Perhaps watching the terrible Jay Cutler validated Jon Gruden’s decision to re-up with ESPN through 2021. Who needs that headache?

Mike Tirico broke the news during halftime of Monday’s game. The deal means Gruden is out of coaching through ESPN’s current contract for “Monday Night Football.”

Technically, that means Gruden can’t coach again until 2022, when he will be 59. By then, he will have been away from the sidelines since 2008.

Sure, Gruden could return after a 14-year absence. Dick Vermeil did it and won a Super Bowl after a long side trip to the booth. But it seems unlikely.

It still seems hard to believe that given Gruden’s passion and intensity for the game, he will have coached his last game at the age of 45. Then again, John Madden called it a career at 41.

Gruden obviously knows he has a good thing at ESPN. Perhaps he also knows his limitations and that he will live a longer life without the immense stress of being a NFL head coach.

From ESPN’s perspective, the network wanted assurances that Gruden is all-in and committed to being in the booth on Monday nights. He probably earned a few extra bucks to take the coaching option off the table.

However, what if Gruden gets the itch in 2017? What if his dream opportunity arises? Would ESPN let him out of the deal?

You know, contracts are made to be broken.

ESPN, though, probably is going to hold Gruden to this deal. That’s why the language is in there. Clearly, he doesn’t want to be tempted either.

No more speculation on Gruden’s future until 2022. By then, he probably will sign a new deal to keep him in the booth.

Here’s the official release from ESPN.

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Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden has agreed to an extension with ESPN that will keep him on sports television’s signature series and out of coaching through the remainder of the company’s current NFL rights agreement, the 2021 NFL season. [Gruden discussed the extension during halftime of tonight’s Saints-Bears MNF game in Chicago.]

Since joining ESPN in May 2009, Gruden has teamed with play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico to help make MNF the most-watched series in cable television history. Gruden has earned four Sports Emmy Award nominations in the Best Analyst category while helping MNF earn four show nominations for Best Live Series.

Additionally, the Super Bowl-winning coach has been widely praised for his groundbreaking SportsCenter Special: Gruden’s QB Camp series which has become a popular element of ESPN’s annual coverage in the lead-up to NFL Draft. Over the past five years, the in-depth, one-on-one interviews and film sessions have featured Gruden mentoring top quarterback prospects such as Andrew Luck, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton and eventual Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson.

Gruden has also contributed to ESPN’s NFL Draft and Super Bowl week coverage, major college football bowl games and other platforms. Next month, he will be part of the MNF team that calls ESPN’s first-ever NFL Playoff game, as well as the NFL Pro Bowl (Jan. 25).

“Jon has been a game-changer for ESPN and for Monday Night Football, entertaining and engaging fans with his vast knowledge of the game and his dynamic personality,” said John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice president, programming and production. “Jon has quickly become one of the premier analysts in all of sports and we’re thrilled he’s made this long-term commitment. We look forward to having him as part of our NFL presentation for many years to come.”

Beyond his analyst role, Gruden has committed himself to giving back to the game through the FFCA, a Tampa-based football think-tank he founded in 2008. The organization plays an important role in youth development with a specific emphasis on supporting high school athletic programs. ESPN will continue to work with Gruden to support these initiatives.

“Being a part of Monday Night Football alongside our ESPN crew is a dream job,” said Gruden. “I love calling big prime-time games every week and spending time with the best players and coaches on the planet, while also finding new ways to teach and talk about football year round. There’s no place I’d rather be.”

Gruden served as an NFL head coach for 11 seasons with the Oakland Raiders (1998-2001) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-08). He compiled a career record of 100-85 and led his teams to five division titles. Gruden’s best season was 2002 when the Buccaneers finished the regular season 12-4 and captured the Super Bowl XXXVII title with a 48-21 victory over the Raiders, the team he had coached just one season earlier. At the time, the championship made then 38-year-old Gruden the youngest head coach ever to win a Super Bowl.

Gruden began his NFL coaching career in 1990 with the San Francisco 49ers as an assistant in charge of quality control. He quickly ascended through the ranks, also serving as the Green Bay Packers wide receivers coach (1992-94) and the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator (1995-97).

A few weeks back in a column on Marshawn Lynch, I mentioned how George Halas used the media to help build the NFL.

In the piece, I had this line: My old colleague Don Pierson said, “The Tribune saved the NFL, maybe even made it.”

