Eli Manning, Sony, and Seinfeld

FOX 11 General Manager Jay Zollar's plan has worked perfectly.

He was having some fun with Eli Manning by pulling Manning's favorite show, Seinfeld, from WLUK's Saturday lineup before the NFC championship game. Zollar didn't want to be responsible for providing Manning any sort of comfort.

Then what happened?

Jerry Seinfeld responded.

News of WLUK-TV's decision apparently reached Jerry Seinfeld himself.

"I'm going to send Eli a complete collection of 'Seinfeld' DVDs and a partial collection of 'Hogan's Heroes' for inspiration," the comedian told the New York Post on Thursday.

"You think I'm going to take that sitting down?"

Jay Zollar, the Fox station's general manager, laughed when he heard of Seinfeld's response. Zollar joked that the offer actually plays into the station's master plan of preventing Manning from being master of the domain on Sunday.

"Now he (Manning) will be up all night watching 'Seinfeld' — there will be no sleep for you," he said, parodying the Soup Nazi episode in which a server admonishes noncompliant customers with, "No soup for you!"

Yes, Seinfeld has fallen into Zollar's trap.

Sony did, too.

Sony has sent Manning a DVD player and "Seinfeld: The Complete Series" DVD collection that he can watch from his hotel room all night long.

Not a smart move by Sony.

Manning said Friday the whole affair was amusing.

"Yeah, it's pretty funny," he said. "You've got to enjoy it."

Manning added that he already has the entire "Seinfeld" collection.

...The station let viewers vote on the show to replace the pulled "Seinfeld" episode.

Of about 3,700 votes cast, some 60 percent were for a 30-minute special about former Packers coach Vince Lombardi called "God, Family and the Green Bay Packers."

What's amazing to me is that some people actually thought this was a serious attempt to mess with Manning.

IT'S A JOKE.

Who could possibly think that Zollar really believed a Seinfeld episode not being aired at 5:30 PM on Saturday would have an impact on Manning's game?

"Some people think we're mean," he said. "Some say we're not welcoming, that we should be gracious hosts, we should invite them in and be nice to their quarterback."

IT'S A JOKE.

Manning gets it and so does Seinfeld.

People need to lighten up.

By the way, I well be boycotting all Sony products.