Fox changes channels on Yankee fans

Instead of lambasting Joe Girardi for foolishly having Mike Mussina pitch to Manny Ramirez Saturday or telling you not to worry about young Phil Hughes’ first start against the BoSox last night, I’m left to rant and rave about how TV continues to strive to push fans away. Yankees-Red Sox proved to be yet another example.

During the week I must have seen 100 promos for ‘The Renewing of The Rivalry.’ It was the FOX Game of the Week on both Saturday on FOX and Sunday night on ESPN. Rightfully so. As we said the other day, no other sports event this weekend -Masters, Mets-Brewers, Rangers-Devils equates to the fun at Fenway.

Still, the suits at FOX had to have their cake and eat it too. It was enough to drive my friends Stephanie in Lake Grove and The Care Bear of Jersey fame through the roof. You already know this part: Sox ahead 4-3 in the eighth with two on and two out, A-Rod to face Papelpon when the rains came.

OK. First off, though I understand it -the game should have been called rather than have fans sit through the two hour rain delay. BUT, FOX doesn’t want to air a game that doesn’t have a completion -ESPECIALLY in this rivalry. So even if the game not on national TV, they might have waited for Hades to freeze over. Understood.

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My beef: Once Fox (and you know they made the call) decides they want a nine inning game-they have to stay with it, at least in NY. I’ve never understood the love of a continual left turn, but racing is big in most of the country. So-as as happened withbaseball playoff games in October, FOX stays with Yanks-BoSox in New York and New England -and moves the car race to FX EVERYWHERE ELSE. This way, fans in both cities can see the baseball -and the rest of the country can swill beer as somebody crashes at Turn 3 in Phoenix. The Northeast is the one area of the country where racing is not that strong. This was a dumb, unnecessary move by FOX. I’d love to have seen the reaction at bars in the Big Apple and the Hub.

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So sorry, Steph and Care -but money talks. My guess is that the network promised NASCAR national coverage. Once the rains came, FOX made sure all their financial bases were covered -leaving fans out in the cold.

CLICK HERE TO READ KEN DAVIDOFF’S NEWSDAY COLUMN ON JOE GIRARDI AND THE YANKEES LOST WEEKEND

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