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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Tim Joyce

The US Open risks losing a generation of fans by going head-to-head with the NFL

The US Open’s men’s final has traditionally been played at 4pm with the sun setting. This year, it will move to 2pm.
The US Open’s men’s final has traditionally been played at 4pm with the sun setting. This year, it will move to 2pm. Photograph: Paul Crock/AFP/Getty Images

Of all sports, baseball has claimed – somewhat arrogantly – the literary mantle with so many scribes waxing rhapsodically about the inherent beauty of the game, engendering wistful reflections upon a season’s end. One thinks of the late MLB commissioner Bart Giamatti’s quote about baseball being “designed to break your heart” as it commences each year in spring with hope and then ends in October, leaving the fans to face the cold and chill of autumn alone.

But at least baseball fans have the advantage of having their sport carry over into the middle of autumn, making the transition away from summer that much more gradual and easier. And anyway, baseball lovers shouldn’t be the only inhabitants of our parallel sports universe to be granted an emotional sick day and wallow in their post post-season blues.

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