Hi, Jay!
Former ESPN’er Jay Mariotti sent out a series of bizarre tweets that were aimed at the heart, soul and wallets of the Blogger community. This type of petulant act is nothing new for the bitter and disgraced one-time punching bag from Bristol. I say one-time because he is nothing more than a where-are-they-now cautionary tale of sports media fame. I am usually not a fan of bashing a guy when he is down, but if you believe Jay, he is doing just fine. He is living the life in Southern California splitting his time between wine spritzers and the finest locally crafted brews, eating tapas on the reg. Good work if you can get it. One of the tweets even mentioned that he is using bloggers for his next book (I smell digital only/self-published/never finished) as research.
Mr. Mariotti then took a shot at his former nemesis from Deadspin – A.J. Daulerio.
I will say this in Mr. Daulerio’s defense: when A.J. or his lawyers decide the dust has settled in the Gawker fallout, there will be no shortage of editorial and writing jobs waiting for him. The reason? A.J. is talented, people think he is funny, and he has a proven track record of creating and overseeing things that people like to click on and read. It is a novel idea, really. Create a product and a persona that people like – you will get paid. Jay Mariotti could learn a thing or two from him.
I get how dinosaur personalities like Mr. Mariotti can feel a bit out of touch in the current media climate. The Journalism with a capital J world has changed and continues to change on a daily basis. Newspapers are turning into cocktail napkins and printing in cool gray to save money. One thing is certain – nobody media company is going to pay Jay Mariotti “Millions” anymore. That is a fact bunky. What Bloggers with a capital B have done is create a business model that requires that you produce (page views, video views, social viral-ness) and if you do, you get paid. What Bloggers also get is persistence and grind. Mr. Mariotti launched a podcast and only stuck to it for a few months. That type of work ethic doesn’t fly anymore.
Jay might argue that he can create Content with a capital C. Is the world clamoring for a Jay Mariotti Vlog about Collin Kaepernick? No – because nobody knows who Jay Mariotti is anymore. Do you think a 24-year-old remembers the greasy die jobbed contrarian from Around The Horn? He has been replaced on that garbage pail show with sagging ratings four times over. The producers know that show will get the same ratings (good or bad) if they had a stuffed potato in the seat.
If Jay doesn’t want to learn from a lowly blogger with a lower case b like me – maybe he could learn a thing or two from Dan Shaughnessy. The crusty old Boston scribe has done his part to attempt to embrace the new now. He may never find himself doing a Facebook live chat about Andrew Benintendi’s hair, but he has at least attempted to understand and confront where the business model is moving.
At this point, Jay’s best option would be to play nice. Step one in this direction might be to accept the Pardon My Take job offer.
Seeing as this post might be a part of a social experiment – I might want to add a few things so that they get logged for eternity. I think the brothers Gallagher need to make amends and get Oasis back together. The helmet catch never should have happened. Kurt Cobain was murdered. Thousand Island is the best salad dressing and it is not even up for debate.
Bye, Jay!