Addiction, not early as sexy as it sounds…

I seem to have a semi-addictive personality. And it’s not the kind you think of. I’ve never really been caught up in drugs, and even drinking I don’t go that overboard with. OK, maybe I go overboard a little when I drink, but it was a lot worse when I was in college. I’m referring more to my propensity to get addicted to certain activities for long stretches at a time. I’m already pretty addicted to blogging, and as ShellBug526 pointed out, every time you come to the site it looks a little different. That’s because I’m a techie at heart and I get addicted to making little changes and getting everything just right. Not that it makes much difference, people come here to read posts, not admire every miniscule change I make to the template.

But all of that is beside the point. I wanted to bring up one of my other addictions that happens seasonally. I’m sure some women can attest to this year round, but I only get so involved in this particualr endeavor this time of year. It’s Fantasy Basketball. In particular, NBA Fantasy Basketball. This is actually pretty weird for me. See, I’m not a fan of NBA basketball at all. I hate the showboating and the overpaid players and the iconic status these thugs get in our society. But…. I love the numbers! I think that’s why I don’t like Fantasy Football that much, those statistics only accumulate once per week. With basketball, it’s every freakin’ day! Oh the numbers! I keep asking myself these questions: What stat am I lowest in? Is it Free Throw Percentage? Do I need to trade Ben Wallace and pick up someone that can actually shoot from farther than 2 feet from the basket? What player is hot this week in 3 Pointers? How can I up my Blocks without sacrificing my Field Goal Percentage? Acckkk! Why the hell do I even care?

I don’t have just one team either. That wouldn’t be nearly as fun. This year I have 3, and last year I had 4. Why the fuck does it appeal to me to try and maximize all these stat categories with players I don’t even like? Fantasy Football isn’t nearly as bad, and wasn’t this year either, especially since I’m close to last place in 3 out of 4 leagues. It’s a lot easier to curb your number addiction when you only have to worry about it once a week. It’s not just because its a ‘Fantasy Sports League’ either. I get that way about Kentucky Basketball stats too. My favorite part of opening up the sports page the day after a game is going over the Box Score and seeing how each player’s statistics stack up to their averages.

Why? It’s not even that cool. I’m not one that gets off on being able to spout off certain sports statistics at the drop of a hat, and in fact I rarely talk about them at all. I think its my brain. It wants to play with the numbers. It wants to take in averages, play with percentages, and then figure out what the probability is that something will happen. Sounds like I might like a career in statistics, right? Wrong. I was soured on a career in that after seeing the ugly mug of my Statistics professor my junior year in college (maybe it was my second junior year, I can’t remember). Man, was this guy hit with the fugly stick. Too bad the picture doesn’t show him smiling, you could see how jacked up his teeth are. He used to have a really good picture on his faculty page, so I was hoping it was still there. Alas, now he’s just riding a horse.

Anyway, I’m off to snort some diet pills and then try and figure out why Larry Hughes isn’t producing nearly as well now that he’s on a team with Lebron James…

Edit: I forgot to mention how well my girlfriend puts up with this shit. She even asks me how I’m doing in my leagues. She’s even been known to cheer me on when I’m playing Halo 2. Now, if that isn’t devotion, I don’t know what is!