By Elliott West
“As an alcoholic, you will violate your standards quicker than you can lower them”.
Robin Williams
Introduction
Alcoholism is an addiction that has dogged sports for many years. A liquid stranglehold that some have managed to evade and others have drowned in. The idea that it is a solution to your problems and can be found at the bottom of a bottle is of course a myth, it is merely a temporary drunken escape that leads not only to a stupor of regrets but a long-term hangover. Richard Burton who openly admitted that he was a borderline alcoholic himself, described candidly in an interview what having this addiction was. A friend once told him it was like being in a boxing ring where you are constantly trying to avoid your opponent’s punches, waiting for that sucker punch to make contact with your chin and knock you out cold.
Alcohol of course used to be the norm in sports. It was freely available and on show in darts and snooker, largely due to many alcohol manufacturers sponsoring tournaments. It was the crutch that took the edge off the nerves of a match and carried on to be consumed in large quantities in bars, casinos and nightclubs in the moment of jubilation or defeat. Some sportspersons were openly drunk and others were secret drinkers, lacing orange juice with copious amounts of vodka. The odourless spirit loosened the arm and created a few televised moments of madness along the way.
Soul Searching
The biggest enemy to any alcoholic is not only the bottle but themselves. Before you can dry out, you have to first admit you have a problem with drinking. If you don’t, the condition can never be controlled. It will be all-consuming and control not your body but make a train wreck of your life. I say this from personal experience. My mother, Marion passed away from bowel and liver cancer in 2002, aged only 54. She suffered from bipolar but part of her illness to alleviate the highs and lows was to drink. She was a secret drinker who hid bottles of gin and high percentage lager around the house and would binge on it when alone.
She hid from me growing up and was always a responsible parent in my presence but you could always see that instantly recognisable sadness in her eyes. She would rather starve than avoid drinking. It would cause her to do bizarre things and leave her penniless and shunned by many. I always loved her but it was hard to deal with the spells in mental homes, the constant begging telephone calls for money and seeing my own flesh and blood free falling in front of my very eyes. She was my rock, my guiding light in life but somehow that light got snuffed out by this wicked disease. She always loved me and understood why her son had to take a step back but hearing that she was found in her rented house, collapsed on the bedroom floor and had to break in via a ladder was soul-destroying. She died several weeks later in hospital after suffering respiratory failure, terminal cancer and a stroke that paralysed her down one side of the body.
Alcohol and Snooker
Rack your brains and you can always recall a snooker player from the 1970s and 80s who were known for their excessive drinking. Alex Higgins, Bill Werbenuik and Jimmy White were just a few of the players that entered this hedonistic world of boozing whilst playing. Alex would often play drunk, and sometimes he wouldn’t miss a pot but in the end, it took over his life and he ended up a shadow of his former self. A man who became skeletal in appearance and spent his last days in betting shops and bars before malnutrition took him away from us.
Drinking was the norm and some could take it or leave it but if you had that addictive gene, alcoholism would engulf you and wind you into its trap. You played in the smoke-filled clubs to top up your earnings. These clubs bred future champions but also created addicts, addicted to drink, drugs, gambling or all three. Fun times but painful memories for those who lost loved ones as a result of it.
The only bottles you see now in snooker are those of water. The sport has shed its boozy image and the cigarette ban prevented smoking at tournaments. That doesn’t mean to say that there aren’t still alcoholics in sports. They have just gone under the radar and only surface when they need help. Thankfully sport does now recognise mental health issues and addiction. There are counsellors available to help and organisations to point the addict in the right direction to get dedicated help and treatment.
The Tightening Noose
Alcoholism leads to many health complications as the addict tightens their grip on the bottle and discards everyday living. Sclerosis, paralysis and liver failure can all be the result of excessive drinking and can even lead to fuelled violence and out-of-character experiences. Alcohol is a legal drug and remains freely available. As long as you are over the legal age, you can buy it wherever you live. It is advertised as a leisure time pursuit but carries so many dangers. When you are drunk you lose control and often you can’t remember what you were doing the night before. The only remanent is the pounding headache or nauseous feeling that leaves you temporarily immobile for the next day.
Afterthoughts
Alcoholism is a serious and dangerous health problem. You can go to most shops and supermarkets to purchase it and is drunk publicly and privately. As an object it is harmless but once it passes the lips, the results can be dangerous and sometimes life-changing. People wake up in accident and emergency wards and have to have their stomachs pumped. However, there is a thin blue line between moderate and excessive, a barometer that can either make you have a good evening or become enslaved by its iron grip.
