Sometimes a press release hits my inbox and all I can do is laugh, today such a release came in.
As many poker fans probably already know, the World Series of Poker is holding its main event right now in Las Vegas. ESPN has the rights to broadcast the event and is recording it for release later this year. The final table will be broadcast live on Pay Per View by the sports net.
In a move that surely made the ESPN execs in Bristol salivate, former steroid injected baseball star Jose Canseco is participating in this year’s main event. Don’t worry! According to the release put out by Canseco’s PR firm, ESPN has been “highlighting Jose’s play.” Why am I not surprised?
Canseco, for those who may be unfamiliar, was a star baseball player, and won the 1988 MVP award for helping the Oakland A’s reach the (baseball) World Series. He was also a steroid user, and admitted as much in his subtly titled memoir Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. As a result of his admission ’88 MVP runner-up Mike Greenwell has called for Canseco’s award to be taken away and given to him.
Canseco has also appeared (where else?) on VH1’s The Surreal Life where he spent a few wacky weeks in a house with Omarosa from The Apprentice and other “celebrities” I can’t remember.
Despite his success as a power hitter, he is probably most famous for this:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MmPFMPl-f4[/embed]
Whoops. Looks like steroids don’t help your hand eye coordination.
As you can see, Jose is exactly the type of guy that ESPN would LOVE to cover at the World Series of Poker, and he is certainly not afraid of the cameras. Of course, Canseco looks like he may be branching out.
After conquering baseball with his steroid assisted guns, the book market with his “juicy” memoir, and TV viewers with his VH1 appearance, he appears to have some new ideas in the works, as the press release indicates:
“Jose will be at the Olympic Garden today at Noon for a Press Conference about Baseball and Strip Clubs.”
Is it any wonder TV producers love this guy? Of course, it also begs the question… does the World Series of Poker have steroid testing?
