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Ever since a blogger got his hands on a copy of Jose Canseco's newest tome, Vindicated, and wrote about the accusations Canseco makes against Alex Rodriguez and his possible steroid use, A-Rod has been keeping rather quiet about the whole thing. Despite the repeated questions he's getting on the subject, all anybody is able to get out of Rodriguez is generally a "no comment."

Not exactly a shock when you consider that A-Rod spends four hours a day in front of the mirror practicing his answers to any questions he may receive. The problem with Alex's approach is that since a lot of what Canseco said in his first book turned out to be true, a lot of people are mistaking Rodriguez's silence for guilt.

Of course, Canseco thinks A-Rod is staying quiet because he's frozen in fear of the mesh-shirt wearing extortionist.

Canseco is still reveling in the discomfort he's caused Rodriguez. Every awkward "no comment" from A-Rod gives Canseco great glee.

The best part, Canseco says in an exclusive interview at the Omni Berkshire in midtown, is that Rodriguez can't do anything about it. If A-Rod threatens to sue Canseco or goes on "60 Minutes" to attack his credibility, Canseco will respond with "Max," the Canadian steroid dealer he claims to have hooked A-Rod up with in the late 1990s. If Canseco is sued or attacked, Max - up to this point simply known as an unidentified .steroids supplier - will go public with everything he knows about A-Rod, says Canseco. This, Canseco adds, is not a war that A-Rod can win.

"I've got the ace in the hole," Canseco says with a laugh. "And he knows it. So there's no way that he's going to fight me. He's trying to make it go away."

Ah, yes, the infamous "Max." Canseco says that "Max" is the steroids dealer he introduced Rodriguez to, but for all we know "Max" is just a monkey that Jose keeps in his closet at home, or just a voice in his head. I don't know, and I don't know who to believe in all of this.

All I do know is that this story is only about a week old, and I'm basically already tired of hearing about it. I can't blame either side, because if I was placed in either's shoes, I'd be doing the same thing. If I were A-Rod I'd be ignoring it and hoping the whole thing will just go away when Jose's publicity tour comes to an end, and if I were Canseco I'd be telling stories about Alex buying steroids from aliens he met at a party I threw in Miami (The kind from outer space, not Cuba. Don't want any confusion since the party is in Miami.), anything I could to help book sales.