Well, Pierson told the rest of the story about Halas and the media in Sunday’s Chicago Tribune. You also can access the story via my Twitter feed at @Sherman_Report.

Lynch and other media-leery NFL players might want to read the piece to get an appreciation of how the media played a role in making them millionaires. They also could learn a thing or two from Pierson’s insights. Don was a true mentor for me, and one of the most respected NFL writers of all time. There’s a reason why his name is in Canton.

From Pierson’s story:

In the beginning, pro football begged for media attention to help it rise. Almost 100 years later, pro football begs off. In the end, whenever that comes, media attention may hasten pro football’s demise.

Bears founder George Halas, who practically invented play for pay, was his own press agent, writing articles in the 1920s for newspapers that thought the college game was the only pure and true football worth covering.

Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch isn’t the first NFL player to get fined for refusing to cooperate with the media. His teammate, Richard Sherman, isn’t the first to make fun of NFL rules requiring cooperation, even though the astute Sherman is quite adept at using the many media outlets now available for self-promotion.

Halas would have loved Twitter, provided he could have mastered the profanity codes.

Halas wrote in his autobiography, “Halas By Halas” (McGraw-Hill, 1979), referring to the mid-1920s: “At last the newspapers discovered the Bears. I kept writing articles about upcoming games, and by reading the papers I learned editors like superlatives. I blush when I think how many times I wrote that the next game was going to be the most difficult of the season, or how a new player was the fastest man in the West. I would write how fearless they were on the field, but what fine gentlemen they were at all other times.

“One glorious Monday I awoke to find the Chicago Tribune had made our game its top sports story. I went to the Tribune and thanked the young sports editor, Don Maxwell.”

Leave it to Halas, of course, to point out the symbiotic relationship between his enterprise and newspapers: “Maxwell said, ‘The Tribune and I should thank you. Sunday in autumn is a dull sports day. We need something exciting for our Monday pages.’ “

Pete Rozelle also knew the media’s role in growing the league:

Rozelle took media cooperation to another level. If a player failed to call back a writer seeking an interview through his team, league rules dictated the player’s home phone number be given to the writer. Players like Archie Manning, father of Peyton and Eli, gladly shared home numbers anyway.

And a final warning from Pierson:

Rolling in money, the NFL still appreciates attention but recognizes only positive and negative coverage as opposed to true or false coverage. Truth is not always a convenient ally. Truth gives way to spin.

But truth always prevails, eventually. Ubiquitous media, including many players themselves as “journalists” via their own websites, reveal cracks in pro football’s golden egg, exposing an ominous core.

There is plenty to report. For every provincial story extolling Sunday’s heroes or congratulating sincere efforts by many players to make positive differences in society, there are headlines such as “Ex-player sues over concussions.” Or: “Arbitrator overturns Ray Rice suspension.” Or: “Is football the next tobacco?”

No amount of talk or silence from coaches, players, commissioners or public relations specialists, no amount of “favorable” or “unfavorable” publicity, and no amount of regret or reaction from adoring or skeptical fans will be able to change or suppress the truth. Stay tuned.

My latest Chicago Tribune column is on the upcoming “Road to the Winter Classic” series.

You also can access the column via my Twitter feed at @Sherman_Report.

From the column:

******

The Blackhawks have participated in behind-the-scenes shows before, but not of this magnitude.

The upcoming “Road to the Winter Classic” series will feature unprecedented volume in terms of its access and scope. And speaking of volume, cover your ears if you are sensitive to salty language because the shows will be uncensored.

The first of the four-part series, chronicling the Blackhawks and Capitals through their outdoor Jan. 1 game at Nationals Park, debuts at 9 p.m. Tuesday on EPIX. Previously, the highly-acclaimed series had aired on HBO. EPIX, a premium channel that debuted in 2009, is available in 50 million homes.

However, because EPIX isn’t offered by several carriers, including Comcast, the largest distributor in the Chicago area, the series also will air online on the NHL, Blackhawks and EPIX websites to reach a wider audience.

That means the G-rated Blackhawks.nhl.com will air some words not suitable for younger viewers. News flash: hockey players and coaches do swear.

Part of the popularity of “Road to the Winter Classic” has been microphones picking up the raw language that occurs during games and practices. Blackhawks President John McDonough realizes it is an important element in depicting the sport’s authenticity in the series.

