Twelve Step Sports Addict

Well, it looks like the Bears have something to play for tomorrow, which is good because they seem to not understand the significance and the rivalry between them and the Packers. Minnesota lost to the Falcons today, so the Bears need to win tomorrow and again against Houston, and the Vikings need to lose against the Giants. Seems unlikely, but you never know. I wanted to thank everyone who commented and read this blog for your support either with my recovery or anything else that I have written about. I never thought typing about myself would have been entertaining, but if it helps one person get help, then it is way worth it. Like I had mentioned before, I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. Living every day with a thirst for something that kills you is the worst feeling in the world. But fighting it, and the won battle every day, gives me a sense of accomplishment. I think back to all the times I woke up, not knowing where the night or day went, seriously, mentally forgetting an entire day. I know I will be laying on my death bed one day, praying for one more day of life, and I have no one to blame but myself for wasting days. The fight against oneself is so hard. I would much rather be in the ring with a young, coke free, pre-rape Mike Tyson than have to battle this, and find ways to keep myself sane. But that is the Lord chose for me. Some people are way worse off. At least I appreciate every hour of every day. There is nothing like staring death in the face, when you’re yellow from jaundice, sick from withdrawl, forgetting your own name from the dementia tremors, to realize how precious life is. All those beer or Vodka commercials love to show a good time and people getting laid all day long, I have a commercial, show the drunk on the floor blacked out, with a bathtub full of vomit and blood in the toilet from kidney failure. The 160 bpm resting heart rate, the shakes from low magnesium and sugar, the failing liver, yellow eyes, cotton mouth, uncontrollable sweats, and the pending DUI court case. Not to mention that person is alone, having lost all they ever loved. That person will get up again and stumble to the store to buy more, that is the disease and that is what happens without help. That would not be a good Super Bowl halftime commercial. One in 10 people are alcoholics, that’s sad. Never be ashamed to admit you need help, you’re body will admit it when your dead, so use your head. (that rhymes ML

I was thinking today about how many Christmas’s I have spent completely hammered and then I was suddenly proud of myself that this will be the first Christmas I won’t look as fat as Santa Claus, white as snow, and sober. Usually the trend would go that I would go to my parents’ house, open presents, then go home and grab the 5th of Vodka that I had bought the day before and hidden,  the get sloshed. I have to say that I would not wish alcoholism or addiction for that matter, on my worst enemy, but the neat thing is although I am upset that I am getting older,  I get to act like a kid in  a way nowadays. My life is filled with many firsts. Not necessarily firsts like an infant, but firsts that haven’t happened in a long long time. It gives me stuff to look forward for. I have been framing my coins for sobriety and as I hung this past one on the wall, I thought that a year ago I was so ashamed of my life that I was always a little upset when I woke up every morning that I was still breathing, and here I am now, just like I was in high school again, making a trophy out of something special. This beats out all the football and basketball trophies by far. Tackling and draining a jump shot is easy. Controlling that raging asshole that wants to get drunk and die inside of me is a fight that I will always have, and every day I get to beat it, I have another first time, because this time last year, that asshole was killing me, now I’m killing him, with no weapon other than my own heart, and that is enough. ML

I was watching the news today and on it was the report of the construction of a hockey rink at Wrigley Field. I know I said before that I was going to try and watch more Hawks games, but now I am just going to loath them. What was wrong with U.S. Cellular Field?? If the Hawks want to be cursed, go ahead, play at Wrigley and hear about the goddamed goat, and ivy, and Bartman and all the BS Cub fans talk about instead of watching the game. They said that all the tickets were sold already, and if figures, it gives Cub fans another reason to drink, not watch a game, and be retarded. I hope the Hawks players don’t expect any real hockey fans to be at that game, it will just be a bunch of over earning yuppies, drinking that piss called Old Style, eating cold brats and wondering what inning the hockey game is in. I swear to God, if Ronnie Santo stumbles out there, I’m going to pray that somehow his lips freeze to his metal legs and he shuts the %^$&# up forever. Do you think they are going to bronze those things in the Hall of Fame someday….based on the HOF voting these days, nope. Sorry Ronnie, this old Cub sucked too bad to be voted in, voters care more about how you played rather than how you can’t walk. (yes, it will be very hot where I end up when I die, but I still hate everything Cubs)

