THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2001 — Michael Holley, the rising young sports columnist who bolted the Boston Globe for Chicago in September, is coming home. Just two months after his debut at the Chicago Tribune, Holley is calling it quits.

The Globe announced Holley’s return on its Web site on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after this week’s Phoenix had gone to press. "His vacated position had yet to be filled," sports editor Don Skwar said in the announcement. "Heck, the seat he had is still warm."

Holley’s return is a coup for the Globe. Despite the presence of nationally respected, marquee columnists such as Bob Ryan, Dan Shaughnessy, and Will McDonough, Holley — a 31-year-old African-American with a hip, irreverent style — provided a welcome counterbalance to a line-up of middle-aged (and older) white guys.

In an e-mail, Holley told me he had decided to come home because of a desire to be closer to his family, which intensified after September 11. He also hints — well, more than hints — that he was less than thrilled with Chicago, the Tribune, or some combination of the two.

"The Tribune offered me the job on the Friday before Labor Day weekend. They offered me a 45 percent raise, they said they would put my mug on their promotional material, and they told me I could write anything I wanted," he said. "It sounded good to me at the time. I took the job and started to regret it five days later. When I watched the second plane crash into the World Trade Center, my first few thoughts were to tell the Trib no thanks and stay in Boston with my brother, sister, nieces and nephews. I ignored what my heart was telling me and continued to make plans to leave. About a week later, a Chicago magazine article ripped the Trib sports dept. to shreds. I thought that was another love-the-one-you’re-with hint. I ignored it, too.

"By the time I arrived in the city, " Holley continued, "I knew that I had made a mistake. I had a lot of money, but I felt that my voice was gone. I felt like I was listening to music through one speaker; something was wrong, and it was much deeper than the awkwardness of relocating. I missed my family. I missed my friends. I missed the pace of Boston. I missed my crazy editor (Don Skwar). I missed my favorite restaurant in Jamaica Plain (El Oriental de Cuba) and the waitress I used to flirt with there. I missed the high sportswriting quality of the Globe. Writing a sports column takes a tremendous amount of joy and enthusiasm and, quite frankly, I can only bring that level of passion and intensity in Boston. Doing it in Chicago would have been faking it. I like Chicago. I can live in Chicago. I just don’t want to write sports there. And I don’t want to write sports in Ohio, where I grew up. Boston has its flaws, but it’s where I want and need to be. Unfortunately, it took a tragedy such as 9/11 for me to have some clarity in the Personal vs. Professional debate. The Trib was great, offering things such as monthly airline tickets to Boston, but I thought it would be best if I were in New England. I never thought I’d be so happy to take a pay cut."

Though Holley’s missive obliquely criticizes the Tribune, it appears that he may be going out of his way to play down his unhappiness there. According to a story posted Wednesday night on Chicago magazine’s Web site, the Tribune has struggled to fill its top sports-columnist slot (a position the legendary Ring Lardner once held), with three writers passing through in just a little more than a year.

"Although Holley cites personal reasons for his departure, insiders say he found the bureaucracy of the Tribune sports department not only confounding, but hazardous to his work," wrote the magazine’s media critic, Steve Rhodes.

Nor were there any signs that the Tribune was less than happy with Holley’s work. "He certainly was very visible. I think he was doing well," Chicago Reader media critic Michael Miner told me, adding: "I think he’s a little bit embarrassed by the whole thing."

No doubt. But it sounds like Holley made the right decision for him personally. That it’s also the right decision for Boston sports fans is an added bonus.

Almost overlooked in all this is that Sports Illustrated writer Jackie McMullan, a Globe alumna, will return in January to write features and a weekly column.