But apparently there are still some limits. ESPN, spokesman Mike Soltys said Tuesday, won't allow college sports reporter Jenn Brown to appear in an announced ad campaign for MillerCoors' Icehouse beer.

It's a pretty big deal for any network to turn down beer advertising, which is the booster rocket behind TV sports.

But in this case it should be a no-brainer. There's no longer much hubbub over sportscasters — such as ESPN's Mike Ditka, who appears in current beer ads — pushing booze.

But Brown is a reporter— not one of ESPN's pontificating personalities who also star in ads — and, more important, she'll largely appear on college football and basketball. (Brown this season will work the sidelines on ESPN's Thursday prime-time college football games, replacing Erin Andrews, who moves to Saturday shows including College GameDay.)

Not that Brown, a former model and host of TV travel shows such as The Wild Side and Bikini Destinations, is supposed to be Bob Woodward. And she recently (and wisely) turned down an offer to appear in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition next year — but also tweeted it was "such an honor to be asked!!!"

And it's not like TV college sports only attract the underaged. College sports often draw older viewers than the pros do. The average viewer age for ESPN's college football is 47 — and 44 for its NFL games — while the average age of its college basketball viewers is 48, well above the average age of 39 for its NBA action.

But especially after ESPN aired its midsummer LeBron James infomercial and now that it has grown so big it can expect to have any one of its on-air personalities in a scandal or legal scrape at any time, it's good to see some things are still out of bounds. For ESPN, which vets its announcers' outside gigs, it's an especially good time to think responsibly.