Paul James on his Crack addiction

[snake]

I know that two of the four players were David Norman and igor vrablic

[Jahinho Guerro]

sometimes i feel as if pj is trying to stay relevant

[Free kick]

I've tried with no success. I believe it aired only once. I missed it catching only the closing credits with a shot of PJ looking very forlorn, sitting on a picnic bench I think, and saying "I can't believe I let Canada down" or something close to that. To the best of my knowledge, it never repeated. It had actually been delayed by one week due to legal issues so perhaps it was those same legal issues that made the show disappear.

The others were David Norman, Hector Marinaro Jr., Igor Vrablic and Chris Chueden.

Lord Bob wrote a story about it a few years back IIRC.

Hey, found it! http://www.eightysixforever.com/2009...s-convicted-in

I watched the whole episode when it aired at that time because I used to watch teh show regularly. But dont recall all the details of that epsiode. I too have tried digging to get my hands on it.

[futsal]

Any addiction has to be so very difficult to deal with and I applaud PJ for his courage to battle this and do it publicly to potentially assist other addicts, particularly those athletes in the ultra-party lifestyle that they are constantly surrounded by. Surely, there are other addicts in the pro sports world and if this able to help even one of them deal with it, then it's a great thing.

I also noticed that line about the CSA and the brochure and found it quite peculiar.

[JoshieScores]

I listened to his latest podcast episode from Red Nation and not gonna lie... I was shocked. He read an excerpt from his book towards the end and honestly it was genuine and emotional. I hope they'll make this into a audiobook using Paul's voice as well.

http://www.rednationonline.ca/PaulJa...Episode42.aspx

BTW, the Fifth Estate episode was aired exactly Tuesday Oct 10th 1989. Nowhere to be found on the CBC archive though.

[dbailey62]

I watched the whole episode when it aired at that time because I used to watch teh show regularly. But dont recall all the details of that epsiode. I too have tried digging to get my hands on it.

I went as far as calling CBC and inquiring about the show saying that I was hoping to see it for research purposes. The people I spoke to couldn't find it!!!!!

It has to be out there somewhere.

[CanadasBest]

Just finished the book and wow! Joshie I beleive no one who reads this book will want it as an audio-book read by Paul James. What was released in the press was a precious small few quotes showing genuine emotion dealing with his serious health issue. I read the Davidson article and was shocked. I felt very sad for Paul and a lot of Pity. What he has gone through in the last 10 years no one should have to go through. I couldn't wait to get home yesterday and read his book.

I just finished the book and all I feel is disgust. I'm not going to go in great detail but can only suggest you guys read it for yourself.

Here is a quote about our group: (About 71% in the Amazon E-Book, Location 3566 of 5084)
"...He seemed to be a Paul James supporter - a rare specimen, I thought at the time. Two months later while perusing the Voyageurs forum, I discovered he had been a regular part of the chat site for many years using a pseudonym. He was, contrary to my original thought, a harsh undermining critic of mine. He was also the most influential leader of the Voyageurs group.
A year later, I invited the guy for lunch to inform him about an exciting alumni initiave I was working on to assist Canadian soccer. When I sat down opposite him and looked him in the eyes, I wanted to deck him for the underhanded approach he and some of his colleagues on the forum had taken over the years. He talked about Canadian soccer and all its ills yet he and his "mates" had contributed so much harm without a semblance of soccer knowledge or talent."

[Gordon]

Just finished the book and wow! Joshie I beleive no one who reads this book will want it as an audio-book read by Paul James. What was released in the press was a precious small few quotes showing genuine emotion dealing with his serious health issue. I read the Davidson article and was shocked. I felt very sad for Paul and a lot of Pity. What he has gone through in the last 10 years no one should have to go through. I couldn't wait to get home yesterday and read his book.

I just finished the book and all I feel is disgust. I'm not going to go in great detail but can only suggest you guys read it for yourself.

Here is a quote about our group: (About 71% in the Amazon E-Book, Location 3566 of 5084)
"...He seemed to be a Paul James supporter - a rare specimen, I thought at the time. Two months later while perusing the Voyageurs forum, I discovered he had been a regular part of the chat site for many years using a pseudonym. He was, contrary to my original thought, a harsh undermining critic of mine. He was also the most influential leader of the Voyageurs group.
A year later, I invited the guy for lunch to inform him about an exciting alumni initiave I was working on to assist Canadian soccer. When I sat down opposite him and looked him in the eyes, I wanted to deck him for the underhanded approach he and some of his colleagues on the forum had taken over the years. He talked about Canadian soccer and all its ills yet he and his "mates" had contributed so much harm without a semblance of soccer knowledge or talent."

Hopefully said voyageur will step forward and identify themself then. Although I can't imagine what "harm" James could think anyone on this board could have done to Canadian soccer even those (us? lol) without a semblance of soccer knoweldge or talent.

[Gian-Luca]

Hopefully said voyageur will step forward and identify themself then. Although I can't imagine what "harm" James could think anyone on this board could have done to Canadian soccer even those (us? lol) without a semblance of soccer knoweldge or talent.

It wouldn't surprise me if he had met someone who posts here under a pseudonym since a ton of people do, and internet forums are notorious for people being nastier behind a keyboard than they would be in person. However it would surprise me greatly if this person was in fact "the most influential leader of the Voyageurs group", whoever that might be and however that might be determined. This sounds like a huge exaggeration on his part. And I too wonder about the harm that we've all apparently done here.

[Grizzly]

This is exactly what I was expecting from Paul James' book, which is why I posted what I did below. Why would he be any different now that he has come out as a drug addict? Now he has won everyone's sympathy so what better time to continue his nasty and vicious agenda against whoever he pleases and make some money off it in the process.

When he first started his broadcasts he made some very insightful analysis and said some things that needed to be said that no one else had the balls to say. If one searched the archives, you could find some very complimentary commentary from myself about him at this time. Then he started making bizarre, nasty comments out of the blue about various people and organizations for no apparent reason, one of which was the Voyageurs.

The sad thing is he could have been so much more. He could have been a great of Canadian soccer not a guy who betrayed his country, threw a match, betrayed even his other criminal teammates (I am very sceptical about his claims that his conscious bothered him, he was probably scared of getting caught so turned them in to avoid charges himself) and then despite having an excellent knowledge of the game became a nasty hack journalist making vicious attacks that were undeserved.

The only thing I disagree about from what CanadasBest posted is the suggestion we read his book. I don't think we should give him the time of day and certainly we should not give him any money.

And for the record as one of his critics on the Voyageurs I have never had lunch with him nor ever intend to. Nor do I have any idea who the said "most influential leader of the Voyageurs group" is. It would not even surprise me if this episode and much of the rest of the book is inaccurate or completely untrue.

Not entirely surprising. He clearly seemed to have mental problems and I and others have often made posts in the past questioning his mental stability after some of his more bizarre articles/broadcasts. His articles and broadcasts at times had brilliant analysis possibly the best I have seen on Canadian soccer and other times were totally illogical and full of nastiness towards others and teams in general. He also has always seemed to have a massive chip on his shoulder which he used to attack people unfairly. I am a bit surprised that his drug of choice is crack but not surprised at all that he has mental and drug usage problems.

As much as one can feel sorry for him and hope he gets better, in reading his book we have to also be fairly sceptical about some of his claims as well. He has a long history of lying, corruption, attacking others and blaming them for his problems and self-serving behaviour. So read the book with interest but a healthy degree of scepticism as well.