Winter Classic on thin ice?

Uh, oh. I hope I didn't jinx Saturday's Winter Classic when I pestered NBC and NHL execs last week about the game plan in case of warm, rainy weather.

Take a look at the forecast for Pittsburgh for New Year's Day. Oy.

NBC has a long window in which it can show the game in case weather delays it, but what if the entire day and night becomes impractical?

I asked whether Jan. 2 is available as a fallback option. Grudgingly, the NBC and NHL poobahs said that it is.

The problem: Television competition from a little thing called the NFL.