Patriots@Ravens 8:30 p.m. [Ch. 13, ESPN]
So obviously, we all know the pick tonight, Patriots-Ravens, preceded by attendant build-up with the obvious soap opera lines - New England's march to history; Baltimore's attempt to salvage something from a season gone terribly wrong. And the broadcast booth guest will be Don Shula, who we're hoping can be persuaded by Tony Kornheiser to pop the champagne cork right there on TV at the end of the game in the unlikely event of a Ravens victory.
Alternatives
But let's assume something else - that this game is out of hand by halftime and you've had enough. So what are your choices on the remote? Well, it'll be about 10 p.m., so you can pick between two CSIs, the Miami one on CBS and the Las Vegas one on Spike. If you're in a holiday mood, you can catch the end of Rudolph and the Misfit Toys and the start of Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey on the Family Channel. And on Versus, there's Rocky IV, which is the Cold War Rocky with Soviet meanie Ivan Drago. You know, "Rocky's back and this time - it's political."