NFL TO IMPLEMENT "FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING"

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
WWW.NFLMedia.com

NFL TO IMPLEMENT "FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING" DURING
SEVEN OF FINAL EIGHT SUNDAYS OF 2006 SEASON
ALLOWS TEAMS TO PLAY THEIR WAY ONTO NBC SUNDAY NIGHT SCHEDULE

The NFL this season will implement for the first time in its history a primetime "flexible scheduling"
element on Sundays in Weeks 10-15 and in Week 17.

Flexible scheduling will ensure quality matchups on Sunday night in those weeks and give surprise
teams a chance to play their way onto primetime.

The 2006 NFL schedule will list start times for all Sunday games during the "flex" weeks as 1:00 PM
ET, except for games played in the Mountain or Pacific Time zones, which will be listed at 4:05 PM ET
or 4:15 PM ET.

The NBC Sunday night time slot for "flex" weeks will list teams as "TBD."

Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to
games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights.

Just as the six major college football conferences have done for many years, the NFL now will have
additional flexibility to move the start times of games on Sundays, using a 12-day notice format.
For example, a game scheduled for Sunday, November 26 could move from a 1:00 PM ET kickoff to
an 8:15 PM start, but the change would be made and announced no later than Tuesday, November
14.

The NFL has commonly moved games between 1:00 PM ET and 4:15 PM ET (eight times last
season) on Sunday afternoons. The new practice allows the NFL to employ flexible scheduling to
include one of its primetime package of games – on Sunday evenings.

Sunday afternoon games, as in the past, can still be moved between 1:00 and 4:05 or 4:15 PM ET.

In Week 17, in order to ensure a Sunday night game with playoff implications, the decision to move
the start time may be made on six days notice.

CBS and FOX will each be able to protect a total of five games in the seven weeks of flexible
scheduling, but not more than one game in any week.

During the 2005 regular season, the NFL conducted a study with mock flexible scheduling. An eightperson
task force consisting of team executives, one from each division, was consulted on a weekly
basis. In addition, television network partners and the NFL's broadcasting department participated
weekly in the process.

-- more --

"NFL Flexible Scheduling 101"
- Begins Sunday, November 12, 2006 (Week 10)
- In effect Weeks 10-15 and Week 17.
- Not in effect Week 16 due to holiday weekend.
- Only Sunday afternoon games in Weeks 10-15 and 17 are subject to being
moved into the Sunday night window.
- The majority of games on Sundays will be listed at 1:00 PM ET during flex weeks
except for games played in Pacific or Mountain Time zones which will be listed
at 4:05 or 4:15 PM ET.
- No impact on Thursday, Saturday or Monday night games.
- The NFL will decide (after consultation with CBS, FOX, NBC) and announce on
12 days notice the game being moved to 8:15 p.m. ET and may also announce
games moving to 4:15 p.m. ET.
- Week 17 start time changes could be decided on 6 days notice to ensure a game
with playoff implications.
- The NBC Sunday night time slot in "flex" weeks will list teams as "TBD."
- Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in flex weeks are subject
to change 12 days in advance (6 days in Week 17) and should plan accordingly.
- NFL schedules all games.
- CBS and FOX each get to protect a total of 5 games in the 7 weeks of flexible
scheduling, but not more than one game in any week.
- Teams will be informed as soon as they are no longer under consideration or
eligible for a move to Sunday night.

# # #

Bush Ordered CIA Leak: MSNBC

Libby: Bush himself authorized leak on Iraq
Former Cheney aide says president OK’d giving prewar intel to media
EXCLUSIVELY ON MSNBC.COM

Updated: 1:11 p.m. ET April 6, 2006

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney’s former top aide told prosecutors that President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.

Before his indictment, I. Lewis Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the CIA leak that Cheney told him to pass on information and that it was Bush who authorized the disclosure of information to reporters about prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The authorization came as the Bush administration faced mounting criticism about its failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the main reason the president and his aides had given for going to war.

