12/21/24
March 14, 2006
USC bballer 0wnzrd by Cal fan club: "Victoria was a hoax UCLA co-ed, created by Cal's Rally Committee. ... had been chatting with Gabe Pruitt, USC's starting guard, over AOL Instant Messenger. ... [A]t the game, when Pruitt was introduced in the starting lineup, the chants began: "Victoria, Victoria." ... Pruitt ended up a miserable 3-for-13 from the field.One of the fans held up a sign with her phone number." Awesome.
posted by worldcup2002 to basketball at 11:30 PM - 43 comments
"Ownzrd"? It's leet speak. Kind of.
posted by qbert72 at 07:33 AM on March 15, 2006
What a total pwnzing!
posted by Hugh Janus at 08:11 AM on March 15, 2006
Thunderstix and M.L. Carr style towel-waving be damned, this is the psych-out of the 21st century. The Cameron Crazies think they're smart, but this raises the bar to previously unheard of levels.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 08:37 AM on March 15, 2006
Fantastic psych-out. Utter humiliation, I honestly feel sorry for the guy. The PLO shit with Steve Kerr made me hate Arizona State forever. Totally callous and undefendable.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:54 AM on March 15, 2006
Unfuckingbelievable. Just how many people were in on this that the crowd knew to chant the name Victoria?
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:30 AM on March 15, 2006
Someone should have gotten the folks in charge of music in the arena to play "Victoria" by The Kinks.
posted by scully at 10:22 AM on March 15, 2006
Nice, terrapin. Also would've been fun to invite Planned Parenthood for a condom giveaway.
posted by cl at 11:01 AM on March 15, 2006
fantastic. here's a picture of gabe linked in the story. he's number 34.
posted by ninjavshippo at 11:29 AM on March 15, 2006
See, I would've thought it was number 42. He's definitely got the "holy shit" look on his face.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 11:39 AM on March 15, 2006
Absolutely brilliant. Kudos to those crazy smart kids from Berkeley. This is one of the best pranks I've heard, and well done. Though a surprisingly large number of people in the link didn't like it, strangely.
posted by Bonkers at 11:53 AM on March 15, 2006
Count me among that group. Humiliating your opponents doesn't sound like good sportsmanship to me.
posted by bperk at 12:03 PM on March 15, 2006
Gotta agree with bperk. Cal didn't have the sack to match up on the court? Bunch of pussies. Hey, maybe next time they can call their opponents right before gametime and tell them their parents died. I wonder how many people who approve of this stunt would have the same opinion if the rally committee (do people actually admit to being on such a thing?) had done this to someone on the women's team.
posted by joaquim at 12:58 PM on March 15, 2006
the cal kids pulling this elaborate prank is the same as dressing up to go to a game, cheering at games, or even clapping. it's all a way to psych out the opponent. the cal kids took their 1600 sat's and 4.million gpa's and figured out a creative way to absolutely demolish this player's confidence. the entirety of the black hole doesn't work that well.
posted by SavyMcSaverson at 01:24 PM on March 15, 2006
Count me among the people who think this was funny. He's lucky they stopped at getting his phone number and some embarrassing IM transcripts.
posted by rcade at 01:40 PM on March 15, 2006
I'm guessing his answering machine/voicemail was waaaay full. And all of them "friends of Victoria."
posted by The_Black_Hand at 02:17 PM on March 15, 2006
Classic! What's next?
posted by slackerman at 03:19 PM on March 15, 2006
I wonder how many people who approve of this stunt would have the same opinion if the rally committee (do people actually admit to being on such a thing?) had done this to someone on the women's team. That's a good point, I think this is hilarious but if they had done the same prank to a woman I would not be amused. Weird.
posted by tron7 at 03:34 PM on March 15, 2006
You all really think that was funny? At best, it was asinine and juvenile. It has no place in sport, and if you think it does, then, to quote joaquim, "you don't have the sack to match up". Well said, joaquim.
posted by mjkredliner at 04:27 PM on March 15, 2006
It has a place in sports. College sports. Just like the clowns chanting "Brokeback" this is the sort of immature fanatacism that you expect from college. Immature? Check. Juvenile? Check. Funny? Yeah. Until it is over done and played out. Some jokes are only funny once. Sometimes in college we make decisions that aren't mature or well thought out. Go figure. I thought it was clever and humorous. I also agree with tron7 who was agreeing with a point joaquim made.
posted by geekyguy at 05:09 PM on March 15, 2006
beautiful, absolutely beautiful. who and what is next
posted by icebreather99 at 07:27 PM on March 15, 2006
just thought i'd help out mjkredliner and joaquim.
