Bronx & Beans

I wasn't born yet, but I didn't realize we were celebrating the 40-year anniversary of "The Heidi Game?"

That's right. You may remember that 1968 classic between the Jets, the Raiders and NBC.

Fast forward many years, nearly two score later, to the middle of Robinson Cano's at-bat. Yankees vs. Red Sox. Greatest rivalry in baseball. After a long rain delay ... the loyal Sox fans...soaked and tired, are still cheering for their team. Cano's fouled off a bunch of pitches so far ... Drama's building in this one-run game ... Three-and-two count, two-out ... Papelbon comes to the stretch with a 4-3 lead ....

Here's the...........race car! WHAT???

FOX, in the ultimate drop-the-ball, kick-it-out-of-bounds, fall-down-over-it move -- decided that the beginning of the Subway 500 was more important to New Yorkers than the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. WHAT???

I realize NASCAR is very popular in this country. That's fine. Watch away. But at this moment, it was all about Yankees vs. Red Sox.

FOX...let me save you the time and the inordinate amount of bar graphs, pie charts and endless meetings that it will take to break down our demographic by saying this -- No one in New York cares about the first lap of the Subway 500.

You couldn't at least wait until the end of the at-bat and then re-access the situation? Is the first lap of a 312-lap continuous left turn that important? Even though I made more right turns on my road test, I'm fine with the fact that people enjoy this. More power to ya!

I've even learned how to watch the game with a three-second video delay because my father has the radio on to neutralize Tim McCarver -- I'm fine with that.

Just don't deprive Red Sox and Yankees fans of watching our favorite rivalry.

-- Fernandez