Well, I knew it had to happen at some point. The circumstances surrounding Kelvin Sampson’s repeat violations of phone contact with recruits was bound to be analyzed to the point of stupidity. The only question was when it would occur. Not surprisingly, it took a grand total of four days.

USA Today had a blog entry yesterday where they interviewed one Lisa Merlow, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Florida. In this interview, she lays out the case that Kelvin Sampson’s not really responsible for his rule-breaking. No, in reality, Kelvin Sampson is an obsessive-compulsive with a cell phone addiction.

From the interview:

Sampson, she says, is merely “the highest-profile person” to exhibit what appears to be a growing problem.

“What we noticed is that a lot of (obsesssive-compulsive) patients were using their cell phones to manage their disorder,” Merlo says. “They’re using their cell phones as a way to manage difficult social situations.” Like even breaking up via a text message, making the cell phone a modern-day replacement for the “Dear John” letter.

“Continuing the action despite consequences,” says Merlo. “I think there are more people getting caught by their bosses.”

So far, Merlo hasn’t encountered any support groups for serial text messagers. For those with a Phone Jones, she recommends the same first step she suggests to drug or alcohol abusers: Cut back.

“It is okay to turn it off and spend some time with the people in front of you,” says Merlo.

I’m sorry, but what “difficult social situations” did Kelvin Sampson try to avoid by using his cell phone?  Was he worried that he’d have to talk to a recruit’s mother in person or something?

I’m all for the academic investigation of unexplained phenomena, but this is going a bit far. Is it not possible to simply say that Sampson broke the rules multiple times, knew what he was doing, and that’s that? Must we attach an affliction or a disorder to EVERYTHING a person does that doesn’t fit into mainstream acceptable (or permissible) behavior?

Personally, I hope that someone starts a support group for serial text messagers. Soon, we’ll also have support groups for Facebook addicts, Instant Messenger freaks, and people who email more than once a day.

I wonder if Sampson will use this defense during his date with the NCAA Infractions committee. “You can’t punish me…I have a DISEASE!”