The Big Lead (via The Nation Of Islam sports blog) reports Rosie O’Donnell’s fave sports columnist, Jason Whitlock is leaving AOL Sports for Fox Sports. Though I am looking forward to the inevitable Whitlock-fronted dramedy on FX (he could do for self-obsessing pro blogging what “Nip/Tuck” did for plastic surgery), TBL delves into the reasons behind the lateral move.
Whitlock, you may recall, left ESPN with guns blazing last summer, and landed at AOL a few months later. So why the sudden leap from AOL to Fox? Apparently, Jeff George™s buddy was none-too-happy that AOL ran a column by some guy named Keith Clinkscales, essentially trashing Whitlock during the whole Don Imus-Vivian Stringer flap. If you™re wondering how Clinkscales factors into this argument, it™s because he is general manager of ESPN the Magazine.
Not that I’m doubting TBL’s inside info, but can anyone else taste the delicious ironing in Whitlock allegedly bolting AOL over this sort of criticism, when his ESPN tenure was marked by his much ballyhooed refusal to smooch Mike Lupica’s behind?