Back to the Basement: Updating BadJocks Infamous "Dirty Dozen" College Sports Initiation Pictures - It seems as if many colleges have completely ignored the problem of hazing on their campuses since we broke things wide open back in May. In some cases they've done exactly what we didn't expect: instead of cracking down on hazing, they banned jocks from posting pictures or anything inflammatory online. That certainly keeps the good name of the college from being sullied, but what about the potential danger to your student/athletes? Others have done lengthy "investigations" into alleged incidents and, ignoring their own written polices on the subject, decided that since participation was voluntary it wasn't hazing after all. How convenient! (Yeah, we're talking to you U of Iowa and Niagara University.) Here's an update on all 13 schools.
BONUS:  In case you missed it back in May, here's the original list of offending schools.

Caught in a Haze: Four Teams at Ithaca College Being Investigated Over Hazing Pictures - Looks like little Ithaca College is going to give Cortland State a run for its money as the center of the college sports initiation universe. According to the student newspaper The Ithacan, members of four  varsity teams — the men’s wrestling, women’s gymnastics and men’s and women’s basketball squads — are under investigation for possible hazing activities after pictures of student-athletes were posted on public photo album Web sites. The article goes into great detail about the university's attempt to educate students about the dangers of hazing, then quotes a member of the men’s soccer team (who asked to remain anonymous) who said the team had a party two years ago that involved a little bit of drinking. Upperclassmen bought cases of 30 12-ounce cans of beer and split the rookies into teams of two and asked them to drink the case as fast as possible. He went on to say that, “It wasn’t anything embarrassing or disgusting or gross. It was more of like a whole team thing that there was just extra stuff for the freshmen to do.” (The Ithacan)

Chargers Safety Terrence Kiel Arrested by DEA for Shipping . . . Cough Syrup to Texas? Have you heard about "lean?" It's the latest homemade drug fad (meth is SO last week) and is created when you mix codeine-based cough syrup mixed soft drinks. According to experts, a pint bottle of ``lean" can cost between $200 and $325 on the street, in case you're looking to "hook-up" as the kids say. Which brings us to Mr. Kiel who faces felony drug charges for shipping at least two packages of prescription cough syrup to Texas. From reports we've read, sounds like federal agents showed up at the Chargers practice and hauled him away. Ouch. (Boston Globe)

BadJocks Update: Bengals Linebacker Suspended for Season - Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman, already banned for the first four games this season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy, was suspended for the rest of the season following his arrest on a charge of drunken driving.

That Ain't Butter! NC State Students Forced to Urinate in Popcorn Buckets to Avoid Losing Seats During Overcrowded Football Games - Things have really gotten out of hand in the student section of Carter-Finley Field on the campus of North Carolina State University. No, it's not the usual drunken frat guys for scantily clad coeds that are the problem. It's urine. Popcorn buckets full of urine, apparently. According to an article in the student newspaper, the problem goes back to the University not increasing the size of the student section when they increased the number of seats in the stadium recently. So, being creative college students wanting to get into the party, the kids at NC State started printing up fake tickets and sneaking past stadium security, resulting in severe overcrowding in the stands. Combine that with an excessive amount of pre-game partying and you have a problem: how to relieve one's self without losing your seat. The solution is something the students call the "kernel urinal" which is nothing more than peeing into a paper bucket. Unfortunately, the urine doesn't necessarily stay in the buckets after that and surprisingly some of those in attendance at the games have complained about getting sprayed with the bodily fluid. The school is working on the problem and hopes to have it resolved before the next home game against Florida State on October 5, but just to be on the safe side, you may not want to wear your good shoes to the game. (Technician Online) Thanks to Ronnie for the link!

Bengals Booze Bungle Update - As many of our readers already know, we received an email from the Cincinnati Bengals organization this morning asking--actually close to demanding--that we remove a link to a video clip of Odell Thurman being arrested by police (see below) for drunk driving. The problem? In the video Thuman can be heard giving out his Social Security number. Of course, like anyone, we would be concerned about that so we checked the link and found out that the video had been pulled, so we saw no reason to remove the link, especially not to please the Bengals, and we told them so. Of course, it didn't end there and we promptly got a second, slightly angrier message from Bengals web guy Andy Ware . . . which he then tried to recall. You'll understand why when you read his message and our response:

Bob,

The Enquirer removed the link from its page. The problem is that they did not disable the link. Thus anyone who has the link (in this case your site), the video can still be seen. We don’t care if you reference the incident, all we are asking is for you to remove the link to the video. Would you want your SS# splashed all over the country? This is a matter of integrity. Thus we repeat our stance that this needs to be removed from your site immediately.

Thank you.
Andy Ware

Andy:

Now that you mention it, I wouldn't want my Social Security Number splashed all over the country, but thank you for asking. As for the Odell Thurman video link: I checked it as soon as I got your first email this morning and only got this message on the page:

Error: Invalid story key (AB,20060925,SPT02,309250031,AR).

