DEA Makes Record Steroid Bust: Is This How Professional Sports Will Look in a Few Months?

Let's hope the boys in professional sports from the Arena Football League to the WWE stocked up on their "performance enhancing substances" because it's going to be a long skinny winter if they didn't. At right is a picture of a paunchy Jack Black and his skinny sidekick from the comedy "Nacho Libre" . . . but it could also be a glimpse into the future without steroids. Once massive, muscle-bound jocks could either turn to flab or skin and bones, but either way, it's not going to be pretty. Why? This week, Federal drug official completed an 18 month investigation into the underground steroid market and arrested 124 people and busted 56 labs in 27 states. All told, the Drug Enforcement Agency seized more than 500 pounds of raw materials and 11.4 million steroid dosage units, enough according to experts, to supply hundreds of users . . . but not anymore. The haul included anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and insulin growth factor, most of it from--where else?--China, and often times in "filthy conditions with no regard to safety." Start taking pics of your favorite athletes now fellas, so you can remember them as they were. (CNN)

What's Wrong With Tom Brady's Super Bowl Rings?

I was walking through the Patriots locker room Tuesday after practice as I usually do and noticed quarterback Tom Brady hunched over at his locker rubbing something furiously. Now, it's not like Tom and I are best friends, but I've known him since he played for Michigan and I covered the Wolverines for the Eaton Rapids Inquirer-Enquirer. So I stopped to see what he was up to.
"Hey Tom," I said, "What are you working on there? Don't the Patriots pay people to clean the stains out of your uniform?"
Brady looked up and a brief smile crossed his face as he recognized a familiar face, but then turned back to a pained expression. "Hey Bob," he started, "It's not my uniform, it's my Super Bowl rings."
Now, anyone who knows Tom Brady knows that he's not a flashy kind of guy who flaunts his THREE Super Bowl rings just to get attention. But he is proud of them and will let family, friends and the occasional publisher of a sports/crime website, admire them. But most of the time they just sit in his trophy case at home, where they belong . . . but not Tuesday.
I tried to cheer him up by asking if he'd lost a diamond from one of them.
"No," said Tom, not looking up, "They all look, well, tarnished."
"Tarnished?" I asked, "Since when?"
He paused for a minute. "Well, I first noticed it after we played the Packers last season, but they got much worse after we beat the Jets on Sunday. None of them have the shine that they used to. I can't even look at them anymore."
Brady held up one of the rings to my face and it was obvious to me that it was tarnished . . . and badly. Usually those things are so expensive and well made that they shine like new for years . . . but not the three that now sat on a small table in front of Tom. Before him was an array of cleaning products, polish and special towels, but none of them seemed to be making any difference.
"I asked coach Belichick what to do and he just said I should put them away and worry about playing the Chargers Sunday," he said, adding in a pained voice, "But I can't stop thinking about my tarnished rings."
At thought point I noticed Brady wasn't the only one trying to restore some luster to his bling: Most of the Patriots who had won Super Bowl rings were also furiously rubbing them to the point that the locker room sounded like a small factory and smelled like one, too.
"What do you suggest, Bob?"
"Come clean, Tom, come clean."

Topless Women, Lap Dances Featured at Cherry Hill Valley Golf Course

- It might have been just another "my word against your word" situation at the aptly named Cherry Valley Golf Course in Stroudsburg, PA yesterday, if not for an incriminating video shot from a public road near the course. According to several witnesses, they were denied access down a public road while a "private golf tournament was taking place." When the pair objected, an employee of the club allegedly threatened to kick their ass. So, what to do? Maybe shoot some video and still from the public road showing partially clothed females performing lap dances for golfers and sex acts on each other? (See amateur video below.) But that wasn't
enough, so the cops were called and were promptly greeted by club owner Gene
"Strippers, What Strippers?" Percudani. When officers asked to speak to some of the young ladies, things got a little tense and ultimately Percudani's lawyer
was called (Yeah, this one will go all the way to the Supreme Court). Eventually officers met with the lawyer and a woman who claimed to represent the young women and eventually it was revealed that the group consisted of "dancers and customers of CR Fannys Gentlemen's Club in Wilson." So, maybe a charity event? No charges have been filed yet, but the video does make for some interesting, if not entirely safe for work, viewing. If this all sounds familiar to fans of the Jim Rome Show, several years ago BadJocks reported on an incident at the Hidden Valley Golf Club in Norco, CA, 40 miles east of Los Angeles where cops raided the club after undercover officers saw prostitutes having sex with golfers in plain view on the course. Rome talked about it for days and probably still remembers it fondly. It was even voted by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 10 Ignominious Moments in Golf in 2002. Ah, the mammarys! (Pocono Record)

