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Hazing, out in the open?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Seahawk, Aug 21, 2008.

  1. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    That's an interesting visual, Stagger. Were there any lawsuits to follow?
     
  2. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    No doubt somebody threw down the gantlet.
     
  3. StaggerLee

    StaggerLee Well-Known Member

    Oddly enough, I don't think so. It's a very small town, and football is the most important thing there. I'm sure someone "paid off" the family to keep them quiet. It was never mentioned in the local fishwrap, nor was it spoken about publicly.

    The sad thing was that the guy was a senior coming out for football for the first time, so he was treated like a freshman at camp.
     
  4. schiezainc

    schiezainc Well-Known Member

    I had a friend over in Connecticut who recently wrote a story on a boys tennis team that was accused of subjecting their newbies to "Atomic sit-ups."

    I nearly fell out of my chair laughing because she was shocked these things went on and was even more shocked when I told her what happened in my HS football locker room. Man, atomic sit-ups were routine.

    Try explaining why one day after practice every sophomore, junior and senior banded together to throw you and each and every other freshman over a ten foot wall to someone who has never been in that locker room situation. Then explain why you relished the opportunity to recreate it for the poor freshman on the team the next three years.
     
  5. RossLT

    RossLT Guest

    Hazing is terrible, that being said, you pay me what an NFL rookie makes and you can haze me all you want.
     
  6. Seahawk

    Seahawk Member

    That's just it. Many of the guys are back end of the roster guys who are going to get cut before any kind of big pay day. It's not like every rookie who goes to camp makes a ton of money. Quite the opposite.

    In camp, I believe most rookies get a stipend, and if they make the team, the contract starts with the regular season. Those contracts also are not guaranteed, so a team cuts them and the money just stops.
     
  7. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    I really don't see what the big deal is about taping a guy to field goal posts. It's harmless fun ... or was, until the PC police go involved.
    There is a line in hazing. Seahawk, why do you make a big deal about this but not about the vets making the rookies sing their school's fight song?
     
  8. Seahawk

    Seahawk Member

    Not sure I ever made any comments one way or the other about anyone singing fight songs. I personally happen to think any form of hazing is wrong, because it tends to start silly, but it builds up to where one group feels it has to top what happened previous years, and then it starts getting out of control.

    As far as taping guys to goal posts and what was pictured, I am against putting people in situations where they are pretty much defenseless. To me, that is not exactly a harmless situation, because you simply can't control everything in any environment.

    Doing something strictly for the sake of trying to embarrass someone isn't my cup of tea. I fail to see how that is what proves acceptance in a group.
     
  9. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member


    When the shit gets physical, it's out of line and the team ought to be concerned. It can all be in good fun, but if someone screws up their ankle or shoulder resisting, then it's fucked up. What your mom said really is true: It's funny until someone gets hurt.

    There's a fairly famous story where the 1960 Pirates were celebrating winning the pennant and Don Hoak was trying to throw Vernon Law into a whirpool. Law wound up hurting his ankle, which led to arm problems. Law went from a 20-9 Cy Young season and 271 innings to 3-4 and 59 innings because someone thought it would be funny to toss him in a whirlpool.

    Singing is no big deal, neither is having the rookies carry the shoulder pads and helmets of the veterans to the locker room after practice.
     
  10. CentralIllinoisan

    CentralIllinoisan Active Member

    Well said.
     
  11. Kevin Morales

    Kevin Morales Member

    That was a really good OTL story -- not the subject mattter, but the story.

    I particulary liked this quote from one of the 16-year old's lawyers...

    "My client, he's extremely likable. He's got a naïveté about him. He's a genuine person, not some kind of thug wearing a baseball cap sideways. He's a nice kid, and I want to see it work out for him."

    Dude, he helped shove a cell phone up some kid's ass and you're trying to knock people who wear hats sideways?
     
  12. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    Someday people will realize that "thugs"/abusers come in all shapes and sizes.

    This just reminds me of that book about Orange, NJ that I read where the author highlights how "star" athletes get star treatment from the day they start dominating as 8 year olds. "Our Boys"

    My boys are not studs, probably will never be, but I hope to instill in them the need to respect everyone, always, and not get caught up in the "jock syndrome."

    BTW, downloaded "Breakfast Club" onto the iPhone and even beyond the comedy, the way Judd Nelson's character nails the social divisions in HS is great writing.
     
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