It was hard to follow American sports, in Hong Kong.

In Abu Dhabi, it is nearly impossible. Via television, anyway.

And that apparently isn’t a bad thing, when it comes to the baseball playoffs.

A week ago (it seems like months), I did a post saying that a Freeway Series (that fantastical concept which, to date, has not come close to fruition despite the Dodgers and Angels sharing the SoCal market for nearly a half-century) would not happen this season, either.

True, I did suggest that the Dodgers and Angels would go out in the first round, against the Cardinals and Red Sox, respectively. But then came those sweeps, and moves into the league championship series … immediately followed by some pratfalls vs. the Phillies and Yankees.

Apparently, it was a gift from above that I didn’t see the Angels’ two games in New York where blunders and misplays led to a pair of painful-to-read-about defeats.

I did watch the Dodgers’ downfall in Game 1, while sitting in JFK on my way to Abu Dhabi, the five-run fifth inning that Clayton Kershaw allowed … but I was spared the 11-0 drubbing in wintry Philly.

The issues here, in terms of television are …

1. Zero interest in this part of the world in baseball. The same was true in Hong Kong, but basic cable there came with enough sports channels than the playoffs popped up on one of them. I have two sports channels here and their first interests are soccer. Followed by rugby and maybe cricket. And then motor racing.

2. The time difference. In Hong Kong, I was 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles — and I could see playoff games early in the morning, in China. But not too early in the morning. In Abu Dhabi, I am 11 hours ahead of L.A., which puts postseason start times right into the middle of the night here. And I like ball, but not at 3 a.m. or 5 a.m.  I’m already jet-lagged enough.

3. Internet issues. Even if I were inclined to buy mlb.com internet access, I so far have no internet access in my hotel apartment. I am writing this from the cybercafe downstairs, and it is costing me X number of dirhams per minute, and my enthusiasm for watching a game, via computer, for three hours (playoffs games are never shorter than three hours, it seems) while paying for the privilege is limited. Not while sitting at an awkward desk and typing on an unfriendly keyboard while various other customers chain-smoke all around me.

Clearly, both the Dodgers and Angels need to win on Monday, or they are pretty much cooked. That Freeway Series thing is still alive, but it certainly isn’t the way to bet. I had that right at the start.