Bonjour, friendly folks, and allow me to begin by defining a word.

Obsession: an idea, desire, etc. that obsesses [preoccupies] one.

Now before you all call DPS on me, let me explain. If being “obsessed” with a pizza place is a crime, then I plead guilty.

OK — my shrink has helped me trace my preoccupation with Home Team back to last summer. You see, I took classes in the morning and worked in the afternoon, leaving just a few minutes for me to grab some nourishment.

On a whim, I decided to grab a slice of pizza and a drink from Home Team one afternoon, and well, the rest is history. How often do I eat there? Let’s just say that I have a “regular” booth, and if someone else is sitting there, I’m not afraid to ask them to move.

I even got my roommate in on the deal. Last semester, after lifting weights during PE, we would ritualistically grab lunch at Home Team. OK, so maybe we undid all the good we did working out, but who cares?

The way I see it, Home Team really only has a couple of imperfections, and both are easily remedied. First of all, everything I’ve ever ordered (pizza and cheese bread) has been exorbitantly greasy.

No problem — just grab an extra napkin, or two, or 23. Another little problem is that their pizza is a little too dry. Home Team’s got you covered there, too — extra sauce (and thick crust) is free just for the asking.

While I’m on the subject of crust — it’s great, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not too thick, nor too thin; it’s just right.

So, what is the main incentive for slamming a slice and soda? Two words — cheap and easy. For a mere $1.50 (that’s including tax, folks), you can enjoy a slice of delicious pizza and an unlimited supply of soda.

Home Team offers over 14 toppings to choose from, but the usual pepperoni, sausage and cheese slices are generally the ones that are ready. Soda choices include Pepsi products (gotta love that) and some kind of pink lemonade.

Wait — it gets better. Additional slices are just a buck more. And if you show your ISU Student Alumni card, you can bring the price down even more — 25% more. (Translation for non-engineers: 25 cents off.)

Back in the day, Home Team was kinda dark and, well, scummy looking inside. (Picture Welch Avenue’s equivalent of a New York subway station.)

Where am I going with this? Well, back in ’96, Home Team underwent a renovation and painted over all of the graffiti, turning it into the bright, cheery little restaurant that it is today.

The reason this is so cool is that Home Team, unlike several other pizza joints that shall remain nameless, cares enough to have several booths and pipe in heavy metal music for the enjoyment of its non-delivery customers.

A lot of people make fun of me for liking Home Team (and Cy-Ride, for that matter) as much as I do. But my response to them is usually along the lines of, “Hey, back off. This is good stuff.”

So next time you’re hungry and don’t have a lot of dough, go to Home Team in Campustown or call 292-1200 for delivery.

You can slam a slice all day long, (well, 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.), but I wouldn’t recommend straying too far from the peak lunch or dinner hour like I did the other day …

4 stars out of five.

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Kim Zangger is a senior in advertising from Mt. Vernon.