Comments on: Josh Hamilton is trying to quit chewing tobacco

By: banjojones

banjojones — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:20:40 +0000

Addiction is a mind game, for the most part. Yes, there is a physical component, but if you set your mind to it, there is no reason anyone cannot quit tobacco.

By: chumthumper

chumthumper — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:56:43 +0000

My brother-in-law chewed for years and he had a heck of a time trying to quit, but he did it. My neighbor’s kid played Legion ball and stuffed his mouth with Tootsie Rolls. It made for an impressive cheek bulge and it dribbled nicely off his chin when he spit across the plate.

By: aiede

aiede — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:53:45 +0000

Iggy Pop kicked both heroin and cigarettes. He said that cigarettes were harder, “but junk was messier.”

I smoked for 16 years and finally quit, going on four years clean this Labor Day.

By: mrwillie

mrwillie — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:26:32 +0000

Best of luck to you, it can be done. I was a 15 yr smoker and have now made it over a year with out one. I was on the patch for 3 days before I said “the hell with that too, I am trying to get the nicotine out of my system.” I just approached it as a personal challenge, and once I had made it a few days I was determined not to give up my streak of X amount of days without a smoke. I am stubborn like that and it worked.

I agree a beer and smoke go hand it hand, I just went at that head on too. Yeah it sucked but after a couple of weekends it was just the new way of life.

It’s been a over a year, and I still get the desire for a smoke, they just pass quicker now. All of it was/is worth it not to be tied to that dang box with my 20 little friends inside….too be stuck in an airport and not care, to be in a meeting for several hours and not care, to be in the non smoking section and not care….It really is freedom.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:04:21 +0000

Great job Don. How long did you smoke? The hardest part for me is the drinking and smoking.
Especially while in places that still allow smoking in bars.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:02:07 +0000

Good job Light! Keep it up. As a 20+ year smoker it’s certainly something I need to give up…and soon. I have really only tried to quit once (within the last year).
I lasted (1 1/2 weeks) until we had some Family drama. I went out on the front porch and started slamming beers and chain smoking cigarettes. You said it best here.
“Smoking was so intertwined with my life. I’d wake up, smoke. Drink coffee, smoke. Eat, smoke. Drive, smoke.” “And God help me if I wanted to have a beer or step inside a casino for those first six months.”
That’s just it. To a smoker…they go with everything.
Personally, I feel a smoke and a Beer go hand-in-hand. To quit successfully one needs to make a lifestyle change. For me…that wil mean laying off the alcohol for an extended period of time.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:54:27 +0000

No Clydesdale…it’s your race baiting ass that’s too weak (see Byrd, Marlon).
Turn that frown upside down.
You will be amazed at how much better you feel without the bitterness.

By: crash1582

crash1582 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:50:56 +0000

Dill Pickle flavored sunflower seads is an excelent replacement. Worked for me..lol

By: droopyyydog1

droopyyydog1 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:22:44 +0000

Like Hamilton, it took me almost 2 years to finally break the habit and 5 years later I still get the urge. It is not a simple habit to quit and when your around it all the time its worse. There is a reason its called an addiction.

By: zackattack410

zackattack410 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:06:50 +0000

Just FYI, dip and chew are two different forms of tobacco. Dip you pack inside your lip, Chew is in the back of your cheek and you actually chew it (hence the name).

By: DonRSD

DonRSD — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:32:12 +0000

Ufill & iclight
Congrats on kicking the habit.
I just quit smoking this past February.
It wasn’t that hard. The issue I had/have is the “usual cigs”.
Talking in the phone.
Break/lunch at work.
Getting in the car.
While drinking.

I haven’t given in, but besides the points above, it hasn’t been terribly hard.

By: iclight79

iclight79 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 08:03:03 +0000

What people who have never dipped or smoked don’t realize is it’s not just the physical addiction. In fact, for me when I gave up smoking a few years back, the most difficult thing to overcome was the mental addiction part. Smoking was so intertwined with my life. I’d wake up, smoke. Drink coffee, smoke. Eat, smoke. Drive, smoke. And God help me if I wanted to have a beer or step inside a casino for those first six months. Even now on occasion, more than two years later, when I get in the car I will, without thinking, crack the window and start to reach for my shirt pocket where I kept my smokes.

Of course, I never dipped, the idea of putting that shit in my mouth was never appealing, but I am guessing when it comes to mental addiction those giving up dip deal with pretty much the same things as those who quit the sticks.

By: dickclydesdale

dickclydesdale — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:54:38 +0000

hes to weak to quit.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 04:28:44 +0000

I know older men who smoked into their seventies and beyond and died of cardiac complications. That shit will get you one way or the other, and it’s a lopsidedly unfavorable crapshoot regardless even if it doesn’t. The scientific evidence of the carcinogenic and cardiovascular-degrading properties of nicotine, nicotine tars and other little goodies in tobacco is beyond overwhelming.

By: butchhuskey

butchhuskey — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 04:22:00 +0000

This is why they invented Big league Chew – you can have something in your mouth that tastes good but doesn’t give you cancer. YAY BUBBLEGUM!

By: dirtyharry1971

dirtyharry1971 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 04:07:59 +0000

i know guys who have chewed for 30 years almost and they are perfectly fine. i think the cancer scare with this stuff is greatly overrated. If it was as bad as smokes you would see a big tv campaign against chew but you don’t see that so that should tell you something right there. I think most people are just offended by it cause some folks find it gross but me personally i think it looks great. I even chew in my sleep thats how much i love it

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 04:04:46 +0000

Why NOT include DJ? He’s doing active judgment of Hamilton here, and as such loses my respect.

By: Marty

Marty — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:53:20 +0000

I wouldn’t consider tobacco a “personal demon” as I would ruining relationships and your life’s potential with alcohol abuse. But still, tobacco is magnitudes more difficult to quit than alcohol. Chief among the reasons is no immediate consequence to an addict as there is with a drunk.

By: jonirocit

jonirocit — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:25:49 +0000

It is brutal I had hip replacement 3 weeks ago and was forced to quit . I had my last can the night before surgery and I think about it daily but I know I can’t. It’s worse than the hip pain lol.

By: ufullpj

ufullpj — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:20:53 +0000

The single hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life was kick a can a day Copenhagen habit…and my first day of being clean and snuff-free was Aug. 14, 1996 – and to this day, I still think about having a dip on a weekly basis, but have never relented.

For those that think it isn’t brutal, pray that you’ll never have to find out.

By: nothanksimdriving123

nothanksimdriving123 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:04:16 +0000

I’m assuming sarcasm Dirty, The best look is some years later, after the cancer is done with you. Chicks totally dig half a face.

By: aceshigh11

aceshigh11 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:00:05 +0000

Shouldn’t be too tough? Some studies have shown that nicotine is more addictive than opiates.

It’s a brutal habit to kick, made even harder by the fact that it’s easily available everywhere.

However, Hamilton has overcome a lot of adversity in his life so hopefully he can overcome this one last addiction.

By: dirtyharry1971

dirtyharry1971 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:42:30 +0000

why would anyone want to quit that? taste good, looks great in your mouth

By: nategearhart

nategearhart — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:18:27 +0000

“One would think that it shouldn’t be too tough…”
Anyone (not including you, DJ) that would think quitting tobacco is easy under any circumstances is ridiculously obtuse.

By: Charles Gates

Charles Gates — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:38:16 +0000

Wait, that was linked already. Maybe just add a Still to the headline, DJ?

By: Charles Gates

Charles Gates — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:36:30 +0000

This must be a yearly thing.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/02/josh-hamilton-is-trying-to-quit-the-dip/