Now You See Him...

Talk about your bait and switches.

I was watching some primo sports on TV Monday when I should have been out buying a gas grill.

James Blake was playing Tommy Haas on CBS, while Tiger Woods was squaring off against Phil Mickelson on NBC.

As I was switching back and forth, I tuned into a promo for Criminal Minds and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a picture of Mandy Patinkin leading off the cast photos and come-on about how I should tune in to the season premiere.

Yes, I know, Patinkin came back to shoot enough footage to explain why his character is exiting the show, which is more than he has done in real life, but it seems to be a tad deceptive to throw him into a series of cast photos as though he is still in the show.

On the other hand, Patinkin reportedly didn’t give people much notice of his departure, so the show is probably entitled to milk his last appearance for all its worth, viewerwise.

Oh, and there appeared to be an f-word during the tennis match, when Haas was frustrated at his play. As I recall, Dick Enberg referred to it as a universal expression of frustration, which I would tend to agree with. But universal or not, Haas was warned by the umpire.