I’m starting to wonder whether ESPN, and particularly Chris Berman, regrets the decision to have him call the San Diego-Oakland game on Sept. 10.

He’s been pummeled ever since the announcement was made this week. And the game is more than two months away.

Really, does Berman need this abuse at this point in his career?

Dan McNeil, a midday host at WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago, devoted an entire column in the Chicago Tribune to ripping Berman. (Note: I co-wrote a Chicago sports book with McNeil a few years back).

McNeil writes:

Berman is like the blister on the roof of your mouth. You’d love to ignore it, but can’t stop tonguing it.

On the medals stand of blowhards, Berman gets the gold. He is a boorish lout. Huffing and puffing, zigging and zagging.

Later he writes:

But at what point does a guy who became a caricature of himself many years ago get put out to pasture? The Howard Cosell ripoff (“He could … go … all … the … way”) stopped being cute before the Carolina Panthers were born.

I once thought Oddibe “Young Again” McDowell, Bert “Be Home” Blyleven and “Fettuccine” Alfredo Griffin were clever. Then it became time to rip down the St. Pauli Girls posters in my dad’s basement and get an apartment.

Berman long ago jumped the shark, but the wonks who make the big calls don’t get it.

Also in New York, Phil Mushnick took his obligatory shot at Berman in the Post.

Exactly how did ESPN think such news would be received by a public that long ago  recognized Berman as a career self-promoter, his on-air persona a sustained  tribute to Bozo T. Clown? What did ESPN expect, a 21-seltzer-bottle salute?

All in all, it definitely won’t be a quiet summer for Berman.