Top Ten Bad Jock Stories of 2007 - Includes Bad Jock of the Year!
Top HS Coach Sex Scandals of 2007
Top Naked People in Sports of 2007
Strangest Stories from 2007
Top Naughty Cheerleaders of 2007

The year 2006 was, obviously, a watershed year for sports hazing at BadJocks with the Northwestern women's soccer team story. We really thought that educators and parents would come together last year to help stamp out this stupidity . . . but we were wrong. Unfortunately, sports hazing continues, sometimes with nearly disastrous consequences. One of these days there will be a big bucks lawsuit against a major university and THEN you'll see things change. Until then, expect more stories like the ones below on my site.

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#8. Promising College Baseball Star Sues University After Career-Ending Injury Suffered During . . . Hazing? - It's been almost a year since we brought you the infamous Northwestern women's soccer team and Dirty Dozen initiation pictures. At that time we stated that the turning point on this issue for the universities (which seem to be ignoring their own hazing policies) would be a lawsuit brought by a jock who was injured during one of these rituals. Has that day finally come? Should university presidents and athletic directors be shaking in their boots? We're not legal experts, but in doing this site for seven years we can't remember a college athlete suing because of injuries suffered during an "off field" activity. Sure, some college frats have been sued for going overboard with the butt paddlings and we have seen the parents of HS athletes file lawsuits when junior gets a painful wedgie . . . but nothing from a college jock. Until now. Jason Vecchio was drafted out of HS by the Cincinnati Reds in 2005 and decided to play his college baseball at the University of Texas at San Antonio. According to a lawsuit filed recently by Vecchio, he and a couple of other players missed curfew last season and they were forced to do military style training drills--similar to hazing--as punishment. (Okay, so it's not a pure hazing case, but the elements are still the same.) And you guessed it: while doing those drills, Vecchio says he heard his shoulder pop, but was forced to continue pitching anyway. In fact, he claims that instead of getting professional treatment, he was just given a cortisone shot to mask the injury. Of course, later an MRI showed he had a more serious injury: a torn rotator cuff and he underwent surgery. Unfortunately his arm never fully recovered and the Reds released him from his contract. Now he's suing UTSA, several coaches and trainers claiming they cost him a chance to play major league baseball . . . and of course all the cash that brings in. We're trying to get our hands on a copy of the suit and will be following this story for you over the coming weeks and months. (WOAI)

#7. Kids: If you're stupid enough to keep posting pictures of your "initiations" someone is gonna find them and you're gonna get busted.
ORIGINAL STORY - And the Latest Winner in the "Who Can Post Incriminating Photos of Their College Sports Team Online" is: Millersville University Women's Lacrosse! - Step on up and collect your prize ladies, which is likely to be suspension and a month's supply of public humiliation. Never heard of Division II Millersville U (hint: it's in PA)? You will over the coming days and weeks. Once again it appears that a women's college athletic team held an initiation, took pictures and then SOMEONE decided it would be a good idea to post them online. And they did so more than 9 months AFTER our infamous Northwestern University Women's Soccer team story made all the papers (where do you college kids get your news from these days?). According to reports, there are 16 photos, dated February 3, 2007 that show young women wearing what look like Depends on their heads, drinking from what appear to be beer cans duct-taped to their hands (Edwards 40-Hands), doing shots, with their hair rolled up in tampons. To top things off, there is also what appears to be a photo of Millersville lacrosse coach Barbara Waltman with the words “KISS ME” written on it as part of a a "Pin the Lips on the Coach" game. Nice! Our favorite part of this story? According to MSNBC, Millersville’s athletic director, Peg "Why Me?" Kauffman, said Thursday she had been unaware of the photos until a local television station called her about them. The REAL bad news Peg? We're hearing there might be other sets of these things going back several years. (MSNBC)  See all the pictures for yourself here.
From USA Today: Alcohol-saturated 'fun' on campus can be lethal
Want to Prevent Hazing at Your College or High School? Check out the book Preventing Hazing by friend of the site, Dr. Susan Lipkins.
Additional resources on hazing can be found at HankNuwer.com, run by--who else?-- Professor Hank Nuwer, also a friend of BadJocks.

