It has been nine years since Jay Mariotti was a columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times and more than half a decade since he appeared regularly on ESPN’s Around the Horn, but he’s still hanging around the fringe of public consciousness, clawing for attention where he can get it.
Late Monday night, Mariotti, who now hosts a podcast called Unmuted, took a shot at SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt, calling his show a “debacle.”
It's a shame @espn can't bring @30For30 sensibilities to its SportsCenter messes, such as this continuing @notthefakeSVP debacle
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
Van Pelt, who’s not afraid of a little Twitter beef, fired back an hour later.
@MariottiSports tweet/delete/repeat.
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) May 23, 2017
Mariotti responded with a crack about Van Pelt’s baldness, and the feud was on. It was a pretty typical Twitter scuffle, complete with personal attacks, name-calling, sarcasm and an odd break into third-person pronouns.
@notthefakeSVP Bald In Bristol loses 12 million subscribers in five years and can't stop tweeting me. He should devote energy to what's left of time slot.
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
@notthefakeSVP Elite hosts who don't pander to basement millennials: Costas, Burkhardt, Patrick, Everett. Scott belongs on 17th hole saying, "Well played."
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
@MariottiSports can't stop tweeting at you? You troll me over and over and over & pretend I'm the one who initiates this? Grow up, Jay.
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) May 23, 2017
@notthefakeSVP I'm amused. I have an opinion about a weak sports host. I've provided hosts for him to emulate. I think he's next for LeBron crying face ad.
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
Mariotti, apparently forgetting who initiated the back-and-forth, criticized Van Pelt for interacting with him instead of worrying about the terrorist attack in England.
@notthefakeSVP 22 dead in Manchester. Or are you too immersed in a frat-house ratings quest to know? Have a good day. #perspective
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
@MariottiSports of course it's more important, Jay. As it was last night/this am when you were trolling me for the 100th time. Pick a lane.
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) May 23, 2017
And then back to some A-grade pettiness.
@notthefakeSVP Geez, now you're lying. Advice: You're too sensitive. Your show sucks. Deal with it.
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
@MariottiSports Your "show" is you talking to yourself because not a soul listens. Find a mirror, look into it… it's over & you know it.
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) May 23, 2017
It looked at that point like the exchange might be over, until 10 minutes later when Mariotti came back threatening a lawsuit against Van Pelt and ESPN over a “defamatory tweet.”
@notthefakeSVP Scott, the lawyers are waiting for me to say yes based on your defamatory tweet last fall. You didn't do your homework, and ESPN is aware.
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
@notthefakeSVP And if I win, I might own your struggling network. Just do better TV. Thank you.
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
@notthefakeSVP Hello? Scott? You there? What a jackass. Journalism students: Don't tweet lies about people. Corroborate. Report. Don't read sleaze blogs.
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
@notthefakeSVP We've heard the last from old Scott. I'm not litigious — could have won blog suits 10 times — but he should know better. Bad reporter, too
— Jay Mariotti (@MariottiSports) May 23, 2017
We can’t be 100 percent sure what so-called defamation Mariotti is referring to, but it’s probably the tweet from last September, in which Van Pelt alludes to Mariotti’s alleged history of domestic violence. Mariotti pleaded no contest in 2011 to charges of stalking and assault after an alleged incident with his ex-girlfriend.
Yo, Bloggers. Apparently I'm embarrassing myself? So said a tiny little man who fancies himself relevant and hits women. We work, he rots.
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) September 6, 2016
We at Awful Announcing are not lawyers (in case you didn’t realize), but we know enough to question whether Mariotti, a public figure, could prove actual malice on Van Pelt’s part and enough to know that even if he did force ESPN into a settlement, he certainly would not “own” the network.
In other words, Mariotti is probably just blowing smoke. Even after all these years, he’s still pretty good at that.
