Random Rant: Dipping

This evening, while I was conducting a review session for the class I'm TAing, four of the boys (all members of the baseball team) were dipping. For those who might be unfamiliar with the term, dipping is slang for chewing tobacco.

Now, I went to what could charitably be termed as a "hockey school" in high school, so there was plenty of that around, despite the fact that it was illegal for many of the students. However, I've never really understood its appeal.

I also know that athletes, hockey players and baseball players especially, dip all the time. Sadly, my favorite player is one of the worst offenders: nearly every picture of Dustin Pedroia reveals that telltale lump beneath his bottom lip.


Dipping is, to say the least, an unattractive habit, and while many of his peers eschew tobacco for bubble gum, Pedroia plows on in the tradition of so many big-leaguers before him: after all, what's an old time baseball movie without spitting in the dugout?

And what's the fun of chewing gum if you can't surreptitiously place it on the head of a teammate?

I know it takes someone crazy like me to notice these sorts of things, but Pedroia rarely gets shown in the dugout. Part of this, of course, is his tendency to swear vehemently whenever he makes an out - and even the most novice of lip readers can see the F-bomb the way Pedey drops it. However, television stations try their best to cut down on the screen time of tobacco, and it's costing me precious Pedroia time. So please, Dustin, for the sake of your fans, lay off the dip?