The old “accidentally choked a teammate while just horsing around” gag. That never gets old.

Well, actually it does when teenagers are dying playing a game where you cut off oxygen to a friend until they pass out giving them a temporary high. Only sometimes people do more than pass out. According to a report from the CDC, more than 80 teens died from playing the Choking Game (aka The Fainting Game) between 1995 and 2005. So you can understand why the administration at Armstrong High School (MN) is taking seriously the accusations that three senior members of the hockey team choked a teammate in the hallway until he passed out. The trio has been suspended from school for 45 days and booted off what was supposed to be a promising team for AHS this year . . . causing an even bigger uproar.

All three boys were taken into custody (two as juveniles) and could face assault charges although, according to the rather lengthy–and heated–comments section below the story, the “victim’s” parents don’t want to press charges. The incident has community members deeply divided, with many saying that this potentially deadly practice needs to be stopped, while others claim the boys were just “horsing around” (how many times have we heard that as an excuse of hazing?) and that the punishment far exceeds the crime.