Where's Mariotti?

The highest profile name to leave newspapers for the Web world is likely Jay Mariotti, the controversial sports columnist formerly of the Chicago Sun-Times who was, in his time, equally reviled by his peers, his readers and the subjects of his columns. Still a regular presence on ESPN's Around the Horn, Mariotti abruptly quit following the 2008 Olympics, claiming that sports journalism was "entirely a Web site business."

(My favorite line from the Mariotti resignation debacle was from Sun-Times editor Michael Cooke, who said, "We wish Jay well and will miss him - not personally, of course - but in the sense of noticing he is no longer here, at least for a few days.")

While there is little chance that he is starving without his Sun-Times paycheck, I have to wonder why Mariotti hasn't signed on with a Web site yet. ESPN would be a likely choice since he is already on their payroll, but is it really that much more Web-oriented than the Sun-Times? Its primary medium is television. Sports Illustrated is another popular sports site, but it, too, is mainly focused elsewhere.

Where can Mariotti go? I'm an avid sports fan and well-versed in the Web, and the most popular sports destination online I can think of that isn't either of those is Deadspin, a blog where Mariotti is probably quite unwelcome. Hmm.