The New York Post’s Mushy One despairs at having to stay up past his bedtime to catch a widely hailed US Open match.

Wednesday, it was 11:50 p.m. when old star Andre Agassi and new star James Blake were early in the fourth set of the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. Great stuff, but we’re only human. And we knew from the start ” the match began after 10 p.m. ” that we weren’t likely to make it. It had that Monday Night Football/World Series feel. Sleep is undefeated; it has never lost a fight.

Good night.

Yesterday, we learned that the match went five, a classic. Or was it? It ended at 1:15 a.m. If a tree falls in the woods . . .

I suppose there’s a point or two to be made about whether or not the advancement of tennis is best served by such scheduling, but is there anything worth staying up late for in the Mushnick household? Monday Night Football, the World Series, and now the US Open have become targets of Phil’s ire for running late into the evening / early into the morning. In other words, if you live on the West Coast, you’re not part of Phil’s America.

Anyhow, there’s always coffee, diet coke, no doz, pro-plus and other fun substances that the Mushnick kids can surely educate their Dad about. And what does Phil have to get up so early for in the morning, anyway?