For the template you have currently, there's not an easy way to remove the countdown timer.
If you're comfortable with opening up the Advanced Layout Options and deleting that particular menu, that's the best way.
There's an easier way though, by editing the Advanced Layout Options layout file, if you append the following to the end of the file, it'll delete it from the page for you, but it's not quite as clean as the first option:
<script type="text/javascript">
jq_preload(function(){jq("#tdEventDisplay").parents("table:first").remove();});
</script>
--
It's all in the reflexes.