sport news College Football fans BLAST ESPN and ABC for split-screening games to watch ... trends now
It was a busy day for American sports fans. A full early slate of college football games that were exciting to watch happened while a Yankee slugger tried to reach a record number of home runs.
Not a Yankees fan? Not a baseball fan at all? Care more about the college football games going on? Well, you don't have a choice. At least, that's the way some fans saw ESPN's programming decision making.
With Aaron Judge on the cusp of tying Roger Maris's American League single-season home run record of 61, ESPN made the decision to two-box the Yankees-Red Sox broadcast on YES Network with two games happening on ABC and ESPN.
Fans watching no. 5 Clemson @ no. 21 Wake Forest on ABC and Missouri @ Auburn on ESPN suddenly had the play-by-play call of the college football games muted, while the audio and pictures from Michael Kay and the YES Network cut in while Judge was up to bat.
Pictured is one of the three times ESPN and ABC cut to Aaron Judge batting at Yankee Stadium
It was only shown three times - when Judge was at the plate in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings. Judge's at-bat in the 7th inning was not shown on ABC - as Clemson and Wake Forest were in the middle of overtime. ABC showed the result of his at-bat - a strikeout - after a break in the college football action took place.
However, during Judge's 3rd inning and 5th inning at-bats, the Wake Forest-Clemson game each saw touchdowns scored. First, early in the 3rd quarter, Wake Forest took the lead with a Sam Hartman pass to Donavon Greene to go up 21-20.
Then, later in the same quarter, when the cameras cut
