Tobacco use in sports

[Gothamite]

I don't see the big deal in the MLB prohibiting it on the field. Most every employer in the country prohibits tobacco use in the workplace. It's no different, and the MLB is one of the few that are in the public eye.

Exactly. No big deal.

They might not be able to ban it unilaterally under the CBA, though. It may need to be negotiated.

[BigRed618]

How about e-cigs? Are those very popular with athletes?

[48erhater]

I really don't understand dipping. At least cigarettes have some historical "cool" behind them, work great as personal props and tap into the American myth of the individual.

But dipping? Nobody in history has ever made a case that chewing a wad of tobacco was sexy, sophisticated, or glamorous. "Bovine Chic" has yet to sweep the world.

It gives the same rush as cigarettes so most athletes, such as myself, will dip because it doesn't wreck your lungs. Plus, you can do it basically anywhere as it's way easier to hide than smoking a cigarette.

If you're around it enough, it's pretty easy to tell when someone has a dip in.

And because they're carrying around an previously empty waterbottle with nasty brown liquid in it.

It's not nearly as discreet as people think.

More discreet than haveing a smoke cloud around you, and if you are outside you can just spit it on the ground. My colonel who I've known for 4 years just this past year i found out he dips. I always thought he kept them coke cans around because he was drinking out of them.

I have a bad experience at work with somebody using a soda can to spit in. I was drinking a Dr. Pepper. I got my can mixed up with a coworker who was spitting his chew in a Dr. Pepper can. Worst taste in my mouth ever.

[Gothamite]

Ew.

Again, I still don't see what the attraction could possibly be. Cigarettes were supposed to make you look cool, aloof and sophisticated. Chewing tobacco makes you look like every awful stereotype of inbred southern hick.

How about e-cigs? Are those very popular with athletes?

Similarly prohibited in most workplaces. Not a real alternative here.

[The_Admiral]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Hockeys-disgusting-little-habit-237547261.html?page=all

So gross. This is especially shocking:

One per cent of Canadians currently use smokeless tobacco, but 16 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 19 are users. In one study, more than half of hockey and football athletes between the ages of 12 and 21 said they used it.

Good Canadian Boys oat there!

Commissioner Davis concurred, also citing Byfuglien — who in the past has done TV interviews with a wad of chew in his mouth — and the likes of Detroit Red Wings’ Todd Bertuzzi and Washington Capitals’ superstar Alex Ovechkin.

"That just pisses me off, and I don’t mind saying it," Davis fumed. "It’s the height of arrogance to go out publicly in the role of a professional hockey player who like it or not is looked upon as a role model. They make darn sure to get the right hat on, or the right shirt on, with the right logo for their sponsor. So why can’t they just take that crap out of their mouth? I don’t get that. It drives me nuts."

Always nice to see Todd Bertuzzi called out by name as the piece of crap that he is.

[Cosmic]

One of the strange things to me that I've picked up on lately is that nicotine, by itself, is not that bad of a drug. It's the other crap in cigarettes (and now e-cig vapor supposedly also has all kinds of carcinogens) that kills you. If we could shift the paradigm to a better delivery system, you could save a lot of lives.

[BBTV]

Lolwut? Isn't nicotine the addictive part of it?

[nash61]

Lolwut? Isn't nicotine the addictive part of it?

From Wikipedia: "According to the American Heart Association, nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break, while the pharmacological and behavioral characteristics that determine nicotine addiction are similar to those determining addiction to heroin and cocaine."

[The_Admiral]

Cigarettes were supposed to make you look cool, aloof and sophisticated.

I'm gonna get in trouble for this but smoking usually just looks really swishy to me.

[Sport]

Cigarettes were supposed to make you look cool, aloof and sophisticated.

I'm gonna get in trouble for this but smoking usually just looks really swishy to me.

Yes. The only people I see smoking anymore are the absolute last people who should be smoking. The poor, the out of shape, the already unhealthy etc. You rarely ever see someone with their s*** together standing outside having a cigarette. Don Drapers don't exist anymore.

[Cosmic]

Lolwut? Isn't nicotine the addictive part of it?

From Wikipedia: "According to the American Heart Association, nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break, while the pharmacological and behavioral characteristics that determine nicotine addiction are similar to those determining addiction to heroin and cocaine."

Nicotine may be very addictive, but the side effects caused by the nicotine are not that bad in the grand scheme of things. The deadly side effects of smoking come from the smoke, not the nicotine.

[IceCap]

You can only get away with smoking a cigarette if you're a member of a government conspiracy.

[nash61]

BBC News: Baseball's toxic tradition of chewing tobacco

[bigmike]

I started "chewing" last summer and after about a month switched to "dip". I really hate that I started doing it because I feel like I can't go a day without it now. My friend who plays college baseball was the one who got me started, it is extemely present in baseball around here, I mean smokeless tobacco is just present in Alabama and the south in general. I remember always seeing my favorite baseball players do it too, Chipper Jones was always my favorite growing up and he always did it, still does I believe.

[The_Admiral]

Why did you start in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is bad for you and will disfigure you?

I really hate that I started doing it because I feel like I can't go a day without it now.

[TheOldRoman]

Yes. The only people I see smoking anymore are the absolute last people who should be smoking. The poor, the out of shape, the already unhealthy etc. You rarely ever see someone with their s*** together standing outside having a cigarette. Don Drapers don't exist anymore.

