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Jerry Reinsdirf rips Moronotti


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QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 03:46 PM)
can you post the story, I cant see it cause im not a member.

 

Heavyweight fight … or is that lightweight? This whole hissing match between Jerry Reinsdorf and Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti brought this thought to mind: Maybe these two should be headlining for the next big boxing card in town. We're thinking maybe the Tribune's Sam Smith and Mariotti might make a good bout as well. Not to mention Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson and Mariotti,who almost went at it last year in the press box at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

 

Things got heated this week with the Scott Skiles story - Will he stay or will he go? Mariotti, who generally doesn't have much nice to say about Reinsdorf, wrote a column in the Tuesday Sun-Times ripping Jerry for not giving Skiles what Scott wanted.

 

In that same column, he said this:

 

"To hear Skiles, the final blow of a contentious period came when he read a column in the Chicago Tribune. Basketball writer Sam Smith, generally known as a Reinsdorf supporter, wrote a column describing Skiles as 'greedy' for not accepting the offer. Normally, a tough piece wouldn't be the breaking point in a negotiation, but in this case, Skiles assumed what Smith wrote was straight from the mouth of Reinsdorf."

 

Couldn't find the Smith column. A search of the Tribune database for 2005 shows that Smith hasn't used the word greedy all year. But Sam has come after Skiles, most recently here and here.

 

On Wednesday, after Skiles had decided he would stick with the Bulls, Mariotti wrote again, this time saying that Skiles got the better of Reinsdorf in the negotiations for a contract extension, asking for and getting a "meeting downtown with Reinsdorf, face to face, without his agent."

 

Then Mariotti said, "I know big-shot business executives who have quivered in the presence of a poker-playing Reinsdorf. But Skiles stared him down, stated his case, played his hand and won the game."

 

The final line of the column said it all: "He actually made The Chairman cry uncle."

 

Mariotti also appeared to take another shot at Smith, and the Tribune (like Reinsdorf, a favorite Mariotti target), with this: "When Skiles and agent Keith Glass spent the last few days portraying J.R. as a tyrant, even accusing him of sending an ink-stained 'henchman' after Skiles with a rip-job column in the sleepy newspaper…"

 

Then, Wednesday night, Reinsdorf went on Comcast SportsNet and slipped no punches, saying the Wednesday Mariotti column was "totally full of lies, which is consistent with what Jay Mariotti likes to do."

 

The Tribune's Teddy Greenstein related those remarks to Mariotti, who said he used information "provided by my newspaper" and that Reinsdorf will "be hearing from my lawyer."

 

Mariotti didn't write in Thursday's Sun-Times, but there was a story that mentioned Reinsdorf's appearance on Comcast and some of what he said. Not the "full of lies" part though.

 

That wasn't all. At the bottom of page 2 of the Sun-Times was a correction regarding the Wednesday Mariotti column. Couldn't find the correction online (and the column we linked to above doesn't have the corrections in it at this writing). Here's what the correction said:

 

"A Jay Mariotti column and a news story that appeared in the June 8 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times should have said that the Bulls' contract with coach Scott Skiles was agreed on at $16 million guaranteed over four years, including the option year. The Mariotti column should have said the deal was made in a telephone conversation with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Skiles. The Bulls' offer did not change from the day before. After that phone deal, Bulls general manager John Paxson and Reinsdorf also agreed to give Skiles a $500,000 bonus for his recent success with the team. That Mariotti column also should have said that Ozzie Guillen's two-year contract extension was for $2.5 million."

 

You can decide who was bloodied in this one. Knowing Mariotti's consistent disdain for all things Reinsdorf, he'll be throwing a few more punches soon.

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QUOTE(Adam G @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 07:48 AM)
Right now though, I see Jester's avatar I'm remembering how smoking hot Lindsay Lohan was before she dyed her hair blonde and found out that she loved crack. :cheers

 

She (Lohan) reminds me of a young Ann Margaret ( talk about hot !! ). But I am constantly seeing new stars that resemble old ones. Brad Pitt= Robert Redford. Angelina Jolie = Sophia Loren.

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Can someone please post the article for those w/o registrations?

Here ya go...

 

"Reinsdorf rips Mariotti's 'lies' in column"

By Teddy Greenstein

Tribune staff reporter

June 8, 2005, 10:53 PM CDT

 

 

The normally media-wary Jerry Reinsdorf appeared on Comcast SportsNet Wednesday night, saying he wanted to separate fact from fiction regarding the re-signing of Bulls coach Scott Skiles.

 

Reinsdorf said he did not meet face-to-face with Skiles on Tuesday, as reported by Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti, and the two never haggled over contract terms during a phone conversation.

 

Reinsdorf said Bulls general manager John Paxson offered a four-year deal worth $16 million and the terms never changed.

 

"John made the offer on Friday or Saturday and it wasn't acceptable [to Skiles] at that time," Reinsdorf said. "On Tuesday, Scott called me and we had a nice conversation. The next call I got was from John Paxson [saying] Scott had accepted our $16 million offer, no strings attached. That was really the end of it, and I thought that was great."

 

But it wasn't quite the end of it. Reinsdorf and Paxson decided to add a $500,000 signing bonus for the "great year" Skiles had, Reinsdorf said.

 

Reinsdorf then sharply criticized Mariotti, who on Wednesday wrote Skiles, in a face-to-face meeting, "stared [Reinsdorf] down … reducing the Bulls owner to The Pushover."

 

Reinsdorf called the column "totally full of lies, which is consistent with what Jay Mariotti likes to do. … Scott accepted the $16 [million]. He never came to my office. We spoke on the phone and we never negotiated."

 

Reinsdorf has a stormy history with Mariotti, a former radio talk-show host and current regular on ESPN's "Around the Horn."

 

"I could care less if Jay Mariotti doesn't like me if he tells the truth," Reinsdorf said. "If he wants to say I'm dumb, he's got a pretty good case he can make for that. But when he starts to lie, I find it very, very offensive."

 

Mariotti, reached late Wednesday, said he used information "provided by my newspaper" and said Reinsdorf will "be hearing from my lawyer."

 

[email protected]

 

 

Copyright © 2005, The Chicago Tribune

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