Off-Topic Chat Thread

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,537
4,905
While debating the history of hockey, a lot of us on HOH drift into off-topic chatter here and there. And why not? After all our community isn't lacking interesting people and lively minds. But we've got to keep the history discussions on topic in order to not derail those threads. Therefore, this official HOH off-topic thread is hereby brought into being. From now on, all off-topic talk shall go here. If you want to expand on a tangent that came up during a history discussion but leads to far away from the thread topic, take it here. If you want to discuss topics barely or not related to the history of hockey, or even to the sport of hockey, with people you've come to appreciate on this board, take it here.

Of course, the board rules fully apply here too. This thread is for talk, not spamming. Flaming isn't permitted either. And political debates will not be allowed any more than in any other HOH thread.

:cheers:
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,202
Of course, the board rules fully apply here too. This thread is for talk, not spamming. Flaming isn't permitted either. And political debates will not be allowed any more than in any other HOH thread.

.. really? I'll decide that Theo...
.... ya .... come at me Bro....

vg9UL1L.gif
 

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,537
4,905
Not to go down this road, but in terms of diseases, alcoholism represents a rare subsection that you can quit...

Let's just say that the treatment of alcoholism is an area of the health care system that is regretfully underdeveloped to this very day.

Anyone knows who the Finnish (?) player was whom the NHL Substance Abuse program forced to attend a "therapy" that was basically the prayer circle of some religious fringe group?

Jere Kaharlati (sp?)

Also, this isn't the venue for the alcoholism discussion...nor do I have any great depth of knowledge of the subject...so I'll defer, hang up and listen...

You are right, Jere Karalahti was the player I had in mind:
Jere Karalahti who was a top-3 defenseman for Finland was not allowed to play because he wouldn't enroll in a christian substance abuse program when he was in the NHL

Now Karalahti's issues spread well beyond the abuse of alcohol, but I want to expand on the latter. Two years ago there was a very informative (and very long) article in The Atlantic that deals with the prevalence of Alcoholics Anonymous and their "12 steps program" (link):

Nowhere in the field of medicine is treatment less grounded in modern science. A 2012 report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University compared the current state of addiction medicine to general medicine in the early 1900s, when quacks worked alongside graduates of leading medical schools. The American Medical Association estimates that out of nearly 1 million doctors in the United States, only 582 identify themselves as addiction specialists.

(...)

In 1934, just after Prohibition’s repeal, a failed stockbroker named Bill Wilson staggered into a Manhattan hospital. Wilson was known to drink two quarts of whiskey a day, a habit he’d attempted to kick many times. He was given the hallucinogen belladonna, an experimental treatment for addictions, and from his hospital bed he called out to God to loosen alcohol’s grip. He reported seeing a flash of light and feeling a serenity he had never before experienced. He quit booze for good. The next year, he co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous. He based its principles on the beliefs of the evangelical Oxford Group, which taught that people were sinners who, through confession and God’s help, could right their paths. AA filled a vacuum in the medical world, which at the time had few answers for heavy drinkers. In 1956, the American Medical Association named alcoholism a disease, but doctors continued to offer little beyond the standard treatment that had been around for decades: detoxification in state psychiatric wards or private sanatoriums.

(...)

The 12 steps are so deeply ingrained in the United States that many people, including doctors and therapists, believe attending meetings, earning one’s sobriety chips, and never taking another sip of alcohol is the only way to get better. Hospitals, outpatient clinics, and rehab centers use the 12 steps as the basis for treatment. But although few people seem to realize it, there are alternatives, including prescription drugs and therapies that aim to help patients learn to drink in moderation. Unlike Alcoholics Anonymous, these methods are based on modern science and have been proved, in randomized, controlled studies, to work.

(...)

There is no mandatory national certification exam for addiction counselors. The 2012 Columbia University report on addiction medicine found that only six states required alcohol- and substance-abuse counselors to have at least a bachelor’s degree and that only one state, Vermont, required a master’s degree. Fourteen states had no license requirements whatsoever—not even a GED or an introductory training course was necessary—and yet counselors are often called on by the judicial system and medical boards to give expert opinions on their clients’ prospects for recovery.

AA's idea of treatment:

aad210ad8.png
 

MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
50,654
16,367
I sincerely hope you have an adult version in mind, in other words: The Lounge minus 90% of the shenanigans and spam that it is made up off.

(...)

I certainly don't have an adult version in mind. :naughty:
 

quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
10,123
4,125
Hockeytown, MI
You can find places that dial back on the secular aspects, because there's still a lot to be gained from the book. Personally, 1-on-1 therapy has been my preference.
 

Michael Farkas

Grace Personified
Jun 28, 2006
13,323
7,774
NYC
www.HockeyProspect.com
I'm sorry, The Lounge is just ******* garbage at this point...it was at least kind of decent when I first came onto this board (not that I participated much, but at least it was readable)...

Hard to think that a board could have a political arm and that not be the worst place on it, but here we are...
 

Plural

Registered User
Mar 10, 2011
33,699
4,847
You can find places that dial back on the secular aspects, because there's still a lot to be gained from the book. Personally, 1-on-1 therapy has been my preference.

