7 Years 10 days Sober - Flopping

7 Years 10 days Sober - Flopping

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? In this short, sharp episode of "I'm Quitting Alcohol", comedian David Boyle hits record on day 7 years and 10 days sober and goes off on a hilarious, expletive-laced rant about modern basketball, reality TV, and what he calls "another goddamn psyop". Rather than a neat sobriety lesson, you get a slice of Boyle’s unfiltered sober brain in real time.

He tears into NBA flopping, especially Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s theatrics, calling it "an absolute atrocity" and "gross to watch". He complains that the game has turned into a slog of free throws and missed three-pointers, with players "flopping" their way to the line and refs calling everything. It’s raw frustration, but you’ll recognise that sober hyper-awareness of nonsense everywhere.

From there, Boyle swings into a story about getting his car window fixed in small-town Massachusetts, only to find the old-school Boston glazier and his Brazilian partner obsessed with the Australian reality show "Married at First Sight". Hearing that this is their picture of Australians, he cringes: "That's not what Australians are really like... Well, most of us are, but there are some good ones." It’s self-deprecating, painfully honest, and pretty funny.

Underlying the rant is a deeper thread: the sense that everything on screens feels engineered to wind people up. Boyle jokes that flopping in the NBA, like trashy reality TV, is designed so people will "hate watch" and share clips. Exhausted by it all, he says, "I'm ready to just hand my life over to the lord... Just believe in God, put your faith in a God, and just move on.

Then a psyop can't get you." If you’re sober, quitting, or just trying to stay sane, this episode offers a brutally honest snapshot of how one person vents, laughs, and tries to keep his head without reaching for a drink. How do you blow off steam when everything on screen feels like it’s messing with your head?