A smoker's tale

 

Not at all a Mike Ditka fan, I read the article about his approaching 80 a bit subdued after a second major heart attack only because of the pic of Da Coach clutching a cigar. A lifelong cigar smoker, Ditka appears oblivious the Grim Reaper is trying to educate him that cigars have more nicotine, more tar, more toxic substances and are consumed over a longer period of time than those wimpy cigarettes. At 74, I'm not far behind Ditka in years, but I got the message back in '67 after a seven year, pack and a half a day habit starting at 15 began to diminish my endurance for playing baseball, football, basketball and hockey. Though I loved smoking I loved those sports more. 52 years on I still consider smoking one of the dumbest moves I made in all my foolish years; and quitting one of my proudest. I'm still playing tennis a couple of hours most days even tho I occasionally get so winded I need an extra minute to recover between changeovers. I still also cringe I puffed about 77,000 ciggies before wising up. Speaking about wising up, it took Da Coach's wife Diana 60 years to quit her pack and a half a day habit starting at age 16. Apparently more strong willed than hubby Mike, Diana quit mainly because smoking began to spoil the taste of her beloved wine. Hey, whatever works. In case your curious as I was, that's 657,000 cigarettes and millions of puffs. Makes me feel a tad less angst about my measly 77,000.