 I was taking my puppy for a walk and he was sliding on the ice and then he squat to piss and crap on the ice and I thought of what a wonderful idea for Wrigley’s ice rink. I can’t wait to hear about some crazy blue wearing, Harry Carey worshipping, brain dead Cub fan’s girlfriend to ask if Patrick Kane just hit a homerun. Are they going to bring out those old guys to play the instruments I wonder?? See the Hawks are kinda good this year and have no business playing in that older than dirt, crap shack called Wrigley Field. Another reason I hate the Cubs, Moises Alou, the dude who pisses on his hands (literally yes, there was a story in SI about it) who yelled at Bartman when he didn’t catch that foul ball, came out and said that he wouldn’t have caught it anyway. That poor kid, a hero in my book, went through hell, and numb nuts Alou comes out now and says he sucked. I hope something with that sale goes terribly wrong and the Cubbies have to fold and all their retard fans go the way of Jim Jones and drink the Koolaid. ML

I wanted to take today to ask for help from the reader’s of this blog. A very good person that I know is very sick. This man is a great, caring, father, who worked 2 jobs to provide for his family and just the other month, found out he has stage 4 cancer. Michael F and I were pretty close as he should have been my father in law providing that his daughter didn’t leave, but in any case, I have never met a funnier and more caring person. I can’t remember how many times he went out of his way to make me laugh or make me feel part of the family. There are many of cancer survivors, but as everyone knows, the treatment can be more painful than the disease. I ask anyone reading this to pray for Michael F for a painless and quick recovery from this terrible disease. Also for his family, that was hit incredibly hard with this news. Mr. F, hang in there, you are in all our prayers. ML

Wow, I have to say that living in Chicago this time of year is pretty tough if you are a sport’s fan. The Bears are one Minnesota win from being eliminated from playoff contention, the Bulls are Ok, but not world beaters (except for Derrick Rose), I never really got into hockey, although I will now, and the White Sox left the winter meetings in Vegas with nothing big to change their team around from mediocrity.

Since there is nothing much to write or be happy about in the world of Chicago sports, I have been spending a lot of time with my new puppy. Reggie is the most loving pug I could ever ask for and he is growing up so fast. Last night he got sick and when I went downstairs to let him out, I noticed that he puked. He was so scared and shaking as I bet that was the first time he had ever puked before. So, being a good daddy, I went and let him sleep with me in the bed all night, and he was out like a light. He seems better today, but there is nothing sadder than a sick pug. That little look with his little underbite and big eyes and he can’t tell me where it hurts. I bought him a bone today since he feels better. : )

I included a video from a recent UFC of a fighter Corey Hill, breaking his leg. Wow, this is sick. Even with this MMA is still one of the safest sports around, but I have never seen anything like this before. Enjoy. ML

Well, it has been a very very busy and tiring couple of weeks for me, even though I have been still out of work. It turns out that I picked the wrong time to lose my job because most companies are not hiring these days until after the holidays. Normally, I guess most people would like to have the holidays off, and I am getting unemployment, but I am getting totally stir crazy and just want to get back to earning a living. I hate mooching off the govenment.

I am almost finished with all of my court issues. Again, in Cook County, I got lucky and avoided any jail time or bad record. Again, there is something to be said about karma and since I have been following the sober and “right” path, things have been going my way. I am glad to see that OJ got up to 33 years, I hope he rots in prison. Everyone and their mother knows he killed his wife, so at least he gets to do a little time. I hope he becomes someone’s punk bitch in the joint and Ron Goldman and Nicole can watch from Heaven and laugh at him curled up like a rat waiting to be loved by his new roomie. Gross I know, but screw him.

Reggie is doing very well, although I wish I could buy a pug butt cork, so that he stops pooping all the time. The cold weather makes it hard to easily potty train a puppy, but he is getting it. We are working on lay down now, as he can sit, stay, go in the crate on command, walk without pulling, come, and so on. He is also great around other dogs. He had his first vet visit and got some booster shots which was great. He was a little zonked, but then he got better and was totally a crazy pug.

Big fight on today and DeLahoya fights Paquiao. I hope Oscar defies the odds and wins, but who knows. I am not going to order it as I am usually dissapointed in boxing PPV, but with HBO, I get to see it next week for free.ML

This past week has been so hectic trying to get my new little boy to learn the house rules. I found out that he likes to watch Sportscenter, and I think for some reason he enjoyed watching Notre Dame get slaughtered last night at the hands of USC, because everytime they went 3 and out, he ran around the room. I wonder if Charlie Weis will keep his job after this season, but I heard that the university is looking forward to a good recruiting class and might let him stay one more year or so.