“Listen, this is not ‘Lillies of the Field,'” McDonough said. “I feel confident in how our players are going to comport themselves. Yet I’d be concerned if anybody tried to over-sanitize these shows. It would take away from the authentic nature of what you’re trying to do.”

Ross Greenburg, the series’ executive producer, said the goal is to find a balance in using profanity. In 2011, “Road to” captured then Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau in an expletive-filled tirade that went viral. Greenburg thought the scene was too much, and noted subsequent behind-the-scenes series such as HBO’s “Hard Knocks” have “toned things down a bit.”

“There is the reality these words do fly out of the mouths of these players,” Greenburg said. “There will be some of that in the series, but we’re not going to bang people over the head with it.”

Back in the saddle. My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center is a Q/A with one of my all-time favorites, John Schulian.

From the column:

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Even though John Schulian enjoyed a second, and I imagine, much more lucrative career in Hollywood, he always was a sportswriter to me. In the 1970s through the mid 80s, Schulian influenced a generation of sportswriters as a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and then for the Philadelphia Daily News. He wrote with an uncommon grace and elegance rarely seen before or since. Throw in uncompromising passion, and he was the complete package.

Unfortunately for fans of his work, Schulian gave up press boxes for sound stages at the age of 41. He worked on several hit TV shows and was the co-creator of “Xena: Warrior Princess.”

Yet once a sportswriter, always a sportswriter. Thankfully, Schulian always maintained his love for the business.

It is reflected in a new book, “Football: Great Writing About The National Sport.” As editor, Schulian put together a collection of the game’s best stories, old and new, for a book published by The Library of America.

It’s almost like being a coach and drafting a backfield of Peyton Manning, Jim Brown and Walter Payton. The list of writers includes Grantland Rice, W.C. Heinz, Myron Cope, Shirley Povich, Red Smith, Frank Deford, Jimmy Cannon, Jim Murray, Dan Jenkins…Well, you get my drift.

The territory also is considerable: Brown, Red Grange, Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Tom Landry, Bear Bryant, Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers and the Steelers of the ‘70s. Plus, there also are surprises along the way.

Of course, there’s a contribution from Schulian. He did a Sports Illustrated story on aging tough-guy Chuck Bednarik wrestling with a tougher foe than he ever encountered on the field: screaming grandchildren. Classic.

In the book’s introduction, Schulian sets the tone as only he could:

“The story was the thing. It was what we lived for: re-creating the drama every game is built on, pillaging our notebooks for the perfect quote, forever searching for something in the people we wrote about that maybe even they weren’t aware of. Our working quarters could be cramped and our deadlines tighter than the wrong pair of shoes, but the men and women who ran this gauntlet every week still felt the jolt of inspiration.

“If you cared about what you were doing, if you felt a connection to the game and wanted your contribution to its deadline literature to truly matter, you had to write like your pants were on fire even when you were risking frostbite.”

I recently had a chance to chat with Schulian:

What do you think of sportswriting today?

Schulian: I don’t see how anybody can cover sports today. Everything is fed to you. You’ve got PR guys over your shoulder. The athletes all speak in clichés. It’s a brutal time.

I always thought there was an art to writing sports. The sports pages were a great laboratory for writing. You were given room stylistically. You weren’t bound by the final score. There were issues you could tackle. You could have a social conscience. You could have a discussion. That was all available to you. Now I see very little evidence of it.

How did book come about?

Schulian: I edited a book of great boxing writing (“At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing”) with George Kimball. George was a certified piece of work. He was the last wild man in sports. We had a great time doing it. I’m not sure the people at The Library of America were prepared for us. They’re used to doing books about the works of Poe, Twain, Fitzgerald. Serious literature. We were a couple of guys just trying to make a deadline and get a beer.

They actually had enlisted two fellows to do a football book. When I heard that, I sent a list of stories they should consider for the book. Then these guys fell out for some reason. They called me, and I got to do this book sort of by default.

I always loved sportswriting. It’s something I really care about. Even though I left the business, I still did pieces on the side.

In doing this book, I got to renew old acquaintances. I also got to meet new people like Bryan Curtis and Wright Thompson. It was nothing but Ws all the way.

My latest Chicago Tribune column is on Bears greats Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers, and how the images of their greatness still are vivid after all these years.

