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. 810 S. State 747-SPOT 747-7769 NiR. S P>OT'S FREE DELIVERY PHILADELPHIA STYLE STEAK SANDWICHES LET'S DO LUNCH' MR. SPOT'S MIDDAY SPECIAL (12pm - 4pm Mon-Fri) ANY WHOLE HOAGIE OR CHEF SALAD ONE ORDER OF FRENCH FRIES ALL FOR ONLY $5.00, 3 : r THE FACTS ARE HERE PIRGIM says they need a negative check-off system, or they'll cease to exist. Otherwise, they say, they'll have to inform people about what their group stands for and why people should give them money. Why shouldn't they have to inform people? With the negative check-off PIRGIM asks for, other people will be forced to inform the public why they should NOT give money! Do you really like the idea that you should unknowingly give money to a group, just because you didn't read the fine print on your SVF? If PIRGIM can have a negative check-off, why can't anyone? Maybe there should be a negative check-off for every group, no matter how controversial! Besides, if 16,800 people really support PIRGIM, they should have no problem collecting their funds the same as every other campus group - by asking for funds directly. 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