And There Was Much Rejoicing...

Not only do MacNeil, Jurko, and Harry get competition from Boers and Burnstein in ten days, but ESPN is pulling one of Chris Berman's venues to annoy:

"PrimeTime" is going off the air on Sunday nights not because ESPN is choosing to take it out of that slot.

It's going off Sunday nights because the new television deal between the NFL and its broadcasting partners calls for it not to air on Sunday nights starting in 2006, so as not to compete with NBC's Sunday night NFL programming.

"It's a contractual issue," Rauscher said. "We are not taking 'PrimeTime' off the air because we don't want to do 'PrimeTime,' but based on a new contract terms, things have changed in what we are allowed to do."

The NFL lets its TV partners compete against one another with three Sunday morning studio shows up against each other starting at 11 a.m., but the league does not want NBC to face that kind of competition in its Sunday night part.

Well, I guess I'm stuck with the internet instead of NFL Primetime for my fantasy football results.

Oh, wait. I've been doing that for years! This is great news as it eliminates another 18 chances of accidentally seeing Berman rumble, stumble and bumble his way through a broadcast.