Trade Talking

Trade deadlines are a funny thing, in some ways they are the most exciting part of the season, but in other ways, nothing ever happens. Every year there are huge names thrown out there in trade rumors, and then the deadline comes and goes without anything close to a blockbuster deal. Of course there are exceptions, a few years ago Gary Payton got traded for Ray Allen, but other years the biggest name was Scott Brooks. So right now we're hearing huge names, (Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Pau Gasol, Mike Bibby, even Keving Garnett,) but my money is on no big deals. The main reason is that unlike baseball, there is much better value in trading a star during the off-season as opposed to mid-season. Most of the offers these teams will get will involve draft picks, and they want to be sure that those draft picks are as high in June as they think they'll be now. The only guys who make any sense to be traded now are Kidd and Carter. Kidd because of his marital troubles off the court and Carter because his contract is up at the end of the year. The problem is that no teams are willing to risk giving up good players in return, because they don't want to mess too much with their chemistry that has them succesful to this point. The Lakers are rumored to be offering Jordan Farmar, Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm for Kidd. I can't imagine that New Jersey could get at all excited about that group, especially since the key piece coming their way would be Farmar and the Nets already have a rookie poiunt guard they're high on in Marcus Williams. I hope I'm wrong and all the aforementioned stars are traded in the next day, but history says we won't be so lucky.

That's enough sports for today, I wanted to give some initial thoughts on the first night of the American Idol live competitions. It was the twelve guys last night, and there really weren't too many highlights from a singing perspective. The most notable things were the beat box kid who just sang a normal song, and the asian guy who decided not to wear any shoes. I wasn't really a fan of the no shoes thing, but I like the way he sings, hopefully he'll be around for a while. Thoughts about the competition in general are that a lot of people are going for style over substance. I guess this is the Taylor Hicks factor, they're intentionally angling to be very likable and quirky to make up for a lack of pure talent. Taylor was not the most talented contestant last year but he felt the music, danced poorly and he had gray hair, all of which got him a lot of votes. This year's most obvious Taylor Hicks impersonation is being made by a kid named Chris Sligh. Sligh looks lack Jack Osbourne but has a good enough voice and is trying to ooze personality. In his pre-show interview he basically stated that his strategy was to stand out in ways other than singing, which while it is a good strategy, should never be stated on the show. Also worthy of noting is how overhyped this kid Sundance Head has proven to be. He's gotten a lot of camera time, and he's got personality, but it seems like every performance is worse than the one before. He probably won;t get voted off right away because he is unique, but if there is any justice he won;t make it to the final twelve.

As for the show in general, the best part last night was the battle of the divas. Ryan Seacrest vs. Simon Cowell in an insult war, which is kinda fun because they both deserve it. I'm expecting an impromptu edition of "Yo Momma" to break out before the end of the season, complete with guest appearance by Fes himself, Wilmer Valderrama.

I am an unapologetic fan of these reality/competition shows, going back to watching Starsearch in my youth. That's half the reason I'm pumped for the new season of Dancing with the Stars. There aren't any really sexy ladies a la Stacy Keibler, but I was happy to see Ian Ziering on the list for this season. The world needs more Steve Sanders, I've always been a fan of his since he became my first ever celebrity sighting outside of The Atrium Mall in Chestnut Hill, he and Luke Perry were out one of those insane celebrity appearances they were doing when 90210 first got on the air. Their combined age at the time of that sighting, a youthful 80 years old.

That's all for today.

-Bender Out