My dad did the Minnesota Treatment in Finland few years back. It has some religious characteristics to it but it wasn't religious per se. Mostly what I gathered from there was that they advocated for the patient to find something besides substances to treat as your "God". Something that fills the void that's inevitably coming after you stop using.

Many athletes who participate in sports that don't allow full economic freedom after career is done struggle to find something to fill the void that comes after quitting the sport. Too often that void is filled with substance abuse.
 

quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
10,123
4,125
Hockeytown, MI
did you mean on the religious aspects?

Yes. Not sure how I phrased it that wrong without catching it on a re-read. I'd like to blame it on being drunk, but obviously that isn't the case.

My dad did the Minnesota Treatment in Finland few years back. It has some religious characteristics to it but it wasn't religious per se. Mostly what I gathered from there was that they advocated for the patient to find something besides substances to treat as your "God". Something that fills the void that's inevitably coming after you stop using.

Essentially yes. I even have worksheets with a fill-in-the-blank higher power that look like a depressing page out of Mad Libs.
 

Plural

Registered User
Mar 10, 2011
33,699
4,847
I quit cigarettes two years back although I've lapsed more than few times. I created a new rule to myself regarding cigarettes. No smoking inside the EU.

As for the Nintendo, there's not a lot of things that are more productive than playing 8-bit Nintendo. I grew up with that console and there's so much great memories from it.
 

Michael Farkas

Grace Personified
Jun 28, 2006
13,323
7,774
NYC
www.HockeyProspect.com
It's been years, but I still would challenge anyone in the world at Tecmo Super Bowl. When I was 9, I scored 132 points in a game (Philadelphia vs. Green Bay), the scoreboard only went to 99. It's "five" minute quarters but the clock goes at double speed.

Though, I don't smoke (I have never smoked a cigarette in my life in fact), I have been gassin bottles of tequila since the Pens won the Stanley Cup...I'm in week 5 or 6 of just a complete bender...Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and, once, a Thursday...College Michael has suddenly returned haha...
 

MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
50,654
16,367
Exactly. Which is why I've regressed to cigarettes and Nintendo. I'm up for suggestions if anyone is enjoying something more constructive than those.

My favorite hobby is probably... Brewing. That's probably a terrible idea.

It's been years, but I still would challenge anyone in the world at Tecmo Super Bowl. When I was 9, I scored 132 points in a game (Philadelphia vs. Green Bay), the scoreboard only went to 99. It's "five" minute quarters but the clock goes at double speed.

Though, I don't smoke (I have never smoked a cigarette in my life in fact), I have been gassin bottles of tequila since the Pens won the Stanley Cup...I'm in week 5 or 6 of just a complete bender...Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and, once, a Thursday...College Michael has suddenly returned haha...

Never achieved that much. Though I admit that if I wanted to score 132 points, Green Bay would be one of the teams I'd try against. It probably wouldn't work, but still.

The Chiefs were definitely my favorite team. Crazy RB, Crazy WR, non-erratic QB and a good player everywhere. NT Dive is cheating.
 

Michael Farkas

Grace Personified
Jun 28, 2006
13,323
7,774
NYC
www.HockeyProspect.com
I did the NT cheat one game against my dad, I found it by accident...he never played me again, I never used it again. I hate cheating in video games.

Phi played GB in the first game of the regular season in the game. I was often the Eagles because of Cunningham (QB Eagles) and Reggie White.

Yeah, Chiefs are diesel...Christian Okoye for days...I didn't really throw with them, never had to...

I did a "tournament" in college against my buddy who - like me - talked about how diesel he was at the game. I told him to be the best team, any team...(he chose SF) and I said I could beat him with every team in the league, in order...Buffalo, Indianapolis, Miami, etc. ...and I did...

I'm not much of a video gamer...I haven't owned a system in maybe a decade...but that game I was legitimately good at I think...
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,202
Though, I don't smoke (I have never smoked a cigarette in my life in fact), I have been gassin bottles of tequila since the Pens won the Stanley Cup...I'm in week 5 or 6 of just a complete bender...Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and, once, a Thursday...College Michael has suddenly returned haha...

... try being a Leafs fan.... the tequila shots usually coming out mid way through the first... chain smoking.... rest of the game a bluuuur....
only way to get through it & if your lucky, total blackout..... pretty much since 68 Mr.Farkas..... www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRKsF17wY30
 
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MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
50,654
16,367
Good stuff. I'm a huge craft beer guy, not a home-brewer myself (yet) but still a shameless member of AHA.

What kind of stuff have you been whipping up lately?

None at home in the last two months due to lots of factors. Probably brew one in two weeks (a Tart Smoky Grisette, one of my three really "standard" recipes). My last ones were something I'd describe as a Lime Hoppy Session Belgian Blonde Ale, a Lactose IPA and a Mesquite-Smoked Cream Ale. Came out great, terrible and "well, that's at least useful for food", respectively.

I'll be getting a kegging system soon enough. I'll continue to bottle some stuff when it's relevant to do so (no way I'm kegging Weizens). Next on the line is a fermentation chamber.
 

Plural

Registered User
Mar 10, 2011
33,699
4,847
That sounds awesome. I recently built myself a UDS (ugly drum smoker) and started practicing on the art of smoking. A lot of fun.
 

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