NBC, CBS tussle over Tim Tebow

By far the most amusing sports media story of the week still is unresolved as I write this at noon on Wednesday.

Usually, the NFL announces its flex scheduling plans 13 days in advance, and sometimes 12 if the Monday night game has an impact.

But this is believed to be unprecedented. Eleven days before the Dec. 18 slate, there still has been no word on whether the league will stick with the penciled in Ravens-Chargers game or move an afternoon game to prime time.

NBC wants Patriots-Broncos, for obvious reasons.

CBS wants to keep Patriots-Broncos, for obvious reasons.

The NFL must make the final decision, and whatever it does there will be unhappy TV executives.

(BTW, CBS already has protected the Jets-Eagles game from being flexed into prime time, so if that network keeps the Broncos-Patriots game it won't be seen in New York.)

Pats owner Robert Kraft - as powerful an owner as there is in the league - reportedly has gone to bat for CBS on this one.

Adding to the drama is the fact that this past weekend CBS got robbed of what turned out to be an exciting game and a big draw when the NFL handed the Broncos-Vikings game to Fox to compensate for the fact Fox had the Saints-Lions game taken away from it for flexing purposes.

Isn't NFL scheduling fun?!

This should be resolved within the next few hours, and it will be fascinating to see how the league gets out of this mess.

Here's the thing, though: The flex system is designed to avoid stinkers on NBC, not necessarily to give NBC the best game available.

Ravens-Chargers is not a great matchup, but it sure beats some of the junk ESPN has been stuck with on Monday nights - for a rights fee nearly double what NBC pays and without the benefit of flex scheduling.

Stay tuned!