Please direct your attention to the center ring in Secaucus, for the next act in the ongoing Amado-Alexi circus. According to the Honduran press (adding the appropriate skepticism, that should actually read "According" "to" "the" "Honduran" "press"), Amado is so fed up with Alexi that he wants a trade out - preferably to Dallas. Otherwise, he states, he'll just dog it.

Assuming the story is for real, it's hard to filter out what part of this is posturing and what part isn't. Amado's no stranger to this sort of rhetoric (though "I'll dog it", if not proven to be an enormous, terrible misquote, might be a step too far to come back from with an apology).

And surely someone, somewhere is going to respond with something like "oh, those Central Americans! Down there, it's a normal thing for star players to bitch, moan, deliver stinging ultimatums to their bosses through the press and question their own desire to play at 100%! It's all part of the dance, the drama! You just have to play along!"

Well, maybe. But the way I read it, Alexi and Mo aren't interested in this dance or playing along. There's an air of ruthlessness about the Aleximo regime right now - Mo's indelicate comment about "not missing" Tim Ward after the trade last week was a sign of that (Mo, can't you just say "he's a fine young player with lots of talent, but we needed to make this trade to better our team now"? Why kill a kid?) The speculative bit I wrote a few days ago about this coming to a head real quickly between now and draft day is looking a little more clairvoyant this morning. Amado's leverage through all these recurring episodes in the past was his undeniable talent, and the fact that he's the linchpin of the team. For him to even suggest he'd jake it negates the talent argument, and from the p.o.v. of Aleximo, doing a deal now gives you a whole season to draft, sign and build around a stable core. I'm not campaigning for it, and if I'm advocating, it's with half of a very heavy heart - trading Amado would be incredibly difficult, both practically and symbolically. If you believe the stories that he's been shopped without success for months now, then perhaps you have to rethink what he's worth on the market, given the baggage that comes with him. Yet I sense the chances for something - a trade, a sale - coming to pass are increasing.

Bob Bradley apparently is this close to getting Jesse Marsch at Chivas. WTF? Bob Bradley was trying to get Jesse Marsch, every day and every night, for the entire time he was with the Metros. I guess the statute of limitations on Chicago's don't-trade-with-Bob law ran out over the winter.

How'd you like to be a Houston Clashquake? First your team is packed up and moved out of town; you've got to sell your digs and find new ones, the front office and administrative staff you've come to know are almost all eliminated. Now you're told by Corporate that since the new Houston unis aren't ready yet (settling on a team name would be a good first step), you're going to have to play the preseason in old SJ gear. Yeah, I'd be disgusted too.