#6. You Think Hazing in American High School is Bad? Wait Until You Hear What They Do in Japan! - We always knew that hazing was international, but we haven't seen a lot of reports from other countries . . . except maybe the Russian Army, but that's someone could devote a whole website to that. So, we weren't too surprised to find out that hazing regularly happens in Japan and, in fact, is part of the new student curriculum . . . two hours per day for the first two weeks of school! Older students, known as "cheerleaders" gather the newbies up and force them to shout school cheers as loudly as they can with "convincingly sincere body language and facial expressions." And if the newbies refuse? The "cheerleaders" are allowed to punch, kick and even hit the freshmen into obedience with kendo swords. According to one American who witnessed this ritual and wrote an editorial about it "Some of these "obedience" rituals appear to have nothing to do with cheerleading." No kidding! For their part, the schools say the cheers teach gaman, which roughly translates into fighting spirit, hierarchal relationships, obedience to authority, group cooperation and, especially, and respect for tradition. But basically it sounds like the older kids beat the younger kids into submission so they won't think for themselves. Hey, it is just like here in the USA! (Japan Times)

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#5. This one started off the same as many others. Someone sent us pics and notified the school (in this case Penn State), and they launched an investigation. Of course, everyone had a simple answer to what you see below: It was a "theme party." If you say so, boys.
ORIGINAL STORY - New Hazing Scandal for Penn State Wrestling? Just when we thought the whole hazing pictures online thing had quieted down, comes word that none other than Penn State University (home to football coaching legend Joe Paterno) might have one brewing. According to the school's student newspaper, the Daily Collegian, the pictures are reportedly from a 2005 initiation of the men's wrestling team and feature, well, guys in their jocks with 40 oz beers duct taped to their hands. (A hazing technique called "Edward 40 Hands".) The wrestling coach, Troy Sunderland said he is "very upset" by the pics and intends to look into whether the photos show his team involved in hazing practices. Members of the team say it was all voluntary, so what's the big deal? (Although their hazing policy does clearly state that participation in these types of activities is considered to be forced with "the willingness of an individual to participate in such activity notwithstanding".) The pictures were posted online as part of a female student's album on Webshots.com (which BadJocks saw prior to it being pulled down this morning) and also included some photos called "hockey initiation" that appeared to show some male team members stripping for an appreciative crowd of men and women. We don't know if these are of the PSU men's hockey team, but someone may want to check into that. Below are two edited versions of the pictures we received, the first one is allegedly of an initiation ceremony for wrestling, the second one allegedly for men's hockey. In that one, a naked man appears to be taking a dollar bill from a young woman's hand and/or cleavage. Hard to tell.


ORIGINAL STORY - Penn State Wrestling Hazing Allegations Update: Wrestlers Questioned About "Theme Party" - PSU continues to investigate the allegations first brought to light here on BadJocks (see earlier story & pictures below) regarding photos reportedly taken in 2005 of the wrestling team at an initiation ceremony, with young men clad only in their jock straps, with 40 oz beers taped to their hands. In the latest development, wrestlers were questioned by the Office of Judicial Affairs, for what members of the team are now calling nothing more than a "theme party." What exactly was that theme guys? "Drunk & Naked in Public '05?" Penn State wrestlers who would talk on the record are sticking to the "no one was forced to do anything" defense, despite a PSU policy (and PA state law) that clearly states that willingness to participate does not keep it from being hazing. (Daily Collegian)

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#4. HS Golf Team Wedgie Hazing Sends Boy to Hospital - Remember hazing? That great "right of passage" that some of you believe so strongly in and repeatedly write us to complain about our coverage of it because "no on gets hurt?" Well, pull up a chair for this one. A freshmen member of the Charlton County High School (Georgia) golf team was riding on the team bus last week when he overheard members of the varsity asking each other, "Who's it going to be?" Next thing the kid knew, these two golfers had him suspended upside down by his underwear and the proceeded to punch him in the stomach and groin. Afterwards the boy could barely walk and his mom claims he cried in pain for nearly 30 minutes . . . all while a coach was present on the bus. Afterwards, concerned about a severe contusion the boy had received as a result of the wedgie, she took him to the emergency room. According to the mom, "It was so extreme it ripped his boxer shorts in two." Yikes! As a result of a police investigation, Charlton County cops arrested the two boys who allegedly did the damage and charged them with simple battery. (Local 6)

#3. HS Baseball Hazing Incident? Older Players Pin Down Freshman and Urinate on Him in "Sick Prank" - Wow! That's a great way to welcome a new guy to the team! According to school officials at least four members of the Glenbard East High School baseball team in Lombard, IL (just outside Chicago) are in trouble after three of them allegedly pinned down a freshman player and another urinated on him earlier this week. Said one disgusted senior at the HS, “He got held down and supposedly his friends urinated all over him. I guess as a prank, a sick prank at that.” His friends? (CBS 2) Thanks to Dan Shepard for the link!

