Courtesy of the firestarting Florio at Pro Football Talk:

A media source tells us that ESPN are relieving Michelle Tafoya and Suzy Kolber of their duties on Monday Night Football.

Both served as sideline reporters. Tafoya worked in the same role with ABC when the ESPN sister company last aired MNF. Kolber likewise reported from the field with ESPN's former Sunday night package. When the Monday night broadcast moved to ESPN for a whopping $1.1 billion per year, Kolber and Tafoya were both assigned to the show.

Their performance has been the subject of some criticism, especially in this space. The reports at times were heavy on pre-planned content, and light on in-game information. Also, it's never been clear why two of them are needed.

It remains to be seen whether this is a first step in an effort to reduce costs by shrinking the cast of characters who cover the Monday night game for ESPN. Several analysts are stationed in Bristol, a trio of talking heads have a desk inside the venue where the game is played, and multiple reporters typically swarm the stadium in the three or four hours before kickoff. ..

I hope they bring Lesley Visser and her furry hats back. Or Eric Dickerson and his ebonicized reports.

Speaking of Visser, did anybody know she had her own self-aggrandizing website?

Tafoya, Kolber Out At MNF [PFT]

Well ... except maybe for this. It's The Big Picture's Who Would You Do Tournament?, which, in the spirit of the new book "The Enlightened Bracketologist" — which tries to rank all human phenomena by using tournament brackets — puts the top 16 sideline reporters and gently caresses them into a full bracket.

To no one's surprise, Erin Andrews is the No. 1 seed, with Suzy Kolber at No. 2, Pam Oliver at No. 3 and Melissa Stark — our dark horse contender — at No. 4. The tournament will be going on for the next month, so if you're the type of person who has his/her head in the repulsive, loathsome gutter ... go on over and vote!

Who Would You Do Tournament? [The Big Picture]

"I was under the influence, and when you get under the influence, you may think you have things under control, but it's a fact that you don't," Namath says. He adds: "It was that incident that brought to light that I needed to do something, absolutely. And I'm glad. I hated having to deal with that incident, the family, the friends ... the fans. I mean, that really hurt."

We are pleased that Namath was able to get help for his drinking, and that it took something so high-profile and profoundly hilarious to make it happen. But he really shouldn't worry about having disappointed his fans; frankly, the guy earned himself a whole new generation of them.

Namath Is Happy He Tried To Kiss Suzy Kolber [San Jose Mercury News]

What's her name? Oh, Suzy Kolber. I know why Joe Namath made a pass at Suzy. Yeah. I mean, she's a very, very excellent reporter. Knows her stuff. Knows her sports. Really does. And she's kind of thick in the britches. She's got a nice saddle. She's got a very nice saddle. You don't have to be drunk to make a pass at that saddle.

Michael Lewis was right! Left tackles are awesome! And we now have our new favorite.

Just Call Him Broadway Bob [NJ.com]

Lions D-lineman Shaun Rogers got to 23 reps, laughed at the absurdity of doing 20 more, and quit. Giants DE Osi Umenyiora did 4 reps and quit, which was probably the best strategy of the day.

Up next is the kicking competition, between Shayne Graham and Neil Rackers. They told some strange little story before the competition, too. I wasn't really paying attention, but I think they said they swapped wives or something. They'll resume their competition later in the broadcast.

Also, Suzy Kolber is wearing a cute little pink number, showing off her sunburned shoulders. It's more skin than she usually gets to show on game broadcasts, and you can tell the little minx is enjoying it. This thing is like the 6th most exciting thing I've seen today, but it's actually considerably less lame than the Pro Bowl itself.