Hey everyone...

I don't know if you have been watching Greta Van Susteren's Canseco
interview on Fox News each night this week, but it's been very
interesting. Part II was on last night (it was preempted by Saddam's sons
on Tuesday) and it was good to hear Jose tell his side of the story
regarding those "domestic abuse" charges that have been so blown out of
proportion over the years. They even interviewed Jessica, Jose's second
ex-wife and mother of his daughter, Josie. She's fully supportive of him
through all of this. Apparently, before all the latest problems started,
Jose and Jessica had been considering reconciling their marriage...

I believe there are 5 parts to the interview in total, so be sure to tune
in again tonight and tomorrow night. Fox News, 10:00 ET, "On the Record."

Take it easy...
-Mark


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From esportsmediagroup.com:
MLB : A legend of the wrong kind
By Jim Margalus
Sunday, July 06, 2003

Nobody wanted to see it come to this.

There sat Jose Canseco in a Miami courthouse, in a red jumpsuit with wrist
and ankle shackles. He tested positive for steroids, which violated his
probation he received after getting involved in a nightclub brawl with his
twin brother, Ozzie.

During his playing days, Canseco invited fans to either love him or hate
him; with his brash personality, he offered no in-betweens. His fans
enjoyed the excitement that swirled throughout the ballpark with every
plate appearance. His detractors would wait for another Canseco mishap, on
or off the field, to use as ammunition against him.

To the detractors' delight, there were plenty. Whether it was the homer off
his head, or the pitching experiment that blew out his arm, or his affair
with Madonna, or his carrying of a loaded gun while speeding in his Jaguar,
Canseco was making enough news to provide punch lines for the rest of his
life.

In comparison to Canseco, Sammy Sosa's use of a corked bat looks like an
unpaid parking ticket.

Currently, Canseco is serving a 30-day prison sentence. If he violates
probation once more, he could face up to 15 years.

Even the most die-hard Canseco-haters must be finding it hard to laugh now.

He has slipped from the comical realm to become the classical tragic figure.

In Greek mythology, Icarus used wings his father made out of feathers and
wax to escape imprisonment. But, against his father's warning, he became
arrogant and tried to fly as high as possible. The higher he flew, the more
the wax melted.

He finally reached a point where his wings melted completely, and he
plummeted to his death into the sea below.

Or you can look at the tale of King Midas. Midas wished that everything he
touched turned to gold, and so it did. Nature, family, food -- everything
he touched became gold to the point where he had nothing of use. Unlike
Icarus, Midas saw the error of his ways in time, and the god Dionysus
reversed his wish.

Jose Canseco lies somewhere in between these two figures.

He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1986, and the MVP in 1988. That
season turned out to be Canseco's finest -- a .307 batting average, he led
the league in homers and RBIs, and became the first player in MLB history
to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season.

Even though he may have used steroids at this point in his career, it
certainly did not affect him. He was larger, more muscular, but in
proportion -- he still might have been filling out.

Canseco contained the perfect mixture of power and speed, and many were
already getting the Hall of Fame ballot prepared.

Back injuries shortened the following season, but he nearly returned to
form in 1990 and 1991, hitting 37 and 44 homers, and stealing 19 and 26
bases, respectively.

After Oakland dealt him to the Texas Rangers, he was never quite the same
player. Arlington hosted his most famous on-field mishaps. His days in the
outfield became numbered after the infamous "homer off his domer," in which
a ball bounced off the top of his head over the wall.

He became completely one-dimensional after an ill-fated appearance on the
mound for mop-up work. The results for the knuckeballing Canseco were as
follows -- one inning pitched, a 27.00 ERA, and a permanently-damaged elbow.

The elbow problems didn't come out of nowhere, though. Right before his
Texas days, Canseco became bulkier -- muscular to the point of impractical.
It limited his throwing motions, speed and flexibility, making him more
prone to injury. His elbow probably wasn't able to handle the strain that
the unnatural bulk put on it.

It's a phenomenon that has also happened with Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa.
Once above-average outfielders, they have become mediocre on defense,
sacrificing range and arm for power at the plate. Luckily for Bonds and
Sosa, they have managed to avoid injury for the most part.

Canseco was not so fortunate. Injuries plagued him for the rest of his
career. Only one time did he play more than 120 games since his trade to
Texas -- 1998, for Toronto. He had a career-high of 46 homers that year,
and 29 stolen bases. However, he only hit .237, and was caught stealing 17
times.

At this point in his career, he became a caricature of his former self. His
back-wrenching swing still remained, but it looked much more awkward with
the stiff, massive Canseco. His head grew larger and rectangular, and he
developed a nasty twitch.

Even off the field, his acts became more extreme. He always enjoyed his
fame a little too much, but it had never harmed others until 1992, he
rammed his first wife's car with his own. He hit his second wife in 1997
during an argument for his first charge of aggravated battery.

Canseco's career ended in 2002, where he toiled in the minors for a month
before calling it quits. He claimed that he was "blackballed" out of
baseball by teams conspiring against him.

He also admitted steroid use and made a claim that over half of baseball
players use such substances, and has threatened to "name names" in a book
that has not been written, or even backed by a publisher.

Like Icarus, Canseco got carried away with an artificial enhancer, and it
led to his demise. Like Midas, he got more than he wished for by using
steroids. Unlike Midas, unfortunately, he couldn't have the effects reversed.

He is still using steroids, and he has no use for them. He has become a
monster that nobody can control, and he may spend the rest of his life in
jail for it. People that pick on Canseco today are vultures. The joke is
over. Now it's just plain sad.

Mike Tyson is the only sports figure currently that can relate to Canseco,
but even that is a different case. Tyson relishes in the ridiculous, and it
appears that he knows more than he lets on about what he's doing, no matter
what is coming out of his mouth.

Canseco genuinely believes that he has done no wrong. He believes he is
facing harsher punishment than other people because of his celebrity. He
tried to earn some money with his house arrest, offering people to spend
the day with him for a cost of $2,500.

He didn't comprehend the gravity of his steroid addiction, he didn't
understand the gravity of his lifestyle, and he still doesn't realize the
gravity of his actions.

Jose Canseco went from being a sure-fire Hall of Famer to one of the
biggest "wastes of talent" in baseball history, according to Peter Gammons.

It looks like the downward slide only gets steeper from here.

Tragic, indeed.