ESPN’S NEW MOTTO: “IF IT’S NOT OUR NEWS, IT’S NEWS TO US”

When ESPN sniffs out a hot rumor or story, ESPN sets the blender of its various platforms to “liquefy,” whipping the thing into the biggest story that the sports world ever has seen.And when ESPN has had no role in uncovering a hot rumor or story, ESPN’s new approach apparently will be to pretend that it had no idea that the hot rumor or story even existed.It’s the only conclusion we can draw from Steve Levy’s proclamation on the Tuesday night/Wednesday morning SportsCenter loop, during which ESPN displayed the angry Notre Dame quote shooting down rumors of Jon Gruden replacing Charlie Weis and Levy quipped, “No one hear at ESPN had even heard the rumor."Steve apparently has been out for the past few days with a bulging dick, because the rumor has been around for nearly a week -- and to suggest that “no one” at ESPN had heard the rumor suggests that some folks at ESPN aren’t doing their jobs.As Sports Illustrated reported in December 2007, ESPN has “a pair of staffers” who monitor our sister site, ProFootballTalk.com. And the rumors of Gruden to South Bend have been mentioned there a time or two since Gruden abruptly was asked to leave One Buc Place.Moreover, the rumor gained significant momentum when it was reported over the weekend by Jets beat writer Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News, who gave significant credence to the notion of Gruden supplanting Weis.Though Cimini’s report might have been undermined by the fact that his source was a small chicken made out of marshallow, the fact that the story appeared in the New York Daily News surely placed someone at the self-proclaimed WorldWide Leader in Sports on notice of the situation.Then there’s the fact that former SportsCenter anchor and ESPN Radio host Dan Patrick has been all over the Gruden-to-N.D. chatter on his 200-stations-and-counting radio show.But yet Levy said with a straight face that “no one” at ESPN -- “no one” -- had heard the rumor.So, apparently, the new motto at ESPN is this: “If it’s not our news, it’s news to us.”