Christmas came early for Al Michaels and the NBC "Sunday Night Football" crew.

"This is one gift I'm not giving back," said Michaels, as he prepared to call Sunday night's Broncos-Chargers game for the AFC West Division title.

NBC had the right to flex into the most important game Sunday -- the final day of the NFL regular season.

And while there are plenty of games with playoff scenarios -- Jets-Dolphins, Patriots-Bills, Cowboys-Eagles, Vikings-Giants -- the Broncos-Chargers game is the only winner-goes, loser-stays-home game.

"This is perfect for a number of reasons," Michaels said. "As a network, it's exactly what we hoped for at the end of the season -- a winner-take-all game.

"Selfishly, I live in the L.A. area. So anytime I can drive the 73 toll road to San Diego and not get on a plane, I'm a happy guy. I'll gladly pay the $4.75 toll.

"Beyond that, the storylines for this game are terrific. You have one team that was left for dead, but has ascended.

"You have another team that had the division (nearly) locked up and is now trying to avoid a disaster. Denver will either salvage its season or collapse.

"Three weeks ago, the Chargers were the primary candidate for disappointment of the year. Now they're the team no one wants to face, a team that could win a division title and host a game in the playoffs."

Michaels and broadcast partner John Madden were in the New Jersey Meadowlands last Sunday for the Panthers-Giants game.

Michaels and Madden -- who lives in Oakland -- watched as the Chargers took care of business and beat the Bucs in Tampa.

"But when we left the hotel, Denver was ahead of Buffalo 13-0," Michaels said. "We watched the second half at the Meadowlands (as the Bills rallied to beat the Broncos).

"Really, it was phenomenal."

While Michaels doesn't root for teams, he said he's a big fan of Qualcomm Stadium from a network standpoint.

"It's an under-appreciated venue," Michaels said. "I know the infrastructure is crumbling and the Chargers want a new stadium, but the crowds in San Diego are fantastic. The atmosphere there for a big game is electric.

"San Diego rocks like any other big-time stadium I can think of.

"Games in Qualcomm have a big-time look, a big-time feel. On TV, it comes across great.

"Now if the game lives up to the hype, we'll all have a great holiday."

More on Sunday night

- Madden on Sunday's matchup: "San Diego is one of those teams that were picked as one of the Super Bowl favorites. Then they go down, and you think they're out, but they're not. They come back and have a chance for the division against the Broncos."

- NBC's Cris Collinsworth on the Broncos: "Denver had a three-game lead with three games to play and now it comes down to winning it on the field of play because of the Broncos' mistakes. Jay Cutler has been so sensational for this team, but they have no running game to speak of. Their defense has been decimated, and he has been asked to carry the load."

- Last Sunday night's Giants overtime win over the Panthers on NBC pulled a 12.9 rating with a 21 share of the audience, the top-rated primetime show of the week. The game drew a 38.9 rating in Charlotte, N.C., and a 19.6 in New York. NBC's 15 "Sunday Night Football" telecasts this season are averaging 17 million viewers, a 7 percent increase over last season.

- The loser in NBC's flex to carry the Chargers is CBS, especially Channel 8 in San Diego. The station loses the Chargers and gets the Dolphins-Jets game in the 1 p.m. time slot.

What's up at 1090?

Have you listened lately to the train wreck that is XX Sports 1090? Management has taken a once-proud station and turned it into a circus.

Bill Werndl and Joe Tutino are let go. No, wait a minute, they're back. No.

Just joking, they really are gone.

Then John Kentera had to work Tuesday's show with Jordan "From Downtown," a fan who regularly calls the show.

It was a horrible, horrible three hours.

Jordan thought it was his show, talked over Kentera, talked in the breaks, talked over callers. Heck, he's probably still talking. And his facts are still wrong.

Jordan is from New York. I counted more than 50 New York references in three hours.

So if "Open Mic Night" isn't bad enough, there are rumors more "Amateur Hour" tryouts are coming.

