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Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter

ESPNDallas.com reports Rangers OF Josh Hamilton, recovering from addictions, had a relapse this week in his quest to remain sober.

Jay Gormley @CBS11jay

Employees at Sherlocks in N. Dallas confirm that Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler were at the pub in what appears to be a relapse for Hamilton.

Damn that's just sad. No matter what happens now, it's unlikely he's still a Texas Ranger next season. I'm going to remember to keep him in my prayers tonight.

I don't get why him drinking is a big deal. IMO sobriety is way overrated, the key to getting over addiction shouldn't be giving up alcohol completely but being able to moderate your intake and drink responsibly. Just not doing it anymore because your going to abuse it if you do is not necessarily getting over an addiction.

/rant

I do wish him the best and hope he able to be responsible and not take the drinking to an extreme.

The bad part isn't that he had a relapse; many recovering addicts do. The bad part is that Kinsler was with him at the time.

IMO sobriety is way overrated, the key to getting over addiction shouldn't be giving up alcohol completely but being able to moderate your intake and drink responsibly.

Not really an option for a guy who wasn't just a drinker, but progressed to crack and heroin.

Apparently Kinsler came to the bar to try and get Hamilton to leave.

UPDATE (12:45 a.m.): Ian Kinsler showed up at the bar to try to get Hamilton to return home, Fraley reports further.

http://deadspin.com/5881880/report-josh ... -this-week

overdose wrote:I don't get why him drinking is a big deal. IMO sobriety is way overrated, the key to getting over addiction shouldn't be giving up alcohol completely but being able to moderate your intake and drink responsibly. Just not doing it anymore because your going to abuse it if you do is not necessarily getting over an addiction.

/rant

I do wish him the best and hope he able to be responsible and not take the drinking to an extreme.

Agreed. Story's kind of vague, but poor guy. Can't even go out and have a drink without everyone freaking out. No one knows for sure if he can be responsible about it, but it doesn't have to be at the extremes just because he's a former addict.

Unless the guy was drinking in centerfield during a game, this isn't newsworthy

blackflash234 wrote:

Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter

ESPNDallas.com reports Rangers OF Josh Hamilton, recovering from addictions, had a relapse this week in his quest to remain sober.

Jay Gormley @CBS11jay

Employees at Sherlocks in N. Dallas confirm that Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler were at the pub in what appears to be a relapse for Hamilton.

Damn that's just sad. No matter what happens now, it's unlikely he's still a Texas Ranger next season. I'm going to remember to keep him in my prayers tonight.

lol, why?

This doesn't seem like a big deal, unless he was snorting coke off the bar table.

overdose wrote:I don't get why him drinking is a big deal. IMO sobriety is way overrated, the key to getting over addiction shouldn't be giving up alcohol completely but being able to moderate your intake and drink responsibly. Just not doing it anymore because your going to abuse it if you do is not necessarily getting over an addiction.

/rant

I do wish him the best and hope he able to be responsible and not take the drinking to an extreme.

I don't think you understand addiction.

^^Agreed. If you were admitted for addiction, one drink will lead to a lot worse. This is why everyone in the sportsworld is covering it.

Feel bad for him for a couple reasons.

First, cause the guy's an addict who relapsed. He's got kids and that makes things worse. Second, because the guy can't get a drink without the whole world coming down on him.

On the other hand, all this attention may just save his life. Most people would be relapsing in secret and wouldn't get the help they needed until things got much worse for them again.

Tyrone Slothrop wrote:I don't think you understand addiction.

+1

I will say what may be fantastic about this is if truly it is the only relapse, if it's not just the time he was seen drinking, then all the coverage hopefully keeps him clean. And I'm not trying to insinuate anything about Josh and his situation at all here, just that if this is the first and gets nipped in the bud, then it's actually the only positive benefit of psychotic media oversaturation that I can think of.

There is nothing wrong with a social drink, I'm sure everyone on this board agrees, but addiction makes social drinking impossible for almost all addicts, former or current. I'm sure there are a precious few who can eventually transition back to the occasional drink after they're clean, but just because a couple anomalies have succeeded in that regard doesn't mean most alcoholics should give it a try. 'cause for them, most often they simply can't have a drink out with the boys and go home. For the addict, that drink turns into a night where, by the end, they're blowing a dude for crack at 3AM. I know that happens to me all the time. (trying to end on a lighter note, but it is serious **** and just because many can drink responsibly to no great detriment, doesn't mean a casual drink for an alcoholic is the same thing at all).

Was dissapointed to hear Kinsler would be drinking with him. Glad to hear he was just going there trying to get him to leave. Supposedly that Rangers clubhouse is supposed to be one of the best in baseball in terms of chemistry.

All Hamilton really did was lower his price tag.

Tyrone Slothrop wrote:

overdose wrote:I don't get why him drinking is a big deal. IMO sobriety is way overrated, the key to getting over addiction shouldn't be giving up alcohol completely but being able to moderate your intake and drink responsibly. Just not doing it anymore because your going to abuse it if you do is not necessarily getting over an addiction.

/rant

I do wish him the best and hope he able to be responsible and not take the drinking to an extreme.

I don't think you understand addiction.

Am I the only one that laughed at the irony of the user name?

His press conference is live right now

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=6261176&partnerId=aw-5590304174394741246-996

Summary of the press conference:

http://eye-on-baseball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/34681590

If rasmus doesn't work out and Hamilton doesn't sign, I would love for him to be in a jays Uniform. I think he has a good heart, and IMO every addict has a relapse. He will be fine.

Best thing for an addict is to avoid temptation, this doesn't just include indulging moderately yourself, but also being around people who do so. And yes, I speak from personal experience (drugs/alcohol).
Heck, I avoid people who smoke cigarettes too, since I quit over a decade ago.

Mercy! What a microscope he's under. I hope people are sympathetic.

distracted wrote:Feel bad for him for a couple reasons.

First, cause the guy's an addict who relapsed. He's got kids and that makes things worse. Second, because the guy can't get a drink without the whole world coming down on him.

On the other hand, all this attention may just save his life. Most people would be relapsing in secret and wouldn't get the help they needed until things got much worse for them again.

Agreed, in a way I think Kinsler being there and Hamilton getting caught is the best possible thing that could happen to him in this situation