Jay Mariotti, a Controversy Magnet, is Arrested and in Police Custody Following Domestic Disturbance

Jay Mariotti, a national sports columnist for Fanhouse.com and on air personality on ESPN's Around the Horn, was arrested today in Los Angeles for domestic violence.

Reports are that Mariotti was at a Southern California nightclub and got into an argument with his girlfriend. The couple continued to argue at Mariotti's apartment in Venice where he was arrested due to what is being called a 'domestic disturbance'. He is currently in police custody.

While a full description of the alleged events from last night is not yet available, it is safe at this point to say that for some reason controversy seems to follow Mariotti around.

In 2004, Mariotti was involved in a physical altercation with Chicago White Sox announcer Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson at the then Minnesota Twins stadium, the Metrodome . The fight was precipitated after Harrelson called Mariotti, "the biggest sports fraud."

Harrelson continued, "Mariotti wouldn't know a good or bad team if he saw one . . . In six or seven years, I've never seen him in the clubhouse."

Mariotti has been involved in other controversies as well. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen once used a homophobic slang term to describe him. In 2008, Mariotti resigned from the Chicago Sun Tribune, citing the fact that he believed the newspaper business was dying compared to online media. In reaction, fellow columnist, movie critic Roger Ebert published an open letter on Sun Times website with the headline 'Jay the Rat'. Ebert criticized Mariotti both for predicting the demise of the newspaper industry as well as the way in which he resigned.

While physical altercations with other media members and being attacked in print by colleagues may be controversial and even unseemly, they pale in comparison to an arrest due to domestic violence.

Mets reliever Francisco Rodriguez, far more famous and presumably far wealthier than Mariotti, is suddenly facing a career crossroads after attacking the father of his common law wife last weekend after a Mets game at Citi Field. Rodriguez hurt his thumb in the incident and is done for the year. The Mets have put him on the disqualified list and are reportedly looking into ways to void his contract.

Rodriguez is a very good reliever for a big time, if struggling, baseball franchise. He is much harder to replace than is Mariotti. Furthermore, if the alleged incident involved an attack on his girlfriend, which at least circumstantially sounds likely, it could very well end Mariotti's career on ESPN and on major online websites.

Sources:

Roger Ebert Sun Times
Can't Stop the Bleeding Baseball
ESPN
LA Times