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#2. HS Football Player Files Lawsuit, Claims He Was Assaulted by Teammates at Camp With Air Mattress Hose, Now Feels Deflated - You know, the story doesn't say specifically WHERE the hose was placed, but knowing modern hazing techniques and teenaged boys, we have a pretty good guess . . . and it wasn't in an ear! As a result of being held down by upperclassmen at a three day football camp last summer, a student at Liberty High School in Gustine, CA has filed a civil lawsuit against school officials and three older teammates. According to a suit, three older players used the nozzle of an air mattress pump for other than its intended purpose. Maybe the 14-year-old looked a little flat? Who knows, but by the time it's all over, this little prank is likely to be an expensive lesson. Oh, and before you think this kid is just making it all up to get attention, a second football player says the same thing happened to him at the camp as well. (NBC 11)

#1. A university finally takes significant action against a team caught hazing and the local cops have the guts to press charges. Golf clap from BadJocks!
ORIGINAL STORY - RIT Rugby Club Hazing Update: 8 Now Face Charges for "Rookie Day" Boozing - According to police, six Rochester Institute of Technology students (you'd think they'd be smart with a school name like that) were hospitalized last week after a binge-drinking party where they were "pressured into consuming dangerously high levels of alcohol to join the school's rugby clubs." As a result, 8 older members of the men's and women's clubs will now face charges of hazing and . . . unlawfully dealing with a child? We'll have to check with our attorney to see what that really means, but it doesn't sound good. Most interesting when you read the names of those arrested, is that most of the names appear to be female. Not that we are biased here at BadJocks, but so many folks wrote us last year to say that female jocks just wouldn't do something like this to each other. Yeah, right. Those accused include: Jennifer P. Salavarrieta, 21, of Piscataway, N.J.; Marie E. Krysak, 21, of Endicott, Broome County; Lucas Sienk, 22, of Loden Lane, Henrietta; Kerry E. Gallagher, 20, of Stratham, N.H.; Katelyn M. Temple, 20, of South Winton Road, Henrietta; Lindsay L. Thompson, 22, of Mamaroneck, Westchester County; and Max Friel, 22, and Panagiotis L. Tzerefos, 20, both of Arnett Boulevard, Rochester. Anyone care to debate the harmless nature of college sports hazing with us now? (Democrat & Chronicle)
ORIGINAL STORY - RIT Rugby Hazing Update: School Gives Men's Club Team "Death Penalty" - We've got to hand it to the Rochester Institute of Technology: they've got some balls. While other colleges caught with their athlete's hands in the hazing cookie jar resort to community service and double secret probation, these guys mean business. As you may recall, members of both the men's and women's rugby team had to be rushed to the hospital with alcohol poisoning in May after a "Rookie Night" initiation. Some speculated that the school wouldn't be as tough on the jocks as they have been in the past with the frats. Not to worry. The school announced yesterday that the men's rugby team would be banned for "at least five years" allowing anyone associated with the current squad to graduate and move on. No sanctions have been handed down for the women's club team, but we anticipate it being just as severe. Hat's off to the administration at RIT. Finally! (Star Gazette)

Parents, Coaches, Fans: You Can Prevent Hazing - We get lots of emails from parents, coaches and just general sports fans every time we run a story about high school or college sports hazings asking us if there's anything that can be done to stop them. Until now, we didn't have much of an answer, but now we do: we suggest that you read Preventing Hazing, by Dr. Susan Lipkins. Dr. Lipkins, of course, was our hazing expert during the Northwestern women's soccer team story earlier this year and has been a friend of the site's for more than a year. We just finished reading Preventing Hazing and can tell you that it is the first tool we are a aware of designed to help adults not only prevent hazing incidents from occuring, but also for dealing with the aftermath if your child is involved. This is a must-read for any adult involved in sports, from parents to coaches to athletic directors and everyone in between. It's time to stop being an innocent bystander (or maybe not so innocent) and take action and this book will help you do just that. - Bob Reno, Publisher (Click on the image to save 35% today!)