posted by ninjavshippo at 08:34 PM on March 15, 2006
mjk - I bet your brow is heavily creased.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:15 PM on March 15, 2006
Nah Weedy, I just believe your game should do your talking, not some prank that is obviously in poor taste regardless of the age of the instigators. Perhaps the weed has corrupted your sense of fair play and sportsmanship?
posted by mjkredliner at 09:27 AM on March 16, 2006
That was PRICELESS and it seem some people really need to relax.....mjkredliner you by any chance don't have any kids in sports....If you do remember it's only a GAME relax...oh and by the way I think this is probably the best I've ever seen....maybe I'm wrong...
posted by Grrrlacher at 12:11 PM on March 16, 2006
I think this is probably the best I've ever seen Great story (which I didn't know)! Thanks, Grrrlacher. Interestingly the linked piece implies that the Washington Huskies head cheerleader for the '61 Rose Bowl was male, which ties in nicely with today's hot topic.
posted by qbert72 at 12:25 PM on March 16, 2006
Nah Weedy, I just believe your game should do your talking, not some prank that is obviously in poor taste regardless of the age of the instigators. Perhaps the weed has corrupted your sense of fair play and sportsmanship? You must have been watching different sports than I have - psych-outs and mind games are all part of gamesmanship. I'm seeing a mountain made out of a relative mole-hill here. (and as an aside - the whole attacking someone based on the name thing is pretty weak. Check out my profile before you seek to discredit me.)
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:02 PM on March 16, 2006
You must have been watching different sports than I have - psych-outs and mind games are all part of gamesmanship. I'm seeing a mountain made out of a relative mole-hill here. Sure, between the players that is true, but not with fans who aim is to humilate the other player. That just seems mean and ugly. This is picking on a player about something in his personal life. That is out-of-bounds as far as I am concerned.
posted by bperk at 02:08 PM on March 16, 2006
That is out-of-bounds as far as I am concerned. Completely true except for the following list: *Barry Bonds *Bode Miller *Pete Rose *Any member of the New York Mets
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:44 PM on March 16, 2006
Weedy, you don't get it do you? Your word,"gamesmanship" is precisley what it was. Granted. it was not the members of the opposing team that foisted this upon their fellow competitor, but what is new about fans crossing the line? I, as what I consider a sportsman, consider it unecessary to resort to such tactics, and laughingly recall when members of the U.S Ryder Cup team called out Seve Ballesteros on his use of such cheap tactics. A harmless prank among friends, it was not. It was public to the point of MAKING NATIONAL NEWS. Put yourself in that fellows shoes. And, as an aside, if you do not wish to answer to snide remarks about drug use, do not choose a handle that blithely suggest you condone such substances.
posted by mjkredliner at 02:50 PM on March 16, 2006
Isn't booing players, or trying to distract a player during an AB or waving signs in the face of players making free throws in the same vein? We pick on players about their personal lives all the time. I think the big difference in this case is the elaborate nature of the psych-out and the fact that the player was caught completely unaware. I still think this is more sporting than calling Theo Fleury a drunk Indian. Not a big deal in my book (the Victoria thing - not the drunk Indian thing).
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:56 PM on March 16, 2006
*Barry Bonds *Bode Miller *Pete Rose *Any member of the New York Mets These might be exceptions because they are examples of when someone's personal life is such a wreck that it interferes with the game.
posted by bperk at 03:06 PM on March 16, 2006
Weedy, you don't get it do you? Yep - me, half the board, and a whole lotta other people. We just don't get it. Look I sympathize, the world would be a better place if we all just realized this and starting agreeing with you. But it ain't gonna happen. You've chosen to draw the line at this, and I choose to draw the line elsewhere. In no way were the Cal folk attacking the player on his race, a paticular personal tragedy, or sexual orientation. So nuts to your calls of this being terrible and horrible. I think it's quite creative and a good jest. And as an aside, making an ad hominem personal attack on someone's online handle is not an effective way of arguing your point. Tres weak. I joined SpoFi as Weedy, have been Weedy for the better part of three years and have heard all the lame quippy shots long before you showed up. Besides, I don't even know what a 'redliner' even refers to. It's not fair.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:08 PM on March 16, 2006
Besides, I don't even know what a 'redliner' even refers to. It's not fair. Precisely.
posted by bperk at 03:46 PM on March 16, 2006
Four words: Hi-Lar-Eee-uss. If the young baller in question is so delicate as to let this ruin his life, I hope that he doesn't get drafted to the Pistons and have to play in Madison Square Garden. All haters-check yourself. And I happen to like Weedy's name. My handle would imply that I'm a sci-fi freak. Mr. McSmokey, I would assume, is a field burning advocate.