You also can access the column via my Twitter feed at @Sherman_Report.

From the column:

*******

With yet another season slipping away, Bears fans probably could use a dose of Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers.

It is available in multiple forms. At 9 p.m. Friday, the NFL Network’s “A Football Life” series examines the two Hall of Famers whose careers became intertwined when the Bears selected them third and fourth overall in the first round of the 1965 draft.

Also, a new book, “Football: Great Writing about the National Sport,” edited by former Sun-Times columnist John Schulian, features classic, in-depth profiles of Butkus and Sayers from when they still were in the process of making their highlight reels.

The film and book underscore how enduring images of the greatness of Butkus and Sayers transcended their relatively short careers.

“With Sayers, it’s hard to capture in words his grace and elegance,” Schulian said. “Butkus was iconic. He was the classic middle linebacker who dreamed of tackling the quarterback and seeing his head roll down the field. It doesn’t get more classic than that.”

Indeed, David Swain and Dave Douglas, the documentary’s producers, said they had “an embarrassment of riches” when it came to selecting footage from their careers. Decades later, video of Sayers’ dazzling runs and the intimidating ferocity of Butkus are truly awe-inspiring whether seen for the first time or the 100th time.

Yet what comes out in both platforms are the human sides of the men. In the book, Arthur Kretchmer spent weeks hanging with Butkus for his 1971 piece that ran in Playboy. It included a passage about his mother.

“When you saw him play, you didn’t think he even had a mother,” Schulian said.

My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana examines the Janay Rice story on ESPN.com.

From the column:

******

It is interesting to note that ESPN turned to a competitor to help justify using the as-told-to format for Jemele Hill’sinterview with Janay Rice that ran Friday on ESPN.com.

In an in-house ESPN Front Row piece written by high-ranking network PR exec Josh Krulewitz, Vince Doria, the senior vice-president and director of news, noted as-told-to stories aren’t “uncommon.”

“A notable recent example was LeBron James announcing his return to Cleveland in Sports Illustrated,” Doria said.

Then in an interview conducted via email with Richard Deitsch of SI.com, Hill wrote:

“The partnership was unusual for me because I’d never done it before, but it’s not really unusual in these times. Sports Illustrated has published as-told-to pieces with Jason Collins and LeBron James, for example.”

Well, if it’s good enough for SI, it must be good enough for ESPN. The folks in Bristol owe you one.

Indeed, the recent Sports Illustrated precedents likely helped convince ESPN to relinquish some of its editorial control to Rice. There’s little question that her first-person piece is powerful and highly compelling. It undoubtedly generated immense traffic for ESPN.com during a holiday weekend filled with turkey and football.

Yet as is often the case, there is a price to be paid. It came in the form of howls that ESPN compromised its journalistic integrity with its arrangement with Rice.

Howard Kurtz, Fox News: “Approval — really? How is that different from a press release? Don’t public figures have to hire P.R. firms for this sort of thing?

“And this is the hilarious part: ‘No questions were off limits.’ What does it matter, if Janay Rice can cut out anything she doesn’t like? I don’t know what this piece was, but it wasn’t journalism.”

David Zurawik, Baltimore Sun: “In effect what ESPN did is surrender editorial control to Janay and Ray Rice and their attorneys and publicists. ESPN handed over its many platforms to Janay and Ray Rice and their handlers and loaned out one of their reporters to record and help Janay tell her story ‘in her own words.’ Wow. I hope it was worth it in page views and plays.”

Erik Wemple, Washington Post: “Now back to the question at hand, which is whether ESPN cheated its audience by allowing this sweetheart interview deal. The answer is, probably. Thanks to the deal’s terms, we won’t know what revelations didn’t get passed along.”

Joe Concha, Mediaite.com: “This is no longer a tell-all discussion, it’s simple dictation…with Hill morphing from journalist to stenographer.”

Ouch. Concha’s allegation that Hill was as unengaged as a stenographer is a low blow. Hill is a solid journalist. Clearly, an interview did take place with Rice answering Hill’s questions.

The argument even could be made that the as-told-to format actually produced a more compelling piece. Readers got a better idea of who Janay Rice is and how this experience impacted her. A conventional news story likely wouldn’t have detailed her background or how she and Ray Rice went through couple’s therapy prior to getting married. The format humanized Janay Rice as someone who doesn’t want to be known just for being a victim of domestic violence.

