Mariotti's Comments Upset Some Colleagues At Sun-Times

Mariotti's Comments Upset Some Co-Workers At Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti has been "taking body blows from his own colleagues" at the newspaper, according to Teddy Greenstein of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Sun-Times Editor-In-Chief Michael Cooke "stepped in last week to symbolically separate Mariotti from fellow sports columnist Rick Telander, after Sun-Times editors refused to run columns Telander filed for the Wednesday and Friday papers." The conflict started after Mariotti last week wrote of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, "My soft colleagues either fear Guillen's wrath, enjoy how he rips me, work for one of the [White Sox Chair Jerry] Reinsdorf-controlled broadcast outlets or are afraid of getting on the chairman's bad side." Sun-Times baseball writer Chris De Luca responded in a column the next day: "The same critics who avoid ever stepping into the White Sox's clubhouse are calling the Chicago media soft for not skewering manager Ozzie Guillen." Sources said that Telander "also believed Mariotti had unfairly impugned his reputation and fired back in a Wednesday column that got spiked." The Sun-Times "explained to its readers in a box that Telander was taking the day off."  Telander wrote an "altered version for the Friday paper," but Cooke "stepped in and decided the piece would not run." Sources said that Telander "asked for an apology from Mariotti." Both Cooke and Telander declined to comment (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/10).