Jim White: Reward Drinking, Regret & Recovery

Mate, mate, mate, mate, mate, what a fucking episode.

I know.

And it started with such positivity towards West Ham as well.

[laughs]

[laughs] Just for context, we recorded these, I think, maybe two weeks, three weeks before the final game of the season.

So we'd just come off, I think, of, like, maybe three wins in five, and everyone was like, "We're gonna do it.

This is good." And I've always been, I've always been one that's like, "I don't know." And then we decided to lose away at Brentford.

We lost away at Newcastle.

Villa just, like, capitulated against Tottenham, and then it was just at that point staring into the abyss.

And then obviously we won three-nil yesterday, Tottenham beat Everton [laughs] we're down, but listen, there was, there was lovely... 'Cause we also interviewed a West Ham fan, didn't we? So we'd interviewed a West Ham fan and then Jim.

But anyway, enough about that.

What an episode.

What a guy.

What a human.

I love him.

Mate, unreal.

Yeah, and I haven't really got too much to say to be honest.

I just had such a good time, like, listening in, listening to what he had to say, his stories, and yeah, just how alcohol just became intertwined with what he was doing, who he was, and then, you know, actually quite a few substantial life events happening for him to have this realization, right?

[smacks lips] Yeah, I mean, I think it's a real good example of feeling like you've won it all and then how quickly it can unravel in the moment.

Because I guess what I really picked up from the story, you know, coming from where he came from and quickly becoming, like, you know, one of the head reporters and becoming well-known and people respecting him and thinking his craft was amazing and getting these exclusive interviews and, you know, legends, Souness and Maradona.

And off-air he was talking to us about Di Canio and I, you know, I was just like, "This is amazing." I was absolutely...

You know, football was my life.

I was completely just, like, mesmerized by it.

So you can see why your friendship group or people around you are kind of, I don't want to say feeding the ego in the sense that that's a negative thing, but you can see why people are building you up and it can be like, "Oh, I'll go to the pub and tell that story," or...

But the problem is, like, and I think I sometimes see it in my own work, and maybe I was guilty of it myself, you know, 10 years ago, you always b- feel unstoppable, you know? And you feel like nothing's gonna bring you down and, and drink just becomes part of that.