The Bears game should be very good tonight, although I hate having to wait until 7pm to watch it. I am a huge fan of Adrian Petersen and watching him during his Oklamhoma days and I predicted then that he would be a show stopper in the NFL. As much as I enjoy watching him play, I hope he sucks today and the Bears can get a win and stay alone on top of the NFC central.

Reggie is wearing me out, and as much as I love puppies, I don’t love how they can’t hold their poops or pee. Twice Reggie decided he wanted to finger paint his cage, and since he didn’t have paint, he used poop. I was watching Lock-up Raw on MSNBC, so maybe he got the idea from the inmates on TV, but he made a mess. Yesterday, he must have ate something that I didn’t see because he had gas so bad, I couldn’t hold him. He likes to doze off laying on my chest so he can feel my heart beat, but the constant flow of pug farts was choking me, so I had to put him down. He stunk up the basement so bad that we all could smell it upstairts. Wow, for a little guy, he puts up quite a stink. He is learning how to sit today and lay down. He takes to training very well as he LOVES liver treats. Reggie is a great tool for recovery, as I could never think about having a drink and no matter how messed up I might feel, looking into those little pug eyes melts any urge to splurge away. Go Bears. ML

Wow, I am so happy that tommorrow is Thanksgiving, so I can sleep in and just enjoy the day before the full frontal assult on my body come dinner time. The good thing is, this will be the first Thanksgiving in a while that I have been sober and didn’t go home after dinner and get bombed. What really makes that pathetic is that I have spent the last few years in retail and I have been tired as all Hell for black Friday because of my drinking. I need to sleep in because raising a baby pug is hard work. I am being very diligent on the training, especially the potty training. I sleep with him in the room at night so that he can get accostomed to the house and not feel alone. I could not have asked for a better little guy. He is about 95% potty trained, he has learned to hold it in his crate at night, although he did have two instances in the first few days where he went poop and then used the doodoo to paw paint his crate. He goes into the crate when I say Crate time and has stopped crying when he is in there. He knows his name and looks when I say it, and he walks next to me without pulling at all. All of this in 5 days. He is super smart, probably smarter than me. If he had fingers, he could probably write a better blog than me. haha. I hope everyone has a great Turkey Day.

ML

There has been so much going on these past couple days, that I don’t have enough room to write about it all. Not that anyone would really care anyway. Go Bears!! Nice game against the hapless Rams. Granted, the Bears were supposed to kick the crap out of those losers, but at least they did, lest we forget the last time the Bears played the Lions and almost lost to a team that hasn’t won a game this year. This Sunday should be an amazing game against the Vikings. This is a must win for the Bears, so I can only hope that Tommy Harris decides to play more than 1 play for every 10, and Brian Urlacher grows a set and comes to play.

The SCORE event was amazing. I have never been at a live radio broadcast, and it was so cool. I am an avid SCORE listener (670am) and watching Hampton and Holmes do their thing was awesome. The two things that really amazed me was the one, how nice Laurence Holmes was. He was totally gracious and polite and very knowledgeable. Most celebrities are conceded, but he thanked not only me, but my mom for coming out, and took the time to take a picture with me. Also, I was amazed by how enormous Dan Hampton was. He looked like a giant, and even though he is older now, he was jacked up. He must still lift cars or something for a workout because he looked like he could kill eveyone in the room without breaking a sweat.

The last thing that was good for me to see, was a lady that was at the event who was smashed beyond belief. Wow, she was giving everyone kisses, jumping on stage, and just being annoying. I thought to myself that I was that bad at one time and must have made a total fool of myself. Seeing that I used to be that distgusting, is enough to keep me sober. More to come….ML

 Well, it finally happened and I got my puppy!! This is the best picture that I can come up with of him right now as I need to buy a digital camera so he doesn’t look so grainy. His name is Reggie (yes, after Reggie Dunlop from Slapshot), and he is 4 months old. He was born 7/26/2008 and his parents names were Great Escape (mom) and Sisco Kid (dad). I got him at a pet store and he and I bonded the minute I saw him.  He is a pure bred pug, and by fate, he as well as all the other puppies were 50% off. Thanks to the crappy economy, I got this little miracle. He is super energetic, loving and so very smart. He already knows to go in his crate when I tell him to, he is doing great with the potty training, and well, is just amazing. Potty training is very tiresome, waking up every two hours to take him out in the cold, but it well worth it. I will write a lot more about him and the Bears game, along with the amazing time I had at the Score broadcast and meeting Dan Hampton. In the meantime, it’s about that time, and little Reggie has to pee. He has his first vet visit tomorrow so it is a big day. Thank you all for your comments and ideas, and I will post more pics as I get them. ML

