A few weeks ago, I lauded ESPN for its terrific PR and cross-promotional campaigns for its College GameDay show. So it's disconcerting to have to take them to task for the Rush Limbaugh debacle. ESPN hired the loudmouth this season to spice up its NFL pre-game show, which has consistently trailed Fox's program in the ratings. Network brass knew they were playing with fire - they just didn't expect to get burned so badly.

It only took a few weeks before ...