With the Tuesday night retraction of a paragraph from a September 13, 2007 story that accused Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan of spying on Chargers practices and a Wednesday apology from Yahoo! Sports, the brouhaha is over.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

The problem came to light not long after we posted a February 23, 2008 item regarding the five-month-old article from Jason Cole.  On February 26, Shanahan’s lawyer demanded a retraction and an apology.  He got both.

The apology read as follows:  “We apologize for any embarrassment that the Sept. 13, 2007 Yahoo! Sports story ‘Ancient Antics’ has caused for Mike Shanahan.  Yahoo! has retracted the segment of the story that asserted that Mike Shanahan was involved in cheating as the Denver Broncos coach.  Yahoo! has stringent editorial standards in place to prevent this type of error, and we regret the lapse in our protocol that allowed this to happen.”

Attorney Harvey Steinberg said on Wednesday that the matter is resolved.

“He appreciates the acknowledgement, the retraction and the apology by Yahoo and considers this matter over,” Steinberg said, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

It’s unknown whether Yahoo! Sports has taken or will take any action against Cole.  His most recent article was posted on March 4, 2008, regarding the retirement of Brett Favre.