Whether you're a White Sox or Cubs fan, man or woman, human or animal, if you've lived in Chicago and followed sports for a decent amount of time, you probably do not like Jay Mariotti.
If you were one the "people" who -- /shudder -- didn't mind him when he wrote for the Sun-Times and pontificated on "Around The Horn," it's obviously been a lot harder to defend him, giving his actions of late. And if you're someone who, like me, doesn't have an ounce of respect for the dude, then worry not, because Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports is right there with you.
On his June 29 Real Talk podcast with Seth Davis, Whitlock voiced his opinion of Mariotti in passing as the discussion began to wrap up (quote after the jump).
Though Mariotti did appear on Whitlock's podcast last February (Jay's first interview since his arrest in August of 2010) and the two seemed cordial, Whitlock dismissed that real quick.
I have a great deal of respect for Seth and anybody I bring onto this podcast, generally speaking, a sign of tremendous respect. Probably Jay Mariotti being the one exception -- I just wanted to do the interview.
That statement followed with some laughter from Seth Davis, and the two pretty much moved on after that. It's just telling how low of an opinion Whitlock would have to have for Mariotti to single him out like that in such a specific way, even after he did him a favor by appearing on Real Talk. With that said, I have no doubt it's fully deserved, as Mariotti held the title of The Absolute Worst for a long time in these parts. I'm on record with calling anything bad that happens to him "karma."
Whitlock and Davis also talked about the Fab Five doc, whether NCAA athletes should be paid, and, of course, Christian Laettner's sexuality. The podcast can be found here.
Bobby Loesch is the associate editor of the Chicago sports blog Tremendous Upside Potential and a daily contributor to SB Nation Chicago. Follow him on Twitter @bobbystompy.