Does anyone remember this gem from back in 2007, when federal agents brought up the name "Bruce Gradkowski" during an investigation into point shaving at Toledo? (An investigation that turned out to be uncomfortably accurate, by the way.) Former Rocket Gradkowski was under the care of Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay by then, and here's what the coach had to say about that:

"I don't watch ESPN. I don't believe half the [expletive] people on the channel, personally – no disrespect. But if Bruce Gradkowski is throwing games in Toledo, how in the hell does he lead the NCAA in passing percentages? That is a crock. You know, these reports make me sick – really. I don't believe [there is] any truth to it, and I'll go to my grave believing that. I hope ESPN 3 or 4 has real sources behind this story, because it has nothing to do with the kid. He's a great kid. He wants to be great. This is very uncharacteristic, in my opinion, of 'professional' journalism."

I guess Norby (!) Williamson [ESPN's programming chief, for those not in the know] was willing to let bygones be bygones since Gradkowski wasn't formally accused of anything—even if his teammates were clearly up to something. (No disrespect.) Of course, this also opens up the possibility that Gruden has never actually seen "Monday Night Football" and believes it to be some sort of cooking show. That should be a fun first day.

Buccaneers Win Tussle With Texans, 31-24 [Pewter Report; 2007]
See also:
ESPN4? That Was Supposed to Be A Secret!
Jon Gruden Joins "Monday Night Football" Crew. Seriously.
Toledo Athletes Accused Of Point Shaving

UPDATE: ESPN's official response: "Ultimately that candid commentary actually provides the foundation for successful TV commentary. We might not always agree when a newsmaker takes a shot, it's about serving the fans and candid insight is important."

Van Pelt declined to comment on the incident, passing it along to ESPN media relations, who "do not comment about personnel decisions." The story, passed along through several people, was that Van Pelt's rant about Selig was "too personal" for some of the ESPN bosses — comments about his slovenly appearance, something about a "pimp cup" — which led to the suspension. Van Pelt, reportedly on his own volition, called Selig to apologize and was in agreement that his statements were a little harsh.

Selig does have close relationships with many of ESPN's top execs ( they are currently locked in an 8-year, $2.4 billion broadcast deal from 2005 for Sunday Night Baseball and have other contracts with MLB) and the initial story was that Selig himself heard the remarks and was personally offended by them, but that hasn't been confirmed.

I missed the show and have not seen a transcript of the Selig rant, but everybody on ESPN's side seems convinced that it did step over the arbitrary lines of good taste, unbecoming of a national radio host. Until we see that, it's tough to tell if Van Pelt's being punished unfairly or if he just stepped on some corporate toes. But with the money ties that ESPN has with MLB, it wouldn't be surprising if Van Pelt's getting smacked a little harder for this one than if he was ripping on Gary Bettman.

Update: Someone rescued the audio for us, so listen and decide for yourself:

Anyway, here are two people who have probably never sat down together for tea, which is a shame; they might learn they have more in common than they think. Or maybe not.

No. 3 Seed Pac Man Jones
Introduced the phrase "Make It Rain" to a nation of grateful white people.
Scared his family.
Missed out on watching Vince Young play quarterback this season.
Didn't rassle, darnit.

No. 14 Seed Norby!
Co-authored a rather awesome memo
Has funny name.
"Hey, how are ya? Couple of things ..."

So, who's making it to the next round?

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Theismann, in an interview with Shapiro, says he still doesn't understand why he was taken off the show and replaced by Ron Jaworski.

"It was a total and complete shock to me that they were going to make a change. They told me they wanted to make the show more issue-oriented, I asked them 'was it the quality of my work?' They said no. They said they noticed that when they studied the tape, when it came back to me, I talked about football. I guess that was the problem, but you'll have to ask them.

"Hey, I'm a football guy. It's what I do. To say I'm not disappointed would not be correct. I'm very disappointed. I believe that 100 percent of the audience, whether it's Sunday night or Monday, wants to be entertained and educated about football. We have enough shows on ESPN about issues all over the place. To me, when you call it Monday Night Football, the expectation of the fan is to see football, and hear about football."

We think the answer is simple, Joe. When John Skipper — a true leader! — and Norby Williamson — Norby! — told you they wanted the show to be more "issue-oriented," what they really meant was, "Jaworski is so much freaking better than you at this. Oh, and Kornheiser can't stand you."

Theismann says he won't be doing any on-screen NFL work for the network, though he will still be paid by the network. Poor guy.

Theismann Benched By ESPN [Washington Post]

Like that logo? Pretty? Well, it's about to die, we tell you ... DIE!

From an internal memo sent out this afternoon from ESPN, effective February 12, the ESPN2 logo as you know it will go the way of the dodo.

I sent a note similar to this a couple of months ago.....and the timing was wrong. This time it is a GO for real.....and is effective on February 12th.

We will be losing all on-air visual references to ESPN2 (except for the logo on the bottom line). We will rebrand the network as ESPN.

This includes all mic flags, banners, insert graphics, studio graphics, wipes and animations. Everything will be branded ESPN (not ESPN 2, ESPNHD...) This is part of the 48 hours of ESPN branding initiative. Please identify and deal with issues arising from this initiative.

Please pass this message along to anyone in your groups who need to know. Send us your questions and issues.

In a followup email, ESPN executive vice president, studio and remote production Norby Williamson (NORBY!) warns against the February 12 deadline, saying George (Bodenheimer, presumably) has not "officially blessed the 12th," but that it's full speed ahead, regardless.

So goodbye, ESPN2. It's almost as if, with "Quite Frankly," "ESPN Hollywood" and, uh, pretty much every other piece of original programming gone, there was no reason for you to exist. We will miss you, kind of.

(By the way, we HAVE noticed that ESPN.com now has comments. Then can only end badly. Honestly, are they trying to KILL Simmons? We're gonna let them run for a day and talk about that more tomorrow.)