I was really disappointed when it was announced last year that USA Network would no longer be the network for The U.S. Open. ESPN (actually, ESPN2, to be specific) has the rights to the U.S. Open and the other three Grand Slam tournaments. It scared me a little though. Would their coverage be as well done and entertaining as USA's?

I really shouldn't have worried.

I don't know about you, but I was surprised -- floored! -- to see Frankie Avalon on American Idol the other night. Granted, they always have to stretch to fill the one-hour results show, which could truly be done in five minutes, but how odd was it for Flo Rida, Kellie Pickler and Frankie Avalon to be on the same show?

And Frankie kicked off the show! The Idol producers dug up a 1959 video of Frankie Avalon singing "Venus," which of course, lead to the real Frankie appearing on stage to finish the number. With the exception of the dream sequence in Grease (1978) singing "Beauty School Dropout," has Frankie done anything relevant to warrant such major exposure?

Of course, the big news of the episode was the previous night's presidential address about Bush's new plans to move forward in Iraq. Such a historical speech was undermined by the fact that none of the networks managed to catch the first few words of the plan. I liked the audio that The Daily Show's crew managed to get... "Good evening. I am standing in front of books. Please don't let them eat me." Anyway, the gist of the speech was: "Sorry about the mess in Iraq. We're gonna send more troops."