Jay Mariotti Arrested For Felony of Domestic Violence (Is Al Cackling?)

This is unbelievable. It's like Greek tragedy.

Two days more than a year to the day that Jay Mariotti wrote his fork tongued rant about the Oakland Raiders on AOL Fanhouse entitled, "Cable Should be Suspended, Davis Should Simply Vanish," Mariotti has been arrested by Los Angeles police at 4:30AM on a felony charge of domestic violence.

I have spent the better part of a year criticizing anything and everything about Mariotti's employer, ESPN, because Mariotti remained employed with the network.  Though I have noticed a significant decline in his appearances on Around The Horn, Mariotti should have been fired.

In one article, I challenged Mariotti to a fight on ESPN (which I would still do).

Regardless of anything else, the reason for the article's abhorrence is that Mariotti proudly stated that he reports gossip about the Raiders, thus admitting that he as a so-called journalist is grossly biased.  Why should I believe the Raiders are his only exception?

Some of my attacks on ESPN whiffed, such as the time that I wrote, "Why ESPN Should Have its License to Broadcast Revoked," because ESPN is not required to have a license to broadcast.  Nevertheless, the underlying intent of the of the article was to say that ESPN should not be on TV, when it seemingly had no regard for the integrity of truth, because ESPN was willing to report incendiary gossip.

He Proved it to Me

Mariotti wrote that Raiders coach Tom Cable should be suspended by Commissioner Goodell because Randy Hanson accused Cable of assault.  Mariotti called Goodell the "crown price" (no joke).

Mariotti also stated that Raiders owner Al Davis should, "vanish," because Mariotti saw the accusations as merely another piece of a narrative.

Mariotti also described Raider fans as "rowdies" and "crazies" that are, "terrorizing the enemy."

Mariotti also advocated the selection of Tim Tebow, not on the grounds of talent, but moral character.  He also attacked the blogger Jerrod Morris for his honest mistake in speculating whether Raul Ibanez had used steroids.  Meanwhile, Mariotti has advocated for what I believe have been draconian suspensions of NFL players, because Mariotti believed that the NFL needed to be cleansed of, "thuggery."

Glory Days

Since Mariotti's days at the Chicago Sun-Times, he has been known for heated confrontations with co-workers. 

After Mariotti resigned in 2008 (after footing the Times with the bill for his trip to the Beijing Olympics), Mariotti went on local television to mock his former colleagues, because of financial trouble at the Sun-Times.  As a result, Roger Ebert of the Sun-Times criticized Mariotti in a column entitled, "Jay The Rat."

Now, I'd love to cackle here (and I have a few times), especially since Mariotti wrote "Somewhere, Al Davis is cackling " and that he leaves his bunker to persecute the media.  But then I remember that domestic violence is no laughing matter (but oblivious hypocrisy is).

Though I have used this article to highlight why I believe that I was right and ahead of the time, I must finish by imploring to pray for the victim.