Libby’s participation in a critical conversation with Miller on July 8, 2003, “occurred only after the vice president advised defendant that the president specifically had authorized defendant to disclose certain information in the National Intelligence Estimate,” the papers by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald stated. The filing did not specify the “certain information.”

'Unique' circumstances

“Defendant testified that the circumstances of his conversation with reporter Miller — getting approval from the president through the vice president to discuss material that would be classified but for that approval — were unique in his recollection,” the papers added.

Libby is asking for voluminous amounts of classified information from the government in order to defend himself against five counts of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI in the Plame affair.

He is accused of making false statements about how he learned of Plame’s CIA employment and what he told reporters about it.

Her CIA status was publicly disclosed eight days after her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of twisting prewar intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat from weapons of mass destruction.

In 2002, Wilson had been dispatched to Africa by the CIA to check out intelligence that Iraq had an agreement to acquire uranium yellowcake from Niger, and Wilson had concluded that there was no such arrangement.

Libby says he needs extensive classified files from the government to demonstrate that Plame’s CIA connection was a peripheral matter that he never focused on, and that the role of Wilson’s wife was a small piece in a building public controversy over the failure to find WMD in Iraq.

Fitzgerald said in the new court filing that Libby’s requests for information go too far and the prosecutor cited Libby’s own statements to investigators in an attempt to limit the amount of information the government must turn over to Cheney’s former chief of staff for his criminal defense.

According to Miller’s grand jury testimony, Libby told her about Plame’s CIA status in the July 8, 2003, conversation that took place shortly after the White House aide — according to the new court filing — was authorized by Bush through Cheney to disclose sensitive intelligence about Iraq and WMD contained in a National Intelligence Estimate.

The court filing was first disclosed by The New York Sun.

Katie Couric - CONGRADULATIONS! You Deserve It!

I thought I'd post this as I've not seen anyone do it. Congradulations, Katie! And thanks to CBS and its president Leslie Moonvies for constant forward thinking.

Some people think the evening TV news anchor is supposed to be a man. I say that's stupid. I don't get how some can think of themselves as smart and yet constantly fall into the kind of "box" thinking that keeps the best person for a job from getting that position.

I'll never understand that aspect of the human condition.

But I digress.

I think Couric will show that she is worth -- more than worthy -- of the place held by Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and Bob Schieffer (who I really liked in the position).

Best of luck, Katie.

Brian Doyle - What Was This Guy Thinking? A 14- Year Old?

I really don't understand why there are grown men who find 14-year old girls -- or younger -- sexually attractive. What is it? Power? I just can't understand how a person lets their brain get wired to think in those terms.

And do they know how much such a view can wreck their lives? Do they care? Wow, it's something else, indeed that men -- and women, if you think about all the teacher sex scandals -- are drawn to kids. Weird.

Homeland Security official arrested in child sex sting
Sheriff: Suspect chatted online with detective posing as teen girl

Wednesday, April 5, 2006; Posted: 11:38 a.m. EDT (15:38 GMT)

Department of Homeland Security deputy press secretary Brian J. Doyle faces extradition to Florida.


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Department of Homeland Security official was arrested Tuesday night on charges of using his computer to seduce a child after he allegedly struck up sexually explicit conversations with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl, authorities said.

Brian J. Doyle, 55, is charged with seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and 16 counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor, according to the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's Office.

Doyle, a deputy press secretary, will be placed on administrative leave, although it's unclear if it he will be paid, a department official said.

Bill Gates Work World Is Almost Paperless....But That's True For Most Internet CEOs

According to CNN, Bill Gates doesn't need lot of paper in his office. But neither do I. He remarks that e-mail is the preferred way to communicate, but does that mean a lot of misunderstandings? I too use email, but it still doesn't beat the phone for complete understanding.

Boot Camp: Mac's Now The World's Best Computer For Everyone - Not Just Us Applephiles!

The battle between Mac and Microsoft is officially over! This is a milestone in Apple's storied history.

Madonna Tickets - Madonna's In Concert In May! Hooray!

Madonna, the undisputed Queen of Pop, is in concert, starting at The Forum in Inglewood, just outside of LA on May 21st. Get tickets with a click here.