******

Link to the rest of the column.

My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana is Marshawn Lynch and his non-dealings with the media.

From the column:

******

Marshawn Lynch is fairly clueless, so the meaning of this story probably will be lost on him. But it needs to be told to give a little perspective about the NFL and the media.

Long before the league became a behemoth, it struggled to get coverage from the newspapers in its early days. As a long-time staffer at the Chicago Tribune, I heard many tales of George Halas, the NFL’s founder, showing up in the newsroom with write-ups about the Bears. He also would leave some tickets so the guys in the sports department could take in a game or two to get a taste of this pro football.

Imagine a Jerry Jones or Robert Kraft doing that today.

Back then, Halas knew the importance of using the media to get the word out about this fledgling Bears. And it worked. The Tribune was the first major paper to play up the NFL on its sports pages. My old colleague Don Pierson said, “The Tribune saved the NFL, maybe even made it.”

The NFL hasn’t forgotten that lesson. That’s why it insists its players such as Marshawn Lynch talk to the media.

For whatever reason, the Seattle running back has a strong aversion to chatting with the press after games even though the league makes it a requirement. The NFL finally had enough and fined Lynch $100,000 after he ducked the media following Seattle’s loss at Kansas City on Nov. 16.

With his wallet a bit lighter, Lynch made himself available after Sunday’s game. If you want call it that. “Beast Mode” went into Jerk Mode. According to Greg Bell, the beat writer for the Tacoma Tribune, he used 50 words to answer 22 questions. Most of them were “yeah,” even if they didn’t correspond directly to the question.

The whole session was demeaning to reporters who are just trying to do their jobs. It was an embarrassing display, showing that Lynch has the maturity level of a 4-year-old.

Nobody is asking Lynch to be glib like his teammate Richard Sherman. He doesn’t even have to give detailed responses. All he has to do is mutter a few short answers, throw in a cliché or two, and he’s out the door. It really isn’t that difficult.

Instead, Lynch’s defiant behavior simply calls more attention to himself. His postgame antics now are a story.

Lynch is painfully unaware that leagues like the NFL know their appeal goes beyond playing games. They realize it is imperative for fans to develop a connection to their teams through players and coaches. The bond runs deeper if you know them as people and not just a bunch of big guys who put on pads on Sundays. It goes into building the brand.

As much as I admire the work of Dan Jenkins and Golf Digest, I have to admit my initial reaction was negative when I saw his clearly fake interview with Tiger Woods.

As much as anything else, the pictures  went over the line. There was an actor portraying Woods sitting in a Perkins (remember Woods reportedly had an affair with Perkins waitress). There was another shot of the phony Woods polishing his Cadillac Escalade. You know, the one that had an unfortunate collision with a fire hydrant.

Definitely low blows. While the statute of limitations may never expire, more than four years have passed since Woods’ epic fall from grace. Golf Digest was reprising old, tired jokes in running those images.

Here’s another key point. His agent Mark Steinberg asked in a letter to the magazine’s publisher: “Would this story have even been considered if Tiger was still associated with Golf Digest?”

Indeed, Golf Digest once paid Woods major bucks to be on its staff of player advisers. The magazine clearly benefited by being associated with Woods during his historic run in golf. Even though the relationship ended, Woods and Steinberg had reason to be upset in being treated this way by a former business partner.

Yet having said all that, did Woods really gain by going public with his commentary over Derek Jeter’s site about Jenkins’ story? All it did was call attention to a piece that nobody was talking about.

Jenkins is Jenkins. Pricking stars like Woods is what he does. Ignore it and move on.

Instead, GolfDigest.com likely had one of its largest traffic days yesterday in the wake of Woods’ rebuttal. People wanted to see what made Woods so upset.

Rick Reilly followed up with a tweet that said, “Hey Tiger, please hate my book.” The title of Reilly’s latest: “Tiger, Meet My Sister…And Other Things I Probably Shouldn’t have Said.”

Indeed, an angry Tiger likely is good for business.

This is a big day for one of my all-time favorite guys and a Chicago icon. My Chicago Tribune story charts Pat Foley’s journey to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

You also can access the story via my Twitter feed at @Sherman_Report.

All Blackhawks fans will recognize Foley’s signature call.

