Page 10- The Michigan Daily- Wednesday, March 18, 1987
Confession of a different kind of addict
With some help from Gary
McLain, I have finally realized that
I am an addict. In fact, I spent the
entire past weekend wired up and on
a constant high.
I came to this realization after
reading McLain's story in the recent
issue of Sports Illustrated in which
he detailed his battle with cocaine.
The former Villanova guard
states that the goal of the article is
to help other people, and although
many doubt his intentions, it
worked for me.
It wasn't easy, but I can finally
admit that I, too, have an addiction
problem. The only difference
between McLain and myself is the
drug we're hooked on. McLain
chose cocaine, while I am at the
evil mercy of a powerful drug called
college basketball.
YES, that's right. I'm a college
basketball addict and I know there
are many others who share my
problem. Although several people
won't understand this or feel any
sympathy for me, I know there are
certainly a few who can relate to
my story.
I have watched college basketball
for a long time, but never really
considered it to be a problem. This
season, I conned myself into
believing I could still control my
actions. Friends asked if I was
okay, warned me to stop watching
so much basketball, and even
suggested I get psychological help
before it was too late. I didn't
listen.
The NCAA Tournament has
proven to me, once and for all, that
I have a dependency problem.
I should have seen what was
happening before the games started.
Golden Words
BY GREG MOLZON
The symptoms were there as I
entered as many tournament pools
as possible and read all the material
I could find. I even knew the
predictions of such experts as Dick
Vitale, Al McGuire, Billy Packer,
Roy Firestone, Marty Blake, Pete
Newell, and Curry Kirkpatrick.
THEY WERE my suppliers,
you could say. Their views and
opinions filled my need for more
and more consumption. Because of
these men, I was intoxicated with
basketball before the tournament
even began.
Starting with the opening round
on Thursday, I spent the entire four-
day period on my couch with my
mind and eyes focused on the
television set, ignoring all
distractions. These distractions
included work, class, homework,
and anything else that might try to
take me away from the games.
After watching 13 consecutive
hours on Thursday, I became brave
and went to a class on Friday. I
knew I was experiencing withdrawal
as I spent the entire hour wondering
what was happening in the Purdue-
Northeastern game. When class
ended, I dashed home to my own
comfortable world where I could
spend the rest of the day watching
the tournament.
This same pattern of
consumption continued over the
weekend as I watched the second
round games on the brink of an
overdose. The four days of games
were an emotional rollercoaster ride.
I was really high when Austin Peay
upset Illinois, while North
Carolina's defeat of Michigan sent
me to a crash landing.
My emotions fluctuated until the
last game ended Sunday night. At
that time, I knew I would have a
rough week because there were no
more games until Thursday.
STAYING OFF my habit for
a few days would be helpful in the
long run, but that's not the way an
addict acts. As I began to suffer
more withdrawal symptoms and
crave for more games, I was saved
when I heard the boisterous sound
of Dick Vitale's voice Monday
night.
I couldn't believe there was more
college basketball on television. It
wasn't the NCAA, but it was the
NAIA Final Four between two
people (or was it teams?) named
Washburn and C. Washington.
That game and last night's
championship game temporarily
filled my need, as will the next two
weeks of NCAA action. But what
will I do when the final buzzer4
sounds March 30?
It is painfully obvious that I aml
an addict, and now I must confront
the problem and its causes. I'm sure
that many people think my
suppliers, Vitale for example,
should be taken off the air and
thrown in jail, but there's too much
money in the television business to
do that.
Instead, I am planning to attack
this problem by forming a support
group of people who share and
understand my addiction. I'll have a
meeting Thursday night at my:
house where we can discuss our
problem, and ways to combat it.
And if we can't find any ways to
deal with the addiction, we could
always turn on the television an4
catch the Duke-Indiana game.
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Kansas,
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By the Associated Press
Players on the Kansas and:
Depaul basketball teams all proved
negative for drugs as schools began
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the NCAA after first-round
tournament games.
None of the schools contacted by
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they would not know the results
until later in the week.
"All of our guys' tests arek
negative," said Doug Vance, Kana
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Bob Grim, associate athletic
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was notified of test results last late
Monday, and all were negative.
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