Jose Canseco Was An Idiot, Is An Idiot

When we get depressed with life, we take some delight in remembering that there’s always a Jose Canseco or two (get it? his twin Ozzie? eh?) out there, roaming the empty streets of a Miami suburb, trying desperately to remember where he got “those awesome hamburger tacos” last Tuesday.

And then we remember that he’s a best-selling author with another book on the way.

[Via the good folks at 100% Injury Rate]

Nostalgia: Memorable Games From Giants History

If you’re a regular reader around these parts, you know that we have a certain fondness for Bay Area nostalgia and the like. From Willie McGee and Joel Youngblood to Alton Lister and Chris Gatling, nothing tickles us like a name from another lifetime that hasn’t resonated in about a decade or so.

Thus, you can imagine our delight when we came across a new Giants book called Game of My Life: Memorable Stories of Giants Baseball.

The author, Matt Johanson, is a lifelong Giants fan, so it’s obviously written from a fan’s point view, covering the entirety (or thereabouts) of the Giants’ stay in San Francisco.

Each chapter is dedicated to a different San Francisco Giant and his “memorable story.” One of the cool things about the short, behind-the-scenes anecdotes is that they range from well-known superstars (Willie Mays, The Thrill, Robb Nen) to more obscure players (Al Gallagher, D-Lew, Brian Dallimore).

Since we’re feeling generous, we’re providing an excerpt from the third chapter of the book: Felipe Alou’s tale from October 1962, titled “The good Lord heard my prayer.” Matt Johanson’s words follow post-jump.

Sports Hell, Part V: The Traitors

The NBA ref betting scandal. The steroid mess. Dogfighting. It’s a terrible time to be a sports fan, so like we mentioned earlier, we’re taking a trip through sports hell, with the help of Dante.

Part I: The Lustful and The Gluttonous

Part II: The Prodigal, The Avaricious, The Wrathful and The Slothful

Part III: The Violent

Part IV: The Fraudulent

The ninth and final circle of hell enslaves the worst of the worst: the traitors. Each of the sinners in the deepest realm–and there aren’t many in the exclusive club–betrayed someone important to them. There are four sections, each progressively worse, with the nadir coming in the final section: those who betrayed benefactors. In Dante’s original, Judas (who betrayed Jesus) suffers with Brutus and Cassius (who betrayed Caesar).

Who will be our un-holy trinity?

Well, which three, ahem, big Bay Area stars betrayed their ultimate benefactor, the sport of baseball?

The Ninth Circle: The Traitors

To Kindred

• Michael Vick: PETA just got mad on behalf of canines everywhere that we lowered dogs to Michael Vick’s kindred level.
• Rae Carruth: Conspiring to kill your lady friend will get you on this list, unfortunately.
• Orenthal James Simpson: If OJ did kill his wife, here’s the circle of hell we’d put him in.

Bay Area Reps:

• The DeBartalo Family: Granted, they haven’t killed each other like the others here, but for heaven’s sake, can’t they get along? Bicker, bicker, bicker! Sue, sue, sue!

Sports Hell, Part IV: The Fraudulent

The NBA ref betting scandal. The steroid mess. Dogfighting. It’s a terrible time to be a sports fan, so like we mentioned earlier, we’re taking a trip through sports hell, with the help of Dante.

Part I: The Lustful and The Gluttonous

Part II: The Prodigal, The Avaricious, The Wrathful and The Slothful

Part III: The Violent

The penultimate circle of Dante’s inferno contains all types of frauds, as you’ll see. The thing that differentiates these sinners from the earlier ones is the use of reason to knowingly do, um, bad things. So no Mike Tyson.

The Eighth Circle: The Fraudulent

Panderers & Seducers:

• Mark Chmura: “No judge, I do not know why I was in a hot tub with my 17-year-old babysitter at her prom party.”
• Chris Henry: “No judge, I do not know why I served two underage girls lots of alcohol in a hotel room.”
• Marcus Vick (Michael’s younger brother): “No judge, I do not know why this girl is suing me for $6.3 million because I had sex with her when she was 15.”

Sports Hell, Part III: The Violent

The NBA ref betting scandal. The steroid mess. Dogfighting. It’s a terrible time to be a sports fan, so like we mentioned yesterday, we’re taking a trip through sports hell, with the help of Dante.

Part I: The Lustful and The Gluttonous

Part II: The Prodigal, The Avaricious, The Wrathful and The Slothful

Now we’re getting to the good stuff. After skipping the heretics–everyone in the sports world thanks god already–we’re headed straight for lucky number seven. For some reason, these guys seem the scariest to us. Here come the crazies!

