Face the music

The most interesting commentary about the Ozzie Guillen-Jay Mariotti saga was made by Tribune sports columnist Rick Morrissey, who said columnists who rip athletes should face them afterwards in person. I agree.

If you're a sports columnist, you show up in the clubhouse to face the music. It's a matter of fairness.

Let's say I criticize Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski for something he did in a game. And let's say I do it in the Sunday Tribune, which has a circulation of about 960,000.

Isn't it reasonable for Pierzynski to have an opportunity to lash out at me in front of media and teammates in the clubhouse if I've treated him similarly in print? It seems pretty straightforward to me. It's what I was taught to do. It's what nearly all of the columnists in the country do. The honorable thing.

Look, it's not always fun walking into a locker room. Sometimes it's uncomfortable. But it comes with the territory of being a columnist.

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