croll@wonder.enet.dec.com (John Croll) (10/11/89)
In Telecom Digest Volume 9, issue 439, Roy Smith (<roy%phri@uunet.uu.net>) wrote: >> X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 432, message 1 of 7 >> The following item appeared in Richard Roeper's column in the <Chicago >> 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
edg@apple.com (Edward Greenberg) (10/14/89)
Jose now has two 900 numbers. Calling the first one tells you that he wants to "reward his loyal fans and callers" by giving away 25 pairs of series tickets. He instructs you to call a second 900 number to record your name and address for the giveaway. Thus is costs $4.00 minimum to register. If you have a contest, it has to be "no purchase necessary to enter" so Jose has a second method. You can mail in an entry, but the address is listed at the very end of Jose's first recording. At $1/each additional minute this means it costs $11 to get the address. One side effect of this is that the San Jose Mercury News is publishing a daily synopsis of the Jose line, as well as all the addresses and phone numbers, so you can stay "informed(??)" for a quarter. -edg P.S. I'm going to a Pacific Bell Audiotext seminar next tuesday, to learn how to "turn information into cash." Naturally, I'll write up my experience. Ed Greenberg uunet!apple!netcom!edg