"How Come You Don't Post Hazing Pictures Anymore?"

Another one of the questions I get asked frequently, especially since May of 2006 when I broke the story about the Northwestern women's soccer team and the pictures they posted online of their 2005 freshman initiation. That -- along with our Dirty Dozen -- got a lot of media attention. But after that, I thought I had pretty much seen what was out there to be seen, at least in terms of sports initiation pictures.

That is, until I was doing research on another story and found a set of 88 pictures (labeled Initiation 2006) that appears to have broken some new ground. First though, I have to tell you that I still have not figured out who these guys play for, but the pictures are allegedly of an initiation of MEN'S college field hockey team, a sport that's not that popular with the guys here in the US. My guess is that they are English speaking, likely from the UK, Australia, or possibly Canada. (If anyone can help me with the ID, I would appreciate it.) Anyway, there are 88 pictures in this album and they start off traditional enough, with the freshmen dressed in bikinis and wearing wigs and in some cases make-up and nail polish. There is a lot of drinking that goes on and then a lot of puking. Looks like the upperclassmen came prepared as everyone has their own bucket. Then things get weird.

They first start using those hair removal strips that women use on their legs and appear to be taking hair off guy's chests and underarms. Then, the frosh are presented with a roasted chicken and what appears to be a block of butter or cheese and are forced to eat it. But not before, IT APPEARS, that the upperclassmen smother it in Vagisil. (For those that don't know, Vagisil is a female hygiene product used to ease itching DOWN THERE.) It's not likely the manufacturer intended it to be used as poultry seasoning. The guys do eat it like a pack of hungry wolves, and then--naturally--there's more drinking and puking. But we're not finished yet! There are still a few more photos of the lads, still dressed as dames, riding a bus and then inside a pub or tavern of some kind. And more puking.

Below are several pictures from the album (don't worry, I saved the best ones) including an early drinking shot where you can see the package of Vagisil on the table, a later shot of the chicken with something white smeared on it, and finally the freshman eating the chicken. Below that is a link to the entire album.

As I said earlier, if anyone can figure out who these guys are, I would appreciate it. Needless to say, this has to be one of the worst sets of hazing pics I have ever seen. You are welcome to leave your comments below.












Here's a link to the full album. At least, until someone pulls it down.

When I Knew the Duke Lacrosse Case Was in Trouble

I have to admit, when the Duke lacrosse story first broke, BadJocks was all over this thing, like most people in the media. In fact, the first reports I got of it were emails from students at Duke who only knew that it was about "some lacrosse players and a stripper" and, of course, that made us think they had been at some club and jumped up on stage or something and got kicked out. Comedy gold, right?

Within 24 hours though, as more "details" emerged, we realized that if true, there would be nothing funny about this case but, like most people never thought it would become the media circus it turned out to be. Yes, I did regular updates, but didn't really think it was "BadJocks material" at that point. Nothing funny about gang rape.

I do remember a point, I think last summer, when it was revealed that the "police line-up" used by the cops was nothing more than a single sheet with pictures of ever white player on the lacrosse team. How could the prosecutor lose on that one? Anyone the "victim" picked was a lacrosse player! It was like something out of "Reno 911" the COPS parody on Comedy Central. It was at that point that I started thinking that this case might not be as air tight as Mr. Nifong wanted everyone to believe, and of course, that proved to be the case.