If you’re not watching Coco Gauff, you’ve got Spectrum

After a week of US Open coverage, two things are apparent: You need to see Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz in person to really appreciate them, and for some tennis fans, that might be the only option. A carriage dispute between Charter Communications and Disney led to the Mouse pulling all its channels, including ESPN, from Spectrum TV customers mid-US Open and right before the college football season kicked off Thursday.

Predictably, old people who still have cable subscriptions but know how to use Facebook were apoplectic about not being able to watch their programs. However, according to Chris Fowler, Chrissie Evert, and Pam Shriver, the athleticism of Gauff and Alcaraz has to be seen live courtside to be truly appreciated. While I can’t validate what the ESPN crew alleges, I can say that both of the young stars are still exhilarating on TV.

Gauff has been particularly entertaining, as she advanced to the Round of 16 and a meeting with the comeback story of the tournament, Caroline Wozniacki. Coco’s court coverage and stature are a little Nadal-esque. At 19 years old, she gets to everything as good as anyone, and produces a ridiculous amount of torque from that frame. She’s responded well to adversity, old-school tactics, and gamesmanship during the first half of the tournament, coming back from a set down in the first and third rounds, and gaining momentum with the help of the crowd throughout both of those tests.

Following a three-year hiatus, Wozniacki upset No. 11 Petra Kvitova in the second round, and ousted American Jennifer Brady on Friday. Gauff-Wozniacki has the pedigree of a final on the first Sunday of the Grand Slam, and it should be exquisite tennis.

While it’s unclear if Spectrum customers will have coverage for this weekend’s opening college football slate, and US Open matches, what is clear is a portion of the demographic doesn’t know about CrackedStreams, and Bob Iger doesn’t care about their protestations.

“We’ve been in ongoing negotiations with Charter Communications for some time and have not yet agreed to a new market-based agreement,” Disney said in a statement. “As a result, their Spectrum TV subscribers no longer have access to our unrivaled portfolio of live sporting events and news coverage plus kids, family and general entertainment programming.”

Gotta love when one of the biggest media companies on the planet drops a little product placement in their statement after submarining millions of people’s Labor Day Weekend plans.

My suggestion is either take solace in the fact that no one watching on TV, or streaming it on a tablet while working outside on a beautiful Chicago night, is getting the full Coco Gauff or Carlos Alcaraz experience. It seems to me that if you’re able to afford cable, you should be able to figure out one of the many ways — legal, sketchy, or free trial — to watch Disney’s unrivaled portfolio of live sporting events in the interim.

MLB keeping pitch clock as is for playoffs

The only time of the year that fans will tolerate, if not fully embrace, marathon games is the playoffs. As opposed to a dramatic crescendo for every pitch, MLB announced it’s keeping the pitch clock at a rigid 20 seconds.

While I disagree with outright nixing the clock for the postseason, five to 10 extra ticks is enough time to get a couple more shots of fans praying to the baseball gods for a mother f*cking strike. There was a push from the player’s association to reinstate the old rules, but Commissioner Rob Manfred remained steadfast in his one well-received decision.

Pitchers have adapted to the clock after a bumpy start, and it’s probably not a big deal. I just like my postseason baseball like my interview questions — open-ended.