Jay Mariotti, one of the premier sports columnists in the country, did what he does best during a question-and-answer session with students at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications: speak his mind.

For nearly 80 minutes, the lead columnist at Chicago Sun-Times and commentator on ESPN’s ‘Around the Horn’ spoke Friday morning about all things sports, as well as highlights of his career.

He began the session by telling the crowded room that he considered attending Syracuse University.

‘I got in,’ he said. ‘I didn’t come, and I wish I had.’

Mariotti, who knew he wanted to be a writer at the age of 15, attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and has gone on to become a fixture on both the Chicago and national sports scenes.

During the Q&A session, Mariotti provided humor and insight to the crowd that came to see him.

He spoke about the June 2006 incident when Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen laid into Mariotti during one of his trademark tirades in front of the microphone. Guillen took exception to some of the content in Mariotti’s column and was ordered to undergo sensitivity training because of the incident.

‘Ozzie Guillen is a spicy guy,’ Mariotti said. ‘The back-story is the owner (Jerry Reinsdorf) and I don’t get along. And nor should we have to. … Right now in Chicago, if Ozzie started to complain about the media, nobody would care. They’d wonder why you’re in last place.’

Mariotti acknowledged that he has a great job and that working in Chicago is like nothing else.

‘A columnist is a unique role,’ Mariotti said. ‘And there is no town like Chicago, where sports is always on so many people’s minds.’

He also emphasized that columnists cannot fake their opinions in what they write just to get people’s motors going.

‘Never,’ he said. ‘Because people can see right through that. …You have to believe in what you’re saying.’

Mariotti, the longest-running columnist at a Chicago daily newspaper, let his feelings out of the cage about the long-running rumors of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban attempting to buy the Chicago Cubs. Cuban, who attended a Cubs game in September and sat in the infamous Wrigley Field bleachers, is pushing to buy the team, but inside rumors indicate that commissioner Bud Selig will not let him buy the franchise.

‘Guys like Selig and Reinsdorf want nothing to do with this guy,’ Mariotti said. ‘And I’m thinking, he’d be great for baseball. … And I think they’re afraid he’ll jump over the wall and argue with the umpires.’

Mariotti said he was not a fan of the way Oklahoma State University football coach Mike Gundy handled himself at his legendary press conference in September after a column appeared in a local newspaper criticizing OSU’s backup quarterback.

‘I don’t like how he came across,’ Mariotti said. ‘By yelling and screaming, he lost a great message.’

The message is that of criticizing amateur athletes. While Mariotti said that amateur athletes are still out in the open and public fixtures, at least at the collegiate level, writers should take it easy on them.

‘I think you have to state the obvious, but I think it should be a step below how you criticize a $30-million athlete,’ Mariotti said.

Mariotti, who wrote for The Cincinnati Post, The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post before heading to Sun-Times, mentioned that being around for the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty in the 1990s was the highlight of his career.

And when talking about the best writers and broadcasters in the sports world, he immediately brought up a Syracuse graduate.

‘Bob Costas is the best broadcaster of his time,’ Mariotti said.

After mentioning the steroids problem in baseball, he said Costas could stand in front of a room and expose and explain all of the problems in baseball and probably fix them.

‘(Costas) should be the commissioner of baseball,’ Mariotti said with a chuckle.

And in regards to the baseball steroid scandal, he said he believes Barry Bonds, the questionable all-time homerun leader, will end up playing for the Oakland Athletics next season, but with a reduced price tag.

He also talked about how the media industry is changing.

‘You have got to write on the Internet,’ Mariotti said. ‘I hate to say it, but I don’t know what forum the newspaper industry will be in in 20 years.’

The renowned columnist had some advice for the aspiring writers and broadcasters in the crowd: ‘It’s a very challenging profession, and once you get out there, it’s a zoo.’

Published on November 11, 2007 at 12:00 pm