Meh....still don't think it's character. More about inhibitions and the fact that alcohol suppresses good judgement and the ability to recognize future consequences. O didn't find out in the media. He found out from within the athletic department at USC but not from Haden. Still the same issue though....a eunuch runs the house.
I have mixed feeling about this, as you might expect. I have been around alcohol all my life and drink whenever I wish and have never had a problem with it. I don't drink every day. I will never let it rule me, I just don't get that. I don't know if it is character or DNA but it's probably both. There have been times when I consciously stopped drinking at all for long periods, just to see if it would bother me and it never did. So I know that a person has some control over himself and can act responsibly. But I have also seen people that simply could not do this. People that are smart, largely responsible, and have a lot going for them but they just can't put the bottle down. I don't know a single long-time hard drinker whose life has not been impacted badly by it. So it must be some kind of condition or disease or people could quit it as easy as I. And like many ailments, it is impossible to predict that you will get it.
It's called Addiction. It comes in many different forms. But, when the person isn't in control, that addiction dominates your life. My drug of choice is Marlboro Light. I have had all of the drinks. Never tried any real street drugs. But my choice has always been a cigarette. I don't have to have anything else (addiction-related) in my life and can walk away from so many other things. Some people love a drink more than anything. Or heroin, or a pill, or whatever their drug of choice is. One can manage the addiction and control it to some degree, but when it gets out of control (i.e. life's troubles) addiction is hurtful, expensive and very unhealthy. The addiction controls the person. Trust me, it is real.
Cigarettes are more addicting than heroin or any other drug or drink. I drink when I want to and don't drink when I don't want to. At one time I was using too much coke. Was no big deal to stop. Didn't need rehab or therapy. I won't buy it but if somebody offers me a line I'll do it or not, depending on whether I want to. And I don't want to do more and more. But I have never been able to quit cigarettes. Lots of people I know have. You can't smoke in lots of places where you use to could. Restaurants, offices, even some bars. A few months ago I went into French Quarter Daquiris. They don't serve food so I thought it was a bar and you could smoke. I had been in there before and you could. When I lit a cigarette the barmaid told me I had to put it out or go outside. Nicotine is physically addicting. Alcohol and cocaine are not although some people develop a psychological dependence to them. Heroin and the opiate drugs are physically addicting so I can understand how a user could get hooked. What I don't understand is how somebody could be addicted to gambling. Sure, I get a kick out of winning but when I lose I feel bad. I lose more than I win. I haven't been to a casino in 4 or 5 years. I could go and bring like $100 an play the slots. $100 isn't enough of a bankroll to play the table games. If you lose at first it's gone and you don't get but a few minutes of entertainment. I can make $100 last for a good while playing the 25 cent slots. If I win enough I can move over to the $1 machines or even blackjack if I have hit a decent jackpot. But the point is that I don't feel compelled to gamble. Some people lose everything they have and still gamble. I heard about a guy a few years ago. He got some kind of government check once a month and as soon as he got it he headed to the riverboat. He was living in a tent in the woods.
Obsessions can be as difficult for some people as addictions. I know some obsessive-compulsive personality types that find ways to screw up their lives as well.
In those 12 step programs they help an alcoholic get off booze and a drug addict get off drugs. Once you are clean if you are to stay clean you can never have even one drink again or take drugs ever again. Those that do usually fall off the wagon and resume their addictions. They now say there is a such a thing as sex addiction, such as Tiger Woods was supposed to be a sex addict. Does that mean a recovering sex addict can never have sex again?
It really depends on the person. I've known people that have given up cigarettes no problem, I've known people that have an extremely hard time giving up opiates, in fact I've never known anyone that just quit opiates.
I'm not a member of the 'USC should have hired Coach O' club. They wanted someone proven. I agree. Personal issues aside for a moment, what had Sark done at UW to earn job at Troy?? He was cool and likeable like Carroll?? Cool And likeable don't earn victories. Now back to 'personal issues'- I'm 55. I'm old school. If u need alcohol, pills or nookie to get u thru the day, you are weak. I don't care if you have degrees on your wall or live in a box. Dependency is weakness. I respect your viewpoints but on this we do not see eye to eye. ( idiom!!)