I couldn’t think of a better title for this blog as I heard that Lou Pinella and G. (I won’t even try to spell his name) Soto, won manager of the year and rookie of the year respectively. Wow, getting a bonus for being the biggest flops in the major leagues. I am a little upset that Alexi Rameriez didn’t win rookie of the year for the White Sox, I mean the man did have 4 grand slams in a season and the White Sox did much better than anyone predicted they would the prior year, but I guess it pays to be a loser. At least Pinella had the balls to give his bonus money to charity, knowing damn well he doesn’t deserve a cent of that money. Two years in a row, being the best team and getting SWEPT out of the first round of the playoffs. Lou, they should have awarded you with a pink slip, not a bonus.

The White Sox got rid of Nick Swisher to the Yankees. I HATE THE YANKEES!! Not as much as I despise those playoff choking ass clowns from the North side, but I hate that Swish got the ax. True, he had a terrible batting average, but he was well rounded and was good in the clubhouse. But it’s the major leagues, you don’t hit, you don’t stay.

Also today, I am looking forward to, as I actually will get, UFC 91. As I explained before, it will be worth it to see 45 year old Couture beat the living steroids out of WWE superturd, Brock Lesnar. One thing I don’t understand is that those WWE stars actually put their championships on their resume (Brock brags he was the youngest WWE Champ). What!!? Sorry Brock, everyone and their mother knows those dances are predetermined. Yes, I know it’s athletic, and people do and can get hurt, but let’s not act like you were some spirit of Mohammed Ali during that time. Even bad boy Ken Shamrock puts his WWE credentials on his website. Guess Tito wasn’t to worried about that when he pummeled your ass three times in a row. I always liked you Ken, but dude, calm down, the ship has sailed, arrived and then sunk.

I am so excited about the November 15th Ultimate Fighting Championship card of Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar. I have a feeling that Randy is going to school the 265lbs behemoth from the WWE. My brother and I have been watching the UFC since UFC 1, way before it became cool, when little Brazilian Royce Gracie was choking the living Hell out the competition. I saw the first match Randy Couture ever fought when took down and choked out another huge man who claimed he was going to kill everyone in the tournament. Randy is a hero of mine as he is an older man that defies the odds and wins. He works incredibly hard at his craft and it shows in the ring. The other thing that I admire about the man, is that all accounts say that he is the nicest professional athlete you will ever meet. I never liked athletes that are jerks. In my opinion, there is no reason to. These guys get paid a huge amount of money to play games. I would play professional football or basketball for what I made as a sales manager if I could. I guess at some point, they lost the love of game. While I understand the neanderthal gene that makes these men badasses, I never understood being a prick when you leave your particular field of battle. Randy seems very polite and always give his opponents a ton of credit even if he just got done making them his bitch on national TV. I really respect a man like that I hope he knocks Brock back into the WWE on the 15th. Many people think Brock is way too big for Randy, but watching “the natural” completely destroy 6 foot 8 Tim Sylvia, makes me think that Brock had better watch out. If I had extra money, which I don’t right now, I would buy this PPV, but I will just have to settle to reading about it on Sherdog.com. Anyone interested in MMA, needs to see that sight, it is very informative.

I have been getting more ideas for a puppy name and I want to thank everyone that wrote a comment. Please keep them coming, and I can’t wait when I finally get the little guy so that I can post a pic of him in all his puggly glory. Here are some of the names that have been recommended.

Oscar, Mongo, Flint, Quincy, Bebop, Rocksteady, Pete, Killer, Sampson.

I like the big dog names a bit since it is cute for a pug. Anyone who has ever owned a pug before knows they are full of personality and make great watchdogs. One of the first thing I am going to buy when I get the little man, is a huge “beware of dog” sign that I will put on my front door. Then when the little pug comes running it will be so cute. Yes, I know I sound like a girl when it comes to dogs, but I am an animal lover, it’s just the way I am.

