Sun-Times sports columnist Mariotti resigns

A day after Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti announced his resignation, Sun-Times officials say the reaction has been positive and they expect his exit will boost their readership.

The Sun-Times said on its Web site late Tuesday that the controversial columnist left "to pursue other opportunities," and Mariotti told several radio outlets Wednesday that he quit because he thinks the future of sports journalism is online and the Sun-Times wasn't responding quickly enough to the challenge facing newspapers.

Mariotti, who joined the Sun-Times in 1991, reportedly will continue to be a regular panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn."

According to Michael Miner's News Bites blog for the Chicago Reader, the editor in chief of the Sun-Times, Michael Cooke, said Mariotti had threatened to quit many times before, but "this time we pulled the trigger."

Cooke took another shot at the surprising departure by noting that Mariotti had a contract at the paper through May 2011.

"It's interesting that a guy walks out on a contract after spending a lifetime criticizing other people for not observing their contracts," Cooke told Miner. "I'm sure that irony won't escape our readers."

Cooke added that reaction from readers has been favorable toward the Sun-Times: "By all indications our circulation will go up."