Eammon discussed with, ahem, some vapidity earlier today: Jay Mariotti (who happens to moonlight as a colleague of mine at FanHouse) will be heading back to the Chicago-centric sports world as the newest member of the Chicago Tribune.

This ghastly Internet rumor — the kind that kills puppies and strangles children, natch — was purported by Brooks at “celebrity gossip site” Sports by Brooks. I use this hyperbole because well, that’s the same sort of reaction that Mariotti and the Tribune had to the rumor.

Via the Daily Herald:

Yet Tribune spokeswoman Kate Mersman issued a terse, “This is not true,” when asked about it today.

Mariotti, while allowing that “the Tribune and I have had discussions about various projects,” quickly added, “but we have not finalized it.” He referred to the item as a “silly blog report.”

“My non-compete clause at the Sun-Times expires in late August,” Mariotti added.

OK, perhaps I’m missing something here, but didn’t both parties just essentially say, “It’s not done because the non-compete is still active, but as soon as that thing runs insert sound of quickly moving feet here.”

Of course, FanHouse wasn’t mentioned in the Daily Herald’s story (tanks for notin, guys!) but Brooks’ original report had Mariotti hanging around the AOL sector while adding the Trib to his workload.

Per usual, I have zero insider knowledge on this one, but I think he’s headed to the Trib. And if my gut feeling isn’t enough to convince me, the above quotes certainly are.