Shirley's writings have sometimes been the cause of controversy. In a Slate.com piece with Neal Pollack, he compared rooting for the San Antonio Spurs to cheering for cancer. In a 2009 column for ESPN.com, he called the Beatles overrated, drawing the ire of fellow music critics. And in 2010, he published a blog questioning the potential efficacy of relief efforts for that year's earthquake in Haiti. Afterward, he was dismissed by ESPN. The company's full statement read: "He was a part-time freelance contributor. The views he expressed on another site of course do not at all reflect our company's views on the Haiti relief efforts. He will no longer contribute to ESPN."