The withered desperate brand of Jose Canseco
Professional sports is like making and selling cars. There are brands, products, manufacturers, distributors, facilitators, customers, etc. In both sports and autos there is also value in brand equity, thus longevity, icons, and communities.
Brands - Evasive entities.
Brands can be cultivated through time or they can be explosive by way of a stigma. They can die out slowly, be rekindled, or disappear into thin air at the blink of an eye.
The brand of Jose Canseco seems to dangle in time like a squirming bug on fly paper despite desperate attempts to wash out its own legacy with revenge, spite, vindication, and self-justification.
Years after his futile fall from baseball greatness due to addictive steroid use in Major League Baseball, Jose Canseco sought to vindicate himself by exposing others of their shared crime with steroid use. A clear attempt for self-vindication, Congress fell right in to the trap of doing the “just” thing by bringing the accusations to public light, and at the expense of others such as Mark McGwire, Raphael Palmiero, and Sammy Sosa. It’s just devils bickering at devils. Real law would beat Canseco in the knees with a billy club, burn his books, and chase him out of town. But not Congress.
Three years later, Canseco now expresses his regrets for writing the book and exposing his ‘friends’.
In Shakespeare’s writings the protagonist is often a tragic character, which I respect. But Canseco is not tragic, he is pathetic. He cheated, betrayed his friends, and now he professes his regret. It’s pathetic because he can’t undo the damage already instigated and he doesn’t seem to realize it, nor his own habitual pathetic behavior. Or maybe he does, I don’t know.
Despite all this, sports columnists are writing about it and bloggers are blogging about it, thus keeping the Canseco brand alive. I don’t know who follows Canseco but Major League Baseball is not going down because of this. Not even the strike of ‘94 killed baseball.
Richard Wright and the Pink Floyd Brand
Pink Floyd pianist/keyboardist Richard Wright passed away today. Apparently he had a short bout with cancer.
Richard Wright was one of the original founding four members of the Pink Floyd in 1965 and aside from a brief period as only a “session” musician when Roger Waters essentially ousted him, Wright has been with Pink Floyd through its entirety from Piper at the Gates of Dawn to the Division Bell.
The Pink Floyd brand is an awesome example of residual equity where the investments you made long ago continue to pay off. Not just monetarily but in all fashions. People know Richard Wright. Maybe not by first name but certainly by association with one of the world’s more popular rock bands of all time. Wright exemplifies the power of a lasting brand and the character necessary to succeed.
When Floyd originally set out to play music, they were categorized as a blues band but with some psychedelic flavor. But it was Floyd’s breakaway from the Blues resemblance that ultimately helped push the envelope of Pop Rock at the time and set themselves apart from the British Invasion of which several other bands of longevity such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were formed.
So shouts out to Richard Wright, his family, and remaining members of the Pink Floyd. Your influence on Art, Pop Music, Rock-n-Roll, and society all together is one of extraordinary force. Wright’s passing should be one of celebration and acknowledgment for a true contribution.
Peace be with you, Richard. You were Pink Floyd as much as Pink Floyd was you.
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