Some excerpts:

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The kid from Glenview, first heard on a Cubs radio broadcast with Jack Quinlan at age 10, is going into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Pat Foley’s long career as the voice of the Blackhawks will reach its pinnacle Monday. Flanked by his family and team representatives, he will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for “outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster” in a ceremony for the media winners in Toronto.

Named after the legendary Canadian announcer, the award is the ultimate honor for a hockey play-by-play man. Foley’s plaque will be displayed in the Hall along with winners that include Hawks icon Lloyd Pettit, one of Foley’s inspirations and heroes.

Former Hawks great Denis Savard, who was enshrined in the Hall in 2000, knows the ceremony will be challenging for Foley.

“He’ll realize how big it is when he gets there that day,” Savard said. “Even though he can speak really well, it’s not easy. The emotions will show, no doubt about that.”

Foley, 60, admits he still is “having trouble wrapping my arms around” being in the Hall of Fame.

“I never would have attempted to write a script like this when I was a kid,” Foley said. “I’ve been living the dream for the last 35 years.”

******

At 26, Foley got his big break when the Blackhawks hired him as their radio voice for the 1980-81 season. Again, his father’s Buick dealership played a vital role.

Mary Foley: (Michael Wirtz, Bill Wirtz’s brother and the Hawks’ executive vice president) was an interesting guy. If he hadn’t been in hockey, he probably would have done something with automobiles. He always was at Bob’s dealership. He knew Pat was into broadcasting. Bob said: “I’d like to give you a tape (of Pat calling minor league games). Put it in your car, and maybe you can listen to it on your way downtown.” Whenever he came in, Bob would give him another one. Pat always said Michael knew more about the Grand Rapids Owls than he ever needed to know. That was the opening in the door.

Rocky Wirtz: Uncle Mike didn’t say a lot. He passed Pat’s tape around and said, “Listen to this.” He sounded really good. Even though he was young, he didn’t sound like a 26-year-old. He had a presence. I don’t think that voice has changed one bit.

Foley: My first Hawks game was the night they retired Stan Mikita’s No. 21. Tony Esposito is 200 feet away. I grew up watching this guy. I’m going, “Good God, I’m doing an NHL game.” I’ll always be grateful (to Bill and Michael Wirtz) for taking a chance on a young kid.

Mary Foley: You love to see your kids follow their dreams. When it comes true like it did for Pat, it’s just fabulous.

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Foley’s most memorable call occurred during aHawks-North Stars game in the 1985 playoffs. Goalie Murray Bannerman was spectacular. After he made a dramatic save on a breakaway, Foley cried out, “BANNERRRMANNN!” Nearly 30 years later, Foley constantly gets asked to reprise the call.

Bannerman: It’s become a phenomenon. Even people who are too young to know I played for the Blackhawks know of that call. The interesting thing was, it probably was a year or two before I heard the actual call. There wasn’t the Internet or social media back then. I didn’t see it as the big deal that it turned out to be. I appreciate Pat for doing it.

Not sure why ESPN still feels compelled to use Bob Knight, or why he still feels the need to work for the network.

ESPN released its lineup of announcers and analysts for the new college basketball season, and you had to look pretty hard to find Knight’s name. Oh there it is:

“American games will see Mike Patrick on Thursdays and Saturdays with Len Elmore and Bob Knight.”

Quick quiz: What schools play in the American Athletic Conference?

With all the conference reshuffling, there are plenty of fans drawing a blank. I know my pals Josh and Mike in Bristol can answer the question. The league features UConn, Cincinnati, Houston, among others.

OK, there are a few decent teams (UConn is the defending national champs), but the American is far down ESPN’s pecking order, judging by the release. It is mentioned last in the round-up of leagues and coverage teams.

In fact, the release notes high that “(Rece) Davis will also call a Thursday Night Showcase game involving Big Ten teams.”

That likely means most of the American games and Knight will be seen on ESPN2.

Knight’s star has dropped considerably from the days of being a featured analyst at ESPN. Last year, he did SEC games. The American Conference isn’t the SEC, and it is a long way from the days of the old Big East.

There has been speculation for the last couple of years that the network finally would cut ties with him. Yet Knight is back again, albeit in a three-man situation with Elmore as a co-analyst. The set-up reduces his responsibility to help carry the telecast.

At 74, Knight still must feel the need to be connected to college basketball in some way, even if he isn’t on the big stage anymore.