Bercovici, working on a story about ageism, called Pasquarelli to discuss a comment he'd made about Joe Gibbs being "too old" to coach the Redskins. Pasquarelli apparently isn't used to being questioned.

Moments into our conversation, Pasquarelli accused me of trying to "ambush" him after hearing the sound of my typing. Was this meant to be an interview? he demanded. Of course, I said; that was why I had identified myself as "calling from Portfolio magazine."

Nevertheless, Pasquarelli felt I had misled him by not explicitly stating that I was calling to interview him; he had been under the impression that I was simply a fellow journalist calling to compare notes. I apologized for not being clearer, and attempted to explain that I had tried to send him an email laying out who I was and why I wanted to talk.

It gets better: Later, Pasquarelli lectures Bercovici on the "rules" of journalism. (Telling Len that he does a blog for Portfolio might have been a mistake on Bercovici's part; never, ever say the word "blog" to an ESPN personality.)

Bercovici eventually hung up, exhausted by the "conversation." And who said ESPN wasn't accountable?

Is Len Pasquarelli Too Old to Cover Sports? [Portfolio]

(UPDATE: Here's another great Grouchy Len story.)

Anyway, somebody, Penner or Mac, introduces Pasquarelli and mentions, in true hysterical sports talk radio fashion, that they'll talk about wide receiver Todd "Stinkston." You see, it's like Todd Pinkston, but because he is perceived as below-average football player, it's "Stinkston." (This is why we'd never want to be an athlete with the last name "Rickchucker." Would open us up for all kinds of problems.) It's very clever. You know, like a pun.

For whatever reason, the singling out of "Stinkston" just sets Pasquarelli off, though; clearly, he had never heard a sports talk radio program before. His anger is as amusing as it is inexplicable. We're not sure if Todd Pinkston — who, by the way, sucks — has ever had as vigorous a defender as Pasquarelli in this clip, though we can't for the likes of us imagine why. But hey: If you've never run a cross route down the middle of the field ...

Len Pasquarelli Flips Out (via Pro Football Talk)