My sports viewing day has gone from one extreme to the other. An event in which I was quite interested … to one in which I find myself completely disengaged

And both on the same television network.

Game 1 was the Dodgers and Phillies in the National League Championship Series. The game that was on when I rolled out of bed.

Game 2 is still going on — Australia vs. Uzbekistan in a World Cup qualifier from Tashkent. Really. It’s on right now. (At least I think it is; maybe it’s taped. I haven’t checked.) And I’m watching. Sort of. Australia is ahead, 1-0.

So it is with sports viewing on this side of the Pacific. A bit of American-sports bleeding through (generally, the NBA, NFL and big-league baseball) … but the rest of the menu heavily oriented toward soccer (England in particular, but almost anything anywhere) and to a much lesser degree by the traditional British Empire sports — cricket, rugby, Formula One auto racing.

(NASCAR appears to have zero presence in Asia. Just now occurred to me. They’re the Good Ol’ Invisible Boys, over here.)

A couple of thoughts on the Dodgers game.

–I like Blake DeWitt. The kid playing second base, these days. The one whose three-run triple (probably the single most exciting play in baseball, the bases-loaded triple) broke open the game in the first inning.

DeWitt was playing Single-A ball in San Bernardino in 2007. He looked unimpressive, physically (he’s listed at 5-11, 175). And didn’t exactly kill the California League, either (.298 batting average with eight homers and 46 RBI in 339 at-bats, and 15 errors, mostly at third base). I saw him play, and I thought to myself, “I don’t think he’s gonna make it.” And now he’s three victories from starting at second base in the World Series.

A big part of this has to be inside his head. He projects a feeling of “I belong here; I can play here.” Almost as if he has just convinced himself he can … and so he does. Anyway, I like his cool. I don’t think he has the power to play a corner infield spot, or the quickness to play second base, nor do I think he will hit long-term — but don’t tell him, because he doesn’t know it yet.

–Now we know what it takes to put fannies in all (or nearly all) of those high-dollar seats right behind home plate. An NLCS. If you’re a serious Dodgers fan it has to annoy you to turn on the TV, and see the Dodgers at home, with maybe 50,000 people actually in the ballpark for a significant game — and half the top-end seats just behind the plate sitting empty because the fat cats who bought those season tickets couldn’t be bothered to show up — or even give away the seats.

–Hiroki Kuroda’s head-high pitch to Shane Victorino may have been a turning point in the series. OK, yeah, the Dodgers were up 6-1 at the time, but the Dodgers had some unfinished business to attend to: One of their pitches needed to throw at one of the Phillies, because the Philadelphia pitching staff seemed to be using Dodgers hitters as targets for bean balls. The statement was made — you can’t throw at our guys without response.

–When did Corey Wade become the Dodgers’ set-up man? Or one of them? He’s even more obscure than Blake DeWitt. And there he is in crucial situations. Kind of amazing.

Anyway, it was fun to see the Dodgers win a game this deep in the playoffs. Hasn’t happened since 1988, and there is an entire generation of Dodgers fans who don’t remember that.

I still think Philly wins this series, but at least the Dodgers will make a fight of it.

That was the sublime … and now back to the ridiculous.

It just struck me that this isn’t a World Cup qualifier, because Australia plays in that goofy Pacific Islands group, or whatever FIFA calls it now (It’s Oceania, actually.) … and Uzbekistan plays in Asia. So it must be a friendly. And just reminds us that Australia is so far from the rest of the serious soccer world that going to Tashkent probably is less of a logistics hassle than going to, Africa or America.

Oh, and let’s guess that this stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s capital, is the premier facility in the country. Well, I can just tell you that it’s not bigger than the Home Depot Center in Carson, and might be smaller. It certainly is less-impressive to look at.

And yet, I watch this. Hmm. I guess it shows what you’ll do when you’re up late and you’re a sports fan far, far away from his usual fun and games.