posted by THX-1138 at 04:00 PM on March 16, 2006
Looking at the records Cal was obviously the superior team. Looking at Pruitt's records it doesn't seem he was as "owned" as 3 for 13 sounds. This was his second game after about a month off. He scored 12 in that game and 13 in the game before. In his previous game against Cal he had scored 13. Not a lot of change. In the "owned" game he had as many steals as the entire Cal team. (3) As for this 79% free throw shooter missing a couple in this game...he ended up 4 for 6...which is less than one free throw under his average. Even better...in his next game against Cal (5 days later) he led USC in scoring with 22. I say give this kid kudos for turning it around on Cal.
posted by ?! at 07:22 PM on March 16, 2006
Weedy , to quote your own disingenuous self, "utter humiliation, I honestly feel sorry for the guy".Uh, which is it ,Weedy? The line i drew is unwavering. I never used the words "terrible" or "horrible". I said "poor taste". A big difference. It was not an ad hominem "attack" on your online handle, it was a verbal jab used only because of your thinly veiled implication that I have no sense of humor, and, in doing so, you opened yourself up for a like "attack". And, "tres weak" sums up the whole french-canadien community in my (unwavering) opinion. As Patton said, he would rather have a whole German brigade in front of him , than a French one behind him. Touche`. By the way, I am the second definition outlined in bperk's helpful link above, my company hot shots directional drilling tools throughout the Permian Basin, and we get there at a high rate of speed.
posted by mjkredliner at 10:44 PM on March 16, 2006
As for Theo Fluery, if the shoe fits.......
posted by mjkredliner at 11:01 PM on March 16, 2006
OK...it was between you two and I might be the third man on the ice, but mjkredliner those asinine anti-francophone comments were uncalled for. First, you live in Texas. What do you know about French-Canadians other than by rumor? Did you live there? A francophone break your heart? Second, you mix the French in with your attack. That alleged quote and comment just proves your are either poorly educated about geography and history or simply a bigot. Speaking trash about two entire societies based on a single two word comment? I realize your opinion is unwavering. It is also in poor taste.
posted by ?! at 09:26 AM on March 17, 2006
MJK, I think you undermined your point about the offensiveness of this college prank when you scaled the wall of culture-bashing. While the Patton quote is funny, the tone of your message is far more objectionable than anything else on this thread. I think you'd better put it away. On the other hand, Weedy, you kind of brought this on by making a personal comment about mjk. I'm in no way providing a defense for mjk's comments, but if you don't want ad hominem arguments you shouldn't go poking people with a stick. After three years, you should know where people are immediately going to go. On topic, college pranks are as big a tradition as college sports themselves. I think you have to make allowances for it. I find it much more objectionable at a higher level (the Ballesteros example, for instance) but I think harmless pranks are an entertaining, if not essential, part of the development of rivalries at the college level. I have to say that my life is richer now that I know about that Caltech prank -- that is so brilliant, witty and inspiring that it makes me wish I had more time to come up with something like it to foil Cornell's rooting section during the ECAC hockey tournament this weekend.
posted by BullpenPro at 10:37 AM on March 17, 2006
Jes fais des excuses pour la plaisanterie au sujet du Francais, il etait non apelle pour. And, yes the Cal Tech prank was brilliant, the best I have ever heard. Beats kidnapping mascots and changing the print on the media guide. It did not mess with an individual on a personal level, either. Which, is my objection to this latest Cal "prank".
posted by mjkredliner at 01:35 PM on March 17, 2006
That was intended to be an apology in French. If the translator I used was incorrect, well then I guess even the translators have a hard time with the language too. The France bashing was uncalled for, I agree.
posted by mjkredliner at 02:02 PM on March 17, 2006
"Je m'excuse pour la plaisanterie aux dépends des Français et des Canadiens-français; j'ai dépassé la mesure." Apology accepted. Only translators written by English speakers seem to have a problem. :) As for the quote, Patton is not on record anywhere I can find saying that. In fact, the man had quite a respect for Leclerc and his forces. The French also expressed their admiration for the man. You'll find quite a few Rue Patton in France.
posted by ?! at 08:14 AM on March 19, 2006
"Ownzrd"? Were you laughing so hard you couldn't type straight? That's incredible. The perfect college bball prank; getting into the guy's head, but not being cruel (a la chants of "PLO" at then-Arizona's Steve Kerr, whose father was killed in a terrorist bombing) or salacious (Duke's Cameron Crazies tossing condoms at an opposing player who is an unwed father).