On next Tues, I am hoping to finally get my DUI case officially resolved and start paying court costs. It will be very nice to put that behind me and move forward. My lawyers pulled a miracle decision for me and I couldn’t feel more grateful and blessed. I have always been blessed with great doctors that have saved my life and now blessed with great lawyers that have saved not only my soul, but my record. It’s things like this that keep me from the bottle, the Lord has given me a new start, and He is not someone you want to make look like a fool. ML

 Here is a clip I found on youtube. I LOVE the movie the 300 and I love the show Family Guy, here is a mix of both……

Since today is Veteran’s day, I wanted to take a minute to honor all the veterans out there that risked their lives to protect this country. Thank you. Never having served in the military myself, I can not fathom what it would be like to be in a war zone. But I do know, next to what you all went through, my problems are pathetic in comparison. While watching the History Channel today, I saw many shows about wars, stemming from WWI to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The fear that those men must have felt not knowing if they were in a snipers sight, or walking next to IED on a road would have paralyzed me. It seems surviving a war is a winning lottery ticket, as it just takes one bomb, one bullet to end your life. It is unbelievable the amount of sacrifice soldiers make for this country. I don’t care if civilians agree with a war or not, those soldiers are just doing what they are told. I am ashamed that my house is the only one on my block that had a flag out today. People need to stop immortalizing professional athletes as heroes, and use that man or woman, who may not run a fast 40 yard dash, or have a sick jump shot, but put their lives on the line, so we all can watch sports, write blogs, and be free. God Bless all you brave people, I for one, will never forget you.

I guess it’s not the times that are changing for me as much as my luck. Not only have got a few very awesome jobs lined up, but I won something on the radio and I NEVER win anything on the radio. I texted 670 the Score today and won tickets to the VIP live showing of the Hampton and Holmes show. It is being held in some hotel downtown Chicago and I get to listen and watch a live talk show with Dan Hampton (Hall of Fall defensive tackle from the 85 Bears Super Bowl team) and Lawarence Holmes from the Score. At the end, I get to go to a private room and ask the two of them questions about the Bears/Packers game. What an amazing award for a sports junkie like myself.

That is really all I have today as the Bears game is pretty self explanatory since they looked pretty awful the whole game. It’s not Grossman like everyone is thinking, but the defense looked pathetic letting a 35 year old quarterback look like Joe Montana in his prime. I spent today, after taking care of my business, with my brother playing the new game Gears of War 2. Great game for anyone that has an XBOX 360. I don’t get into video games that much, but this one is pretty addictive. I had a great day and will report more about the Bulls and Blackhawks in blogs to come.

I know that this blog has to do with sports, but lately I have talking a bit about my life and how it relates to alcoholism. Yesterday was my birthday and I had a very relaxing and fun day. I wish the weather was a little better, but I was able to get outside for a very long run, and since I pushed myself really hard, my legs feel like Jello and the rest of my body feels like I got into a fight with a lawnmower. But it is a good sore. I got to see a picture of myself from last Christmas today when I looked pasty, white, with raccoon eyes, and my cheeks spread out farther than my ears. (Both cheeks, ass and face.) Safe to say I was a really fat, unhealthy man. 99% of that was due to the drinking, and when I drank, I liked to eat fast food. It was like my body would be telling me to quit being a jerk off and stop, and the greasy food somehow offset the effects of the gallons of alcohol that I was pouring in. I would think that with all the vomiting I was doing at the time, most of that food didn’t stay in my system long, but the 5000 calories of just booze I was taking in, was enough to last me 4 days, plus anything else I ate, just turned into my gut protruding beyond my toes. I must say, it is nice these days to look down and see my shoes again, my eyes are clear, and my face doesn’t look like Peter Griffin from Family Guy.

Since my brother took me out last night, and we went to Famous Dave’s, I ate a ton. If you haven’t been there in the midwest, it is a great BBQ place, but the portions are huge. Since I felt guilty, I pushed myself in cold weather to run longer than normal, to burn off that impending lard. Overall, I am happy today and although I am getting older and the girls I used to check out are now maybe 10 years younger than me, there is no need to be down. It is a new beginning for me, and a healthy new life. I keep holding on to that hope that I can stay healthy and sober. Anyone struggling with this disease just needs to have faith, hope, and confidence. I was a terrible, awful drunk. I did things that will stay with me always when I was drinking and although I never did anything that required any terrible punishment, I was a few more drinks to getting there.  It’s very hard climbing out of Hell, it’s a long way up, but I see the light at the end, and that light represents peace. That’s something I haven’t felt since I was 17. It’s worth it.

Also, I got a few responses for the new puppy names. I got Shooter (from Hoosiers) and Wrigley (from that piss smelling, disgusting, degenerate filled, death trap home of the Cubs). Thanks for the responses and I would LOVE more. Thanks even for Wrigley too, I really appreciate it, but I have a reputation to keep up on this site as a Cub hater, so I must respectfully decline.