No, they're still out there. Hell, the president smokes, but he's very careful to not be photographed doing so. It's kinda taboo now, so the "important" people who smoke do so in private and are cleaner about it than in the past. I've had a few bosses (ages 30-60) who smoked and you'd never know it talking with them at close range. Mind you, they likely weren't chain smokers. My father smoked three packs a day for over 30 years, and he didn't give a , so he just smoked in the house. Our house always smelled like smoke, and I guess we were all used to it. Even a decade after he quit and a renovation later, the inside of the house still has a smell they can't quite get rid of. Of course, we weren't high society, either. Regardless, those people who smoke today probably just do so on a patio and are generally cleaner afterwards. Don't be fooled just because they can't smoke at bars anymore. It's an addictive vice just like alcohol or coke, and rich people still do those.

I never tried smoking or chew specifically because of my dad having smoked for so long. It was disgusting to me, and I likely would have become more addicted to it than the average person. Plus, you know, the whole cancer thing which all my friends knew of when they stupidly started using tobacco. Most of my friends smoked by the end of high school. A few did chew. It was just such a vile thing to see. Yuck. Also, while I was pretty much immune to smoke back when my dad smoked, I can't stand it now. Even walking onto an elevator after a smoker got off chokes me.

I agree that all the leagues need to step up efforts to make sure no chewing tobacco is being used during games or practice when cameras are nearby. It looks like they've successfully banned cigarettes around cameras. Even overlooking the player safety, as we know the MLBPA doesn't give a crap about that with their resistance to banning steroids, these leagues have to look at the example they're setting when they have a bright, successful young guy who they're promoting as a face of the game shoving a wad in his mouth. Kids will see that and some of them will think it's not a big deal.

[Gothamite]

I started "chewing" last summer and after about a month switched to "dip". I really hate that I started doing it because I feel like I can't go a day without it now. My friend who plays college baseball was the one who got me started, it is extemely present in baseball around here, I mean smokeless tobacco is just present in Alabama and the south in general. I remember always seeing my favorite baseball players do it too, Chipper Jones was always my favorite growing up and he always did it, still does I believe.

This is exactly why MLB needs to ban it unilaterally.

[sportstar1212]

I started "chewing" last summer and after about a month switched to "dip". I really hate that I started doing it because I feel like I can't go a day without it now. My friend who plays college baseball was the one who got me started, it is extemely present in baseball around here, I mean smokeless tobacco is just present in Alabama and the south in general. I remember always seeing my favorite baseball players do it too, Chipper Jones was always my favorite growing up and he always did it, still does I believe.

I feel you. I've spent the last 4 years addicted to some form of tobacco. I started smoking cigarettes back in 9th grade, because I thought it was cool and I liked the rush it gave. I did that for the next 6 months until I realized that hacking darts is the worst thing an athlete can do to themselves, so I switched to dip- which I still do to this day. And like you, the guy who introduced me to it also plays college baseball. Sometimes I wish I could quit, but it's become a part of my life now and I just don't have the willpower to stop.

[The_Admiral]

You should just do what I do and develop a crippling addiction to clove-flavored gumdrops.

[bigmike]

I started "chewing" last summer and after about a month switched to "dip". I really hate that I started doing it because I feel like I can't go a day without it now. My friend who plays college baseball was the one who got me started, it is extemely present in baseball around here, I mean smokeless tobacco is just present in Alabama and the south in general. I remember always seeing my favorite baseball players do it too, Chipper Jones was always my favorite growing up and he always did it, still does I believe.

I feel you. I've spent the last 4 years addicted to some form of tobacco. I started smoking cigarettes back in 9th grade, because I thought it was cool and I liked the rush it gave. I did that for the next 6 months until I realized that hacking darts is the worst thing an athlete can do to themselves, so I switched to dip- which I still do to this day. And like you, the guy who introduced me to it also plays college baseball. Sometimes I wish I could quit, but it's become a part of my life now and I just don't have the willpower to stop.

Yeah I know it was a dumb thing to start, my friends in high school would always want me to try it with them and I would but I'd get sick but I didn't get sick this time around the first time I tried it and got addicted to it fairly quickly. I wasn't saying it is a good thing and I know it is a really bad habit but like you its become part of my life and I haven't had the willpower to stop either. It is just so relevant around my social group that I just didn't think it was that big of a deal but I know I don't want to be doing it the rest of my life. Plus my mom is a smoker and although I have never had the desire to smoke, it probably hasn't been the greatest influence on me.

I'd agree it should be banned in the MLB though, my friend's brother is a minor league pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks, I know when he got drafted years ago that he started doing it too but I think he finally made himself quit, hopefully I'll be able to quit as well. I know seeing it in the MLB always makes me think "well these guys do it so it really isn't that big of a deal."

I've heard people say they try sunflower seeds and gum to help them quit, I tried to substitute it with sunflower seeds a while back and that didn't work. I suppose I could just buy a bunch of gum to chew all the time but it's going take more of a mental "want" to quit more than anything and I honestly haven't had that. I'm not trying to make people feel sorry for me or anything like that, I know what I started and I know it's my own fault but it was something I didn't think I'd get addicted to which was very stupid of me to think.