Drunk On Sports

Started reading Tim Cowlishaw's book, "Drunk On Sports."

It has already sparked a few memories and a few connections.

Cowlishaw is a sportswriter, and was a raging alcoholic who didn't really know it or couldn't really admit it.

The guy is a year younger than me, so we grew up in the same relaxed times. The times when you could get pulled over drunk with a beer in your hand and the cop would tell you to dump the beer and drive straight home. I had a cop ask me one night "Are you Tony Testa's son?" I said yes, so he followed me home. Did not arrest me, did not tell my Dad.

Those were glorious days.

For those with absolutely no sense of humor..............I am kidding, for Christ sake. Those were stupid times. I should be dead many times over for driving drunk. I cannot tell you how many times I fell asleep behind the wheel. I drifted over on the highway once, bounced off the guard rail, woke up and kept on going.

Sheer stupidity. Cowlishaw is quick to point this out as well.

He refers to a six-pack of beer as a six. Memory. We all drank six-packs back then and we called them sixes. "Gonna go grab a six of Bud." Which cost $1.25 back then, $5.50 for a case (four sixes).

Nobody drank 12 packs. They didn't exist. Or 18 packs or 30 packs. I wonder if our need to buy beer in larger quantities reflects an increase in our insatiable need to self-medicate? Reflects a continuous decline in our national morale?

That is a topic for another day and time.

Cowlishaw talks about electric football as a kid. I played electric football. A lot. The stupidest game ever invented.

I loved it.

You had a playing board that plugged in. You set up tiny football players in formations, both offense and defense. You snapped the start button, the board would vibrate and the tiny football players would jiggle randomly around the field. As soon as the offensive player with the ball was touched by a defensive player, the play was over.

The craziest option was the passing game. You had this tiny foam or cotton or whatever the hell it was football that you could set into the quarterbacks hand. You pulled his arm back a bit and let go. It would snap forward and release the ball. If it hit your receiver, you would then snap the start button and vibrate the dude as far as he could make it. I guess if it hit a defensive guy, it was an interception.

I don't remember interceptions. I had a 100% completion per centage.

This sparked a memory of the most favorite game of my life. No kidding. It was a board football game, not electric, that involved cards and dice. I played it constantly. Kept records. If I could get my hands on this game today I would play it.

If I remember correctly, I had to choose an offensive card and a defensive card for each play. Roll the dice and the cards would tell you what each side did, determining the outcome of the play. A football clipped to the side of the board was used to mark the line of scrimmage. You would just slide it up and down the field.

I played all the teams and kept records, but for some reason my favorite rivalry was the Raiders vs the Chargers. I don't know why. All I remember is that whenever I had those two play each other I was more excited than any other contest.

That game is a fond memory for me, a soothing memory. It was a big part of my youth.

This book will be a good read. Cowlishaw is brutally honest about himself.

He also makes interesting points. He talks about how there is a bond between sports and drinking that's unlike anything else. Tells great stories from an insider's point of view.

Tex Schramm was the original president and general manger of the Dallas Cowboys. Schramm was a big drinker and believed alcohol had a prominent place in the sport. The dining area behind the press box at Texas Stadium became a full open bar once the game was over.

Cowlishaw, Jim Erkenbeck (offensive line coach for the Cowboys) and Schramm were discussing drinking strategies over a few drinks. Erkenbeck said "I'm just going to quit drinking when I'm 65." To which Schramm replied "Don't be so damn sure about 65."

Cowlishaw also says things to make purists uncomfortable. Like alcohol actually helped him in his career. For instance granting him insider access to Jimmy Johnson, who like to hoist a few.

I prefer this approach to discussing addictions to the puritanical "Devil's drink" approach. At some point in the arc, everybody's addiction is a positive thing. It becomes negative when it assumes control.

This book will be a good read.

Ciao.