“We wanted everyone to walk away happy.”

Just noticed this in the Sandomir piece wrapping up the 2009 U.S. Open television coverage. Get your hankies out, this is downright moving:

“ESPN lost almost seven hours of live golf on Thursday,” Mark Carlson, the U.S.G.A.’s director of broadcasting, said. “We wanted everyone to walk away happy.” On Friday afternoon, Carlson said that Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports, told him: “I know how important ESPN is to you at the U.S.G.A. Let’s make sure they get some time on Monday.” ESPN carried the round from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. — which kept NBC from pre-empting the final two hours of “Today” — and NBC got the next two hours.

Is that touching or what? Ebersol looking out for ESPN like that?

I'm sure the Today Show had nothing to do with it! How could Sandomir even suggest such a thing! Blasphemy I tell you.