YES Network habit of putting the game in the back seat

7/31/11, "YES should know better than to push game aside," NY Post, Phil Mushnick

"Down in front!

Among the oddest things about modern sports TV is that its shot-callers keep forgetting that it’s TV. They want to turn it into something else, like radio or a book.

It’s as if they bought a fabulous new car, and now they’re going to strip it for parts to make a scooter out of it. Or a flower pot.

Hey, here comes an idea, now:

During the third inning of every Yankees telecast, let’s shove the game it into the background, make it secondary.

Instead of allowing viewers to pay full attention to the game, let’s have a reporter,

on-camera somewhere in the stadium, speak endlessly, answer questions about all sorts of things big, small and smaller, things like whether someone sent to Trenton has been working on his change-up.

And if there’s nothing worth discussing for more than a few seconds, just keep going; force it, fill it; find something to talk about.

And if the mostly on-camera session lasts all three outs — or anything worth focusing on in the game occurs — so what? Give it a glance, then keep going! On with the rap session!

Never mind. Bad idea. That would never happen. What sense would it make? YES knows better than that. We all know better than that.

➤ If Michael Kay had a better sense of why baseball fans tune to Yankees telecasts, he would have put the kibosh on the mere idea to have an in-game poll and extended chat as to who would play him in the movies ... unless the choices

• were among silent movie stars."...

• from NY Post columnist Phil Mushnick, 7/31/11, photo of Kim Jones, YES reporter, from NY Post

(Ed. note: Kim Jones happens to be the YES Network employee viewers see and hear instead of game action should YES personnel decide such is necessary. The article above is nothing against Ms. Jones herself who is talented and hard working. Some fans avoid watching sideline reporters in all televised sports. Some people decide to make a living as sideline reporters which is fine. It's everyone else's right not to watch them particularly if they work for the YES Network. Ms. Jones is luckier than others, since she is also a capable radio talk show host and commentator.)

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