Tonight, we learned about the fine print included in Rule 1 of "The Challenge," the weekly sports quiz show that Fred Roggin hosts on Sunday nights on KNBC Channel 4.
And that rule states:

1. No purchase necessary. Void outside of KNBC terrestrial geographic viewing area and where prohibited. The Promotion begins on September 10, 2006 after the completion of Sunday Night Football on NBC during the KNBC show, "The Challenge," and ends on December 31, 2006 after the completion of Sunday Night Football on NBC, during the KNBC show, "The Challenge." (the "Promotion Period"). The Promotion Period consists of 15 Weekly Entry Periods; each Weekly Entry Period will take place during The Challenge show, which airs directly after Sunday Night Football on NBC and runs for approximately 30 minutes. The contest will be played in all 15 shows. There will not be a show on October 22, 2006, and December 24, 2006.

Which means, those who tuned in at 8:30 p.m., when the show usually airs, came in the middle of a live shot to Westlake Village where Roggin was interviewing Oaks Christian quarterback Jimmy Clausen and his coach, Bill Redell.
Which meant you were late.
Apparently, just because the show is slotted to air at 8:30 p.m. every Sunday night doesn't mean that's when it starts if the preceeding game runs short.

Here, we had no interest in watching the Raiders lose to the Broncos. So at about 8:20 p.m., we flipped on Channel 4 to watch the final minutes of what was a 13-3 Denver win. Except when the show came out of a commercial break, Roggin was all ready to ask Question No. 4. Our computer wasn't on, and all we could do was watch with frustration. Probably with a lot of others out there.

OK, we're big boys. If we can get over the fact we're watching this on DirecTV with a delay, we'll get over this latest glitch.
And by the way, we've now noticed in the rule listed for "The Challenge," there's this one, referenced No. 5d:

Television Transmission Delays

Depending on the contestant's TV service, i.e. cable, digital cable, over-the-air via antenna, or satellite, the reception of the transmission of The Challenge may reach particular households at different times. If contestants have a digital video recorder (DVR) hooked up to their television, they may experience a delay in receiving the transmission as well. Sponsors disclaim any liability and will make no allowance for delays in receiving the transmission of the show, and also disclaim any liability and will make no allowance for delays in a message arriving at "Sponsors" servers.

Yeah, we already know.

Anyway, we registered a whopping 70 points on the five questions we were able to play, good enough for a tie for 683rd place. Someone named J. Williams scored 310 to win this week. For the season, we've got 890 points, tied for 75th place. Patrick Alog still leads with 1,515 points, 75 better than the current runner up.

So, out of protest, we're boycotting next week. Then again, there is no show next week (the NFL takest off the Sunday night as to not conflict with the World Series, because it would probably get higher ratings and just embarass the heck out of baseball's heirachy). But if there was one, we'd skip it. Never know when it's gonna start anyway.

With that, here are Questions 4-9 that we were able to see. If anyone out there has Questions 1-3 with the choices, feel free to add them.