The talent pool at 1090 is so shallow that more than half the shows use the Sporting News Network for updates instead of local updates.

Maybe this mismanagement is part of the reason the latest ratings show 1090 at a 1.2, down from a 1.8 in the last rating period and a 1.5 a year ago at this time last year. Even with its dismal ratings, 1090 is on the charts. XTRA Sports 1360 and ESPN 800 don't make the top 30 stations in San Diego County with the ratings going down to an 0.5.

NHL vs. the bowl games

If college football isn't your thing, the NHL is putting its best foot forward to provide an alternative on New Year's Day with the "NHL Winter Classic 2009." The Classic features the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks squaring off in historic Wrigley Field in Chicago in an outdoor match.

The outdoor Classic format was hatched last year when the Penguins and Sabres met at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo and drew a crowd of more than 71,000, as well as great TV ratings.

The 701st meeting between the Red Wings and Blackhawks should draw a huge TV audience.

The puck drops at 10 a.m. New Year's Day on NBC.

On the move

- The Lakers signed a five-year deal with L.A.'s ESPN (710) and will switch radio stations next season, leaving long-time partner KLAC (570). Spero Dedes and Mychal Thompson will continue to call the games.

- Charlie Steiner, who was hired by the Dodgers in 2005 to call games on radio and TV, will work only on the radio next season. He was doing about 40 TV games a season on FSN Prime Ticket and KCAL Channel 9. Vin Scully will do mostly TV while Steiner and Rick Monday work 162 games on radio. Steve Lyons returns for TV duty, Jerry Reuss appears to be out, and the Dodgers are looking for another play-by-play voice to work East Coast TV games because Scully no longer makes the Eastern trips.

Ratings game

- The Titans' win over the Steelers on Sunday did a 14.3 rating for CBS, the highest-rated game of the day on any network.

- Saturday's Ravens-Cowboys game on the NFL Network posted a 9.22 cable rating, tied for the fourth-highest cable rating of any sporting event in 2008 with Game 7 of the World Series. The top three sporting events on cable this year are all "Monday Night Football" games on ESPN.

Padres update

Craig Nichols, the top man at Cox Communications and Channel 4 Padres, said it will probably be mid-January before a replacement is named for Matt Vasgersian as TV play-by-play voice of the team.

"The people who sit in the booth are the face of our brand, the face of the Padres," Nichols said. "Matt isn't an easy person to replace.

"So we're going to take our time and do it right."

Nichols denied a report that Mark Neely, the long-time radio play-by-play voice of the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, was the choice.

"We haven't nailed anything down yet," Nichols said.

Local note

Juan Angel Avila, one of the Spanish voices of the Padres on radio for the last 11 years, was presented with an achievement award for excellence in his field in his native city of Mazatlan.

Avila is part of a program called "sinaloenses ejemplares en el mundo", which is dedicated to recognizing the efforts of Sinaloenses in the world and to create positive role models.

Avila works with Eduardo Ortega on Padres broadcasts. They are two of the true gentlemen in the game.

Around the dial

- The MLB Network, which launches at 3 p.m. Jan. 1 with a live one-hour "Hot Stove" studio show, announced that 12-time All-Star Barry Larkin has joined the roster of on-air talent that includes Matt Vasgersian, Victor Rojas, Al Leiter, Joe Magrane, Dan Plesac and Harold Reynolds. Following the debut of "Hot Stove", the MLB Network will have the original broadcast of Don Larsen's 1956 World Series perfect game.

- NBC airs the ADT Skills Challenge at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. This year, caddies will play the pros. The pairings are Peter Jacobsen and caddie Mike "Fluff" Cowan, Fred Couples and Joe LaCava, Greg Norman and his son Greg Norman Jr. and Rocco Mediate and Matthew Achatz. The eight skill categories are long drive, greenside bunker, putting, long iron, trouble shot, fairway bunker, chip shot and short iron. The first-place team splits $250,000.

Staff writer John Maffei's TV/Radio column appears every Friday. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.