YOUNG AMERICANS

I know it might seem as though all I ever write about are television, movies, sports, and the occassional book, and that might be because, for the most part, that's all I pay attention to. Call me shallow, but I no matter how hard I try I can't get into politics and business, I can't sink the hook in. So, this electronic chronicle is very much a representation of me and will continue to be. If you like me or my writing, keep coming back. If you come here expecting me to turn political all of a sudden, don't bother.

In that spirit... I watched the season premiere of "American Idol" last night. Apparently, so did a lot of other people. Last night's and tonight's episodes show the process of auditioning new talent for the show in New York, Miami, Austin, Detroit, and Los Angeles. There is almost nothing funnier than who person who can't sing but thinks they have a great voice. There's an incredible amount of self-delusion going on and thankfully the judges, Simon in particular, seem to enjoy shining a light on it. However, I am vowing not to get hooked on this show like I did during the summer. I will gleefully watch these first few to laugh at all the crazy people with no talent who believe they have what it takes to be pop stars, but that is where my involvement will end. That's it. I'm also finished with that stupid "Joe Millionaire." I flipped to it a few times while mainly watching tennis the other night and regretted it. The guy is a dolt, the girls are lame, the setups are stupid, and the host is a complete idiot. The only element that is mildly interesting is the perspective-spouting butler, but he's not funny enough to get me to watch it again. I probably won't watch again until the secret is revealed to whichever gold digger that's unlucky enough to win the construction worker's heart.

The best thing I've seen on television recently was a tennis match replayed on tape delay earlier this afternoon. My buddy on the east coast had already let slip who won and in what fashion by the time I got to see the match, but it didn't matter. Andy Roddick and Younes El-Aynaoui, The Lleyton Hewitt Slayer, played a classic five-set match that will undoubtedly be remembered as the match of this year's Australian Open. In this particular tournament, players do not play a fifth set tiebreaker. Instead, they keep playing until someone wins by two games. Today, Roddick and El-Aynaoui encountered that very situation and battled like gladiators for two and a half hours, in the fifth set alone! Roddick finally prevailed 21-19 in the deciding set after five hours of high-level tennis. The players met at the net and shook hands and then embraced. Roddick seemed to feel bad that El-Aynaoui lost, or that either of them had to lose. Commentator Mary Carillo summed it up by saying that "in the end, it was the entire sport that won." Rarely do you see two likable guys slugging it out like that, leaving it all on the court, and bringing so much sportsmanship to the proceedings. I think that's why the end was so emotional. Roddick was emotional. El-Aynaoui was emotional, but too tired to show it. The announcers clearly felt the emotion. Even I was emotional. My Girl was crying. It was moving. It was a moment. It was one of those heightened sports moments that transcended the game and became about life. That's why I keep watching sports, hoping each time to catch another of those rare moments. Perhaps there may still be one more left in this tournament if Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi end up meeting in the final...