There’s no real easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it. Ever since high school, I’ve had this growing addiction, and it might be getting out of hand. It’s all I think, care or talk about. I can’t go one day without getting my fix. My name is Alejandro, and I’m a soccer-holic.

Like anyone with addictions, I’ll tell you now that it’s not my fault. This really started to get out of hand when I purchased FIFA 2007 for XBox 360. Since then, nearly every night, the best teams in the world enter a grudge match between my roommate, senior Eugene Slepak, and me.

“The intensity is close to fighting and trying to kill each other,” he said.

It gets worse when we set the commentating to Spanish, and the announcer’s long-winded goal call sends us into a fist-flying frenzy. Call us crazy, but we’re not alone. Senior Kyle Dougherty actually hurt himself once.

“One time I broke my toe after playing FIFA ’99,” he said. “I was really mad and kicked some furniture.”

But FIFA is just the gateway to the real world of fútbol. Again, blame the people over at Fox Soccer Channel for fueling this addiction. All they show is soccer all day, every day. What am I supposed to do? Not watch? Can’t do that, I’m a deviant now.

Saturday and Sunday mornings, always reserved for sleep in the past, are now spent sitting in front of the television, zombie-eyed and shaking, watching some team, any team, play. It doesn’t matter if the teams are the equivalent of Devil Rays versus Royals. I need my fix.

But I don’t have the urge as bad as some. Junior Matt Peckham, a back on the men’s varsity soccer team, has had the jones since he was four. For him, FSC is the end-all, be-all source.

“It’s the only place you’re guaranteed to find soccer on TV in some form,” he said.

And even on those rare occasions a game isn’t on (usually because highlights and recaps are showing), it’s never hard to find a hookup. Soccer is played all year round. Think about this: Barcelona lost to Liverpool 2–1 yesterday in a UEFA Champions League game. The champion won’t be crowned until May and play began this past August.

But don’t go looking for UEFA on Fox. You have to turn to ESPN for that. Which is good because, as an addict, you never want just one dealer controlling the market. But Champions League play doesn’t start for another two weeks, so FSC controls my life for now.

Americans love not to care about soccer, but I’m clearly not alone. So soccer junkies of the world unite. It’s not like we’re doing heroine or anything.