When you watch a sporting event on ABC from now, it’s no longer being presented to you by “ABC Sports.” In fact, that no longer exists. ESPN has swallowed them whole, and any sporting event that appears on ABC from now on, is being brought to you by “ESPN on ABC.” The Little League World Series will be the last event eler televised by ABC Sports.

Gone is the organization that brought you “The Wide World of Sports,” in favor of more from the organization that brought you “Bonds on Bonds.” Actually, I suppose it doesn’t ultimately make any difference to me. ESPN is probably omnipresent enough in my life right now, but what are you going to do? It’s not like I can just stop patronizing ESPN. They’ve got their hooks in me.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has done his best to find some teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing about the event, quoting NBC’s Dick Ebersol as saying that his heart weeps for Roone Aldredge’s legacy. Keith Jackson and Dan Dierdorf were also a little bit pissed, mainly about people’s legacies, about which, to be perfectly honest with you, I could not possibly care less.

ABC’s been using ESPN commentators and graphics for a long time now, and I don’t think much actual presentation is going to change. Really, the move is purely masturbatory on the part of ESPN. George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN, had some kind of a line about this enabling ABC and ESPN to better serve fans, but you’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little bit skeptical about his altruism. All the move really does is put get the ESPN brand a little more exposure, which they probably think is going to help them sell some cell phones.