Some Observations on the Nature of Addiction
Oh, no. Not my vices. I've got plenty of those, and I'm comfortable with them.
No, I've realized I have a problem, it sure isn't getting better, and I feel powerless to do anything about it.
I've heard the first step to dealing with this kind of stuff is to admit to it, so here goes...
Hi, my name is Frank, and I'm a Cubs Fan.
And, it's really, really bad right now. Like when you can't even beat the freaking Marlins kinda bad.
You can say all you want about injuries, but this team's problems are a whole lot worse. These guys are talking like all the poker losers that you know, we took a tough beat, I sure hope things turn around soon, we're running bad, it's got to get better, yadda yadda yadda.
You know, playing better might work.
Or maybe this team is really as bad as they are playing.
Oh, I know that I could just stop watching. A few years ago, I almost got got away from it when they had the strike, but then they started pumping the boys full of steroids and started playing Home Run Derby. Wait a minute. That never happened. I know that because that's what they told Congress, plus I saw it on TV, so it's got to be true.
Poker-wise, baseball has been berry berry good to me (btw, is Chico Escquela in the Hall of Fame? How 'bout Pete Rose?). As a kid, I would spend Sunday afternoons pouring over the stats in the paper, figuring how many hits my favorite players needed to move up. I believe this helped me to get an innate grasp on calculating odds on the fly at the poker table, so that I can better spend my time watching who picks their nose when they are bluffing, that sort of thing.
I also got to spend a lot of time around Major Leagers as a teenager, hitching a ride to Wrigley with veteran relief pitcher and all around nice guy Phil Regan for every home game in 1970. Oh, yeah, it only cost a buck to get into the bleachers back then. Really. Go get a freaking second mortgage to go to a game now, with the ticket brokers scooping up all the seats. But I digress. Meeting guys like Kessinger, Santo, Beckert, showed me that these guys who were bigger than life to a kid were just human beings like all of us. Which is why I don't give a rat's ass who I'm sitting with at a poker table. Intimidation is a big factor for many players, but not for me.
I'm trying to look at the bright side of things. Like, if Harrah's hadn't moved the dates of the WSOP, I'd be hurting worse, as I usually throw 10, 20, 50, or a hundred on the Cubs when I'm in Las Vegas, just for yuks (or for the action? You be the judge:)
The Cubs recently made the Padres look like the 1927 Yankees, or the Big Red Machine or something, which has gotta make our buddy RC happy.
But, all in all, it sucks to be a Cubs Fan right now.
Thanks for listening,
Frank/NUT-Z
No, I've realized I have a problem, it sure isn't getting better, and I feel powerless to do anything about it.
I've heard the first step to dealing with this kind of stuff is to admit to it, so here goes...
Hi, my name is Frank, and I'm a Cubs Fan.
And, it's really, really bad right now. Like when you can't even beat the freaking Marlins kinda bad.
You can say all you want about injuries, but this team's problems are a whole lot worse. These guys are talking like all the poker losers that you know, we took a tough beat, I sure hope things turn around soon, we're running bad, it's got to get better, yadda yadda yadda.
You know, playing better might work.
Or maybe this team is really as bad as they are playing.
Oh, I know that I could just stop watching. A few years ago, I almost got got away from it when they had the strike, but then they started pumping the boys full of steroids and started playing Home Run Derby. Wait a minute. That never happened. I know that because that's what they told Congress, plus I saw it on TV, so it's got to be true.
Poker-wise, baseball has been berry berry good to me (btw, is Chico Escquela in the Hall of Fame? How 'bout Pete Rose?). As a kid, I would spend Sunday afternoons pouring over the stats in the paper, figuring how many hits my favorite players needed to move up. I believe this helped me to get an innate grasp on calculating odds on the fly at the poker table, so that I can better spend my time watching who picks their nose when they are bluffing, that sort of thing.
I also got to spend a lot of time around Major Leagers as a teenager, hitching a ride to Wrigley with veteran relief pitcher and all around nice guy Phil Regan for every home game in 1970. Oh, yeah, it only cost a buck to get into the bleachers back then. Really. Go get a freaking second mortgage to go to a game now, with the ticket brokers scooping up all the seats. But I digress. Meeting guys like Kessinger, Santo, Beckert, showed me that these guys who were bigger than life to a kid were just human beings like all of us. Which is why I don't give a rat's ass who I'm sitting with at a poker table. Intimidation is a big factor for many players, but not for me.
I'm trying to look at the bright side of things. Like, if Harrah's hadn't moved the dates of the WSOP, I'd be hurting worse, as I usually throw 10, 20, 50, or a hundred on the Cubs when I'm in Las Vegas, just for yuks (or for the action? You be the judge:)
The Cubs recently made the Padres look like the 1927 Yankees, or the Big Red Machine or something, which has gotta make our buddy RC happy.
But, all in all, it sucks to be a Cubs Fan right now.
Thanks for listening,
Frank/NUT-Z