage is "pish-tosh".

Carry on.