Not Now Honey I'm Watching the Game

The catchy title may suggest that this book is a light-hearted look at one of the problems raised by the sports glut in 1990s America, but it is a serious tome. Many marriages, including Quirk's first, have been wrecked because the husband seemingly had no interests other than sports. Director of a self-help organization called Life-Change and a self-described recovered sports-aholic, Quirk points out that with ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews and local sports-talk radio it is easy to find sports on radio and TV 24 hours a day, and many men do find them, even at 2:00 a.m. He begins by offering two questionnaires, one for men who suspect they may be addicts, the other for women associated with them. He examines the causes of the affliction, including a boy's bonding with his father and other males, the drama inherent in every game and the retreat from the world and from self. After showing why the notion that sports may enhance the addict's life is largely self-delusion, Quirk offers a helpful pep-talk about effecting a cure. (Oct.)