Kenny Anderson and The Canseco Effect

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

An interesting rant from one of BSG's readers.
I bet there are a lot of athletes like Kenny
and Canseco....

http://home.digitalcity.com/boston/sportsguy/main.dci?page=rants

jasonvowens@(work).com WRITES:
A friend and I got into a discussion recently about whether Troy
O'leary's recent trade request (documented in Projo) was an atrocity
that ranked on the same scale as Kenny Anderson's similar request this
spring.  Each player, we agreed, is horrendously overpaid, prematurely
past his short-lived "prime," and hopelessly unaware fact that their
contract and/or total lack of ability makes him virtually untradeable.

His argument was that Kenny's unique blend of general surliness,
on-court impotence, and incredibly long and lucrative contract made him
the easy choice for worst offender.  I countered that, while all these
things about Kenny are true, O'leary's utter lack of personality trumped
all, making him the more dispicable player.  His nickname, after all, is
"the corpse."

Searching for a suitable point of reference, it suddenly dawned on me:
The Canseco Effect.  It's the pheonomenon whereby a player's huge
contract/lack of ability/pathetic attitude are mitigated by a cartoon
character-like quality that makes you sort of enjoy having them around.
It doesn't offset their shortcomings, mind you, only lessons them. The
Canseco Effect is prominent in sport today.  Rickey Henderson displays
it, though he still a touch of ability left.  Deion would be headed
there, if only he didn't give up football. Chris Canty was a posterboy
for it.  For the Canseco Effect to work, it's not just the athelete's
bad behavior or play that is funny -- it's that they're too STUPID to
realize how bad they suck that endears them to you.  Mark Chumura, when
charged with rape, KNEW he was wrong and is therefore ineligible.
Anthony Mason blamed the "hoe's," making him a candidate for the Canseco
Effect.

Clearly Jose himself is the King among Kings.  As much as you screamed
at the t.v. whenever you saw him playing/speaking while on the Sox,
there was something about his inability to realize what a JOKE he'd
become that made him fun to watch.  Even today, you can tell that he,
actually BELIEVES he's as good as he says, making it all the more funny
when he proclaims it on ESPN to some disbelieving reporter!  Kenny, who
once soothed NBA fans' bruised feelings during the lockout by suggesting
he "might have to sell one of his seven cars" without the steady
paychecks coming in, is not far behind Jose.  His observation that
"there is still a market for Kenny Anderson in the NBA" as evidenced by
the Mavericks' willingness to ship Christian Laettner to Boston in
exchange for Kenny and THREE FIRST ROUNDERS, was among the funniest
sports-related statements I'd ever heard.

"Yeah Kenny," I found myself screaming at the tv, "they want YOU!"

Whether it's Jose claiming that there aren't "five players in all of
baseball who can beat me in the 40" (last month on ESPN), or Kenny
misinterpreting the Mavericks desperate need to be rid of Laettnor
and/or pick up three first round picks, there's something about a player
mired in the Canseco Effect that makes him pretty entertaining to
watch.  Of course, if he were gone tomorrow you's know that your team
just got a lot better...but deep down you'd miss him.

Enjoy him while he's here, sports fans, because there will NEVER be
another Kenny Anderson.