Is something missing?

Maybe you reader people know me better than I thought you did. I was half-expecting to hear from someone asking "You're a hockey girl and a TV girl. How come you haven't said anything about Battle of the Blades yet?"

You didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyway. I'm trying to avoid it if I can.

I sometimes have this perverse curiosity about Dancing With The Stars when they announce a new cast, just in case there's a "star" competing that seems really out of place. One season of the show had comedian Adam Carolla as a competitor, who was just about the last person I'd expect to see on such a show (except for maybe Stephen Hawking). So I watched Adam Carolla dance for like ten seconds, and I was done. (It was boring.) Otherwise, Dancing with the Stars is almost everything that is wrong with television. (The rest is Charlie Sheen.)

Battle of the Blades is the same deal, except with skating. And it airs during the hockey season, so why should I watch it? If it were on in the boring abyss that can be summertime TV, if shows like White Collar and Royal Pains didn't exist, and if there were no such thing as a DVD, maybe I'd watch it. But to be honest, I only read this season's casting news because I wanted to know what the fuss was about.

The fuss was about Georges Laraque. Yes, apparently you can get him to do something on skates when there isn't a team and an entire fanbase relying on him. He's like the Lindsay Lohan of hockey players (minus cocaine): he craves attention, yet he refuses to do what made him famous in the first place. It's like the only two things he won't do these days are play hockey and eat meat.

Patrice Brisebois should know better, and also I thought he decided that driving cars was his new pastime. What's with the figure skating?

Now that Theo Fleury has come face-to-face with his troubled past, he's back in the spotlight and it's probably a good casting move to get him on BotB, since he's been in the news recently but this gives him a chance to get some positive attention.

PJ Stock isn't such a surprising choice. He's a combination of the hammy class clown and the ABC network property that are always on Dancing with the Stars. I'd prefer that he remain the colour commentary guy, since all of those buffoons at Hockey Night In Canada laugh at him already, even though they wish they were as much fun to watch as PJ.

In conclusion, yes, I will try to avoid Battle of the Blades like a communicable disease. And yes, if PJ Stock does something hilarious, I want YouTube links.