Michael Hiestand of USA TODAY confirms our suspicions about the now-missing Chris Berman videos: ESPN told YouTube to take them down.

“How do you get that kind of toothpaste back in the tube? ESPN’s Josh Krulewitz says ESPN, arguing the Berman videos are owned by ESPN, asked YouTube.com to remove the videos — which happened. What about other websites? Says Krulewitz: “We’re in frequent contact with YouTube because they’re the table-setters and the others feed off them.”

Those “others” include the ever-industrious gang led by DEADSPIN’s Will “Banned by ESPN!” Leitch. The Gawker media site is currently hosting the videos, and it’s safe to assume that they will now live a long and productive life thanks to the miracle of .flv files . Read more…