Intervention Update

Back on Tuesday, September 22nd, I wrote a column titled “Intervention Needed”. Basically it was my way of telling myself to incorporate a few books into my steady diet of sports talk radio, the Internet and television. Having forced myself to close the MacBook and turn off 540 ESPN, I was actually able to start reading the pile of books that had been staring at me for so long.

Okay, the TV was on with the sound turned off and I was listening to iTunes, but there was honest-to-goodness reading going on.

I started off by finishing “Boys Will Be Boys” by Jeff Pearlman. This book chronicles the Dallas Cowboys rise to their glory days during the ‘90s.

It also describes in great detail all the drinking, drug abusing and whoring that “America’s Team” did during that same period. Just the stories involving Charles Haley are well worth the $25.95 that I paid for this book.

The next book that I sunk my teeth into was “Gladiator - A True Story Of ‘Roids, Rage and Redemption”. This was written by Dan Clark aka Nitro from the original American Gladiators television show.

It wasn’t a bad read; I wanted a little more behind the scenes type stuff. What it did have was a detailed account of Clark’s addiction to steroids. It was fairly evident that this was the ex-Gladiators attempt at some sort of cathartic healing.

Looking for something a bit “lighter”, my choice following Gladiator was “Bobby The Brain – Wrestling’s Bad Boy Tells All”. The 2002 autobiography of Bobby Heenan brought back many memories along with countless laugh out loud moments.

The man the fans called “Weasel” was just as funny in print form as he was when he was doing his thing on television. I am just glad the book ended when it did. The epilogue dealt with Heenan discovering that he has throat cancer. After the first two books, I had had enough grizzly reality.

Having said that, for some reason, I next chose to read “My Dirty Little Secrets (Steroids, Alcohol and God) the Tony Mandarich Story”. I began reading my autographed copy last night. I am almost halfway through, but I needed to take a break from it.

The book is very intense. It deals with the Green Bay Packers first-round draft pick in 1989 and his rampant steroid use. More importantly, it also reveals his addiction to alcohol and painkillers and his subsequent battle to overcome them.

Knowing a little bit about Mandarich, I am aware that his story does eventually result in an uplifting conclusion. It’s just very tough getting to that point. I can’t begin to imagine what it was like actually living it.

Needing to decompress when I finish Mandarich’s book, I will have two books left to select from, “Pistol - The Life of Pete Maravich” by Mark Kriegel and “Slap Shot Original” by Dave Hanson. Based on my knowledge of Pistol Pete’s life, I am leaning toward first delving into the world of one of the Hanson Brothers.

So there you have it, 3 1⁄2 books in less than two months and I am still going strong. Not bad, eh? As soon as I post this, I plan on getting back to the Mandarich book. Obviously there no longer exists a need for the aforementioned intervention to get me to read.

However, if there is something I can do about my obsession with Survivor, please let me know. Until next time…from the booth.