Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: croll@wonder.enet.dec.com (John Croll) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: 1-900-IMA-JERK Message-ID: Date: 11 Oct 89 16:03:53 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 35 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 442, message 2 of 9 In Telecom Digest Volume 9, issue 439, Roy Smith () wrote: >> X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 432, message 1 of 7 >> The following item appeared in Richard Roeper's column in the > Sun Times>, Wednesday, October 4, 1989. >> "Hi kids, this is Jose Canseco of the Oakland A's. If you want to know >> the true story about how fast I was driving when I got that ticket [...] > This isn't for real, is it? If it is, it certainly fits any >reasonable definition of obscene that I can think of. Even paying $20 >to hear Wanda tell me what she wants to do to me isn't as bad. Actually, unfortunately, this is for real. You can dial the number and hear a few minutes of incredibly boring Jose Canseco. Just because somebody is good at hitting a baseball doesn't mean he's not a twit. (In fact, being good enough at hitting a baseball to make a million dollars a year probably means you are a twit.) I read somewhere that this gimmick is the bright idea of Jose's agents, who are always on the lookout for ways to cash in on Jose's name (not to mention the names of the other people the agency handles). They justified it by saying that people know up front that it costs real money, and that people really want to know what Jose thinks about stuff. It also, incidentally, pays Jose (and his agents) a nice piece of change. I like to watch the guy play ball (did you see the 500+ foot home run he hit in Toronto?), but I never listen to what he says because it's so stupid. Apparently there's at least one fan in Oakland who agrees: During the last regular season game televised from Oakland, I saw a sign in the outfield bleachers that read: "Hey Jose! 1-900-IMA-JERK!" My sentiments exactly. John