So, unless your web skills are much better than mine--which is likely--I'm not sure how one accesses the video clip, which is why I wasn't that motivated to remove the link. And, might I point out that in your original message you did ask me to "remove the link or the reference to it." ( The fact that you sent a follow-up email asking for this one to be recalled makes me think you checked the link this morning and found what I found. Nothing.)

As far as being a "matter of integrity" . . . I'm not sure that BadJocks needs a lecture on that from the Bengals.

Bob

Andy is actually a pretty nice guy and we're just having a little fun with him at a time when we're sure the Bengals management and coaching staff are just laughing it up.

Hate Mail From . . . the Bengals Web Guy Over Odell Thurman DUI Video? By now, we're used to getting hate mail from a wide variety of sources from angry drunk college kids to angry drunk high school students. Until this morning, when we got a nice email from the Manager of Web Site and New Media (nice title, by the way!) of the Mean Machine . . . we mean Cincinnati Bengals. It's an interesting note since he's asking us to remove a link to another site when the content has been removed already. So my link is useless. And yet, the Bengals felt it necessary to demand that we take it down, which I was going to do anyway because it was a dead link, but now I think I'll leave it up for the rest of the day (see below). Just 'cause I can. Here's the complete message:

Your Web site’s home page currently contains a link to a video clip of one of our players – Odell Thurman – being arrested. The clip contains Thurman blatantly stating his social security number. The Cincinnati Enquirer site – where the video originated – has removed the clip from its Web site. Please remove any reference to this clip from your site immediately.

Thank you.
Andy Ware
Cincinnati Bengals
Manager of Web Site and New Media

Dear Mr. Ware:

Thank you for your interest in having BadJocks remove a dead link from its site. However, since the original error was made by the Cincinnati Enquirer and they have since removed that content, it really doesn't matter if we link to, or refer to, the embarrassing police video of Odell Thurman being arrested for DUI, which in fact exists somewhere on the Web without his social security number.

So, in response to your request, the answer is no, we won't remove the link or the reference to it.

But thanks for asking.

Bob Reno
Publisher

Assistant HS Football Coach Slams Player Against Building, Chokes Him Until He Passes Out - An assistant football coach at Atoka High School (Oklahoma) allegedly got a little upset with some of his players back on September 14 and allegedly picked one of them up by the throat, slammed him against the field house and choked him until he passed out. Fortunately, the kid didn't need medical treatment, but was upset enough to tell his folks who eventually told the school and got the coach banned from the campus. (KTEN) Thanks to J.B. for the link!

Bengal Arrested for DUI Could Be Suspended for Rest of Season: But at Least He Wasn't Throwing Up in Front of Cops - Odell Thurman was already serving a four-game suspension by the NFL for a second violation of the league's substance abuse police when he arrested for drunk driving early Monday morning. On the plus side, although his BAC of .17% doesn't qualify him for the Top Twenty of the World Famous BadJocks BAC Rankings (you need a .23% to make the club these days) at least Thurman kept from tossing his cookies in front of arresting officers . . . unlike teammate Chris Henry who was in the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe with him and Bengals rookie wide receiver Reggie McNeal when police stopped them at 3:05 a.m. According to a witness, while police where processing Thurman, Henry threw up out a window of the vehicle. Classy! Fortunately for them, neither McNeal nor Henry was cited or charged and were released back into the wild to drink again some day. Thurman, on the other hand, could be in bigger trouble if this latest incident is seen as another violation of the substance abuse police, kicking him out of the NFL for a year. (Cincinnati Enquirer) 
Watch the video from the police car here! Link no longer works, sorry.

Sports Video of the Week: Stock Car Driver Drop Kicks Windshield of Rival's Car After He Gets Bumped Out of Race - It's the Glass City 200 and driver Michael Simko felt fellow driver Don St. Denis had caused him to wreck him, so he did what any of would have done: got a running start at St. Denis' car and drop-kicked into the windshield, collapsing it on the driver. Then things got nasty. Link includes video of the incident. (NBC24) Thanks to Fark.com for the link!

'Out of Control" Hazed and Confused: Real-life Risks are Sobering - A look at trends in hazing, including quotes from friends of the site Dr. Susan Lipkins and Hank Nuwer. (Free Lance-Star)

Latest Sign of the Apocalypse: They're Drug Testing Fishermen - Do you really think you need to take performance enhancing drugs to win the World Angling Championships? Apparently fishing's governing body thinks so and ordered competitors in last week's event to submit to drug tests or lose their prize money. Among those caught with their pants down--so to speak--by they new test was Briton Sean Ashby, who came third in the individual competition and was part of the England team which won the overall event. Said Ashby, "At first I thought it was a wind-up. There are one or two jokers in the pack and I was convinced someone was having a laugh. My first thought was, 'What drug could possibly help anyone catch more fish?'" That's a good question. According to "experts" the use of amphetamines or cocaine could improve reaction times. Really? They might also make you think the fish was talking to you, telling you to let him go back into the water and then you'd come back empty handed, but feeling fine. (Sunday Mirror)