This whole thing has been widely entertaining because it's become a veritable issue-- we've heard it discussed on KNBR, on local news, and several blogs. The hilarious part is that it seems like everyone-- everyone-- was hoping this game wouldn't sell out-- the Merc has even been running updates on the situation.

But the issue has gone elsewhere, nation-wide, even. The station in Sacramento, which isn't affected by the blackout rules, didn't even think about showing Raiders game and a station in Fresno was all set to show the Raiders game until management told them, in essence, that they’d be idiots if they did. In fact, no affiliate in Northern California that could show the Raiders game will. In Houston, where they don't have a choice in the matter as it's an away game, people are scrambling to find ways around it.

Why the NFL didn't schedule this game for Sunday night is a mystery because anybody could have seen that this game had all the potential of being some sort of Clash of the Titans battle, complete with heroes (kindly Tony Dungy with his goofy QB side-kick Peyton Manning) and villains (douchey, score runner-upper Bill Belichik, noted Raider slacker Randy Moss, and pretty boy Bay Area conservative Tom Brady). It feels like everyone who isn't from Boston is rooting for the Colts mainly because they want good to triumph over evil. And, as somebody pointed out, if the Pats destroyed the Colts, you can pretty much write off the rest of the NFL season.

So if you're wondering where we'll be on Sunday, it'll be on our couch-- with a bag of Doritos in one hand and a six pack of Mickey's Big Mouth in the other