The Seventh Circle: The Violent

Against People & Property:

• Ugueth Urbina (right): The former MLB closer is currently sitting in a Venezuelan jail and will continue to do so for the next 14 years. That’s what happen when you attack your workers with a machete and then pour gasoline on them. At least he’s still doing interviews.
• Joey Porter: The linebackers’s rap sheet: got into a fight before a game, got into a fight at a blackjack table, and his dogs killed a miniature horse.
• Brett Myers: Probably not a good idea to punch your wife in the face. But hey, that’s just us.
• Mark Cuban: You know he probably killed a few homelesses after that playoff loss. [We kid, we kid. Please don't sue.]

Sports Hell, Part II: The Incontinent (Continued)

The NBA ref betting scandal. The steroid mess. Dogfighting. It’s a terrible time to be a sports fan, so like we mentioned yesterday, we’re taking a trip through sports hell, with the help of Dante.

Earlier: Part I: The Lustful and The Gluttonous

In Dante’s version of hell, the deeper the circle, the worse the sin. With nine circles total, the first five circles are considered “outer hell,” because they are sins of incontinence, which for you mouth-breathers out there, means sins that result from an inability to control oneself (as opposed to more serious sins, as we’ll soon see). So, without any further ado, let’s hit circles four and five.

The Fourth Circle: The Prodigal and The Avaricious: those who wasted money and those who craved money.

The Prodigal:

• Pacman Jones (above): Everytime he makes it rain–several times a night, every night–a child in Africa sheds a tear, which really dehydrates the little guys. (Note: actually we’re not really sure if Pacman should be in the “avaricious” category since his unwillingness to part with his $81,000 worth of, ahem, rain caused the whole Vegas melee in the first place. Either way, he’s here in this circle of hell.)
• Scottie Pippen: He lost about $27 million in bad investments. Scottie, sell the Enron stock already!

The Avaricious:

• Scott Boras: We suppose you could put nearly every sports agent in this category, but Boras is the poster child for crazy, overinflated contracts. Well, him and Jerry Maguire and Arli$$.

Bay Area Reps:

• Don Nelson: Not saying he doesn’t deserve it, but he’s seeking out that cash at the risk of distrupting the best (only?) feel-good story of the NBA, not to mention the last decade of Golden State Warriordom.
• Miguel Tejada, Jason Giambi, Julian Peterson, Gilbert Arenas: There are more, but these are the guys whose salary-based departures stung the most for us at the time.

Sports Hell, Part I: The Incontinent

Like we mentioned earlier, we’re taking a trip to sports hell this week. We welcome your suggestions.

The first five circles are dedicated to incontinence: sins resulting not from direct malice but from an inability to quell an urge/appetite for destruction. [Note: In Dante's version, the First Circle is Limbo, where the virtuous pagans (those who were worthy, but lived before Christianity or didn't have a chance to be baptized) dwell in Elysium. We're skipping that and starting with the Second Circle.]

The Second Circle: The Lustful: those who sinned “within the flesh, subjecting reason to the rule of lust.”

• Stephon Marbury: He who loves to kiss and feel his sister’s body.
• Mike Cooper (right): Everyone’s favorite library-masturbator.
• Eddie Griffin: A word of advice to young drivers–don’t drive while watching porn in your Escalade; it’ll only lead to trouble.
• Matt Leinart: Already a deadbeat dad and Paris Hilton sidekick, just wait until he gets a second year in the NFL under his belt.
• Bill Belichick: Keep married women away from him.
• Fred Smoot: Three magical, magical words: Vikings Love Boat.

Bay Area Reps:

• Byron Houston: The former Warrior just pulled over on the side of the road during rush hour to give lil’ Byron some attention.
• Wilt Chamberlain: The king of all womanizers, the San Francisco Warriors great is reputed to have bagged over 20,000 women during his lifetime.

Welcome To Sports Hell

One of our favorite literary works of all-time is Dante’s Divine Comedy. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the basic plot goes as such: Dante travels through hell, purgatory and heaven. Each otherworldly realm is highly organized based upon the sins/virtues of a soul’s life and along the way, Dante encounters characters from his present day, from history and from myth, each placed in a section of the afterlife based on Dante’s judgment. For example, Dido, who famously killed herself after her beloved Aeneas left her, is with the suicides of the Seventh Circle.

You see where we’re going with this.

Modern times–and these here “blogs”–have afforded sports fans everywhere the luxury of being privy to the often humorous, sometimes sad and nearly always entertaining lifestyles of athletes. So, over the next day or so, with Dante’s Inferno as our guide, we’re going to be taking a trip through sports hell, placing the most notorious sports figures of today–and maybe some from yesteryear–in the various circles of medieval hell.

Here’s the rundown of the nine circles. Feel free to submit nominations.

1. Limbo

2. The Lustful

3. The Gluttonous

4. The Prodigal and Avaricious

5. The Wrathful and Slothful

6. The Heretics

7. The Violent

8. The Fraudulent

9. The Traitors

Suffice to say, the sporting world will be well-represented. From Michael Vick and Barry Bonds to Lou Seal and the Rally Monkey, we ain’t even bullshitting. We hope you like it.