Student Pays For Football Game Prank

Ohio High School Senior Tricks Opposing Fans With "We Suck" Sign, Gets Suspended

(AP)  A high school student who tricked football fans from a crosstown rival into holding up signs that together spelled out, "We Suck," was suspended for the prank, students said.

Kyle Garchar, a last year student at Hilliard Davidson High School in suburban Columbus, said he spent about 20 hours over three days plotting the trick, which was captured on video and posted on the video-sharing Web site YouTube. He said he was inspired by a similar prank pulled by Yale students in 2004, when Harvard fans were duped into holding up cards with the same message.

At the end of the video, Garchar wryly thanks the 800 Hilliard Darby High School supporters who raised the cards at the start of the third quarter during last Friday's football game.

"It couldn't have been done without you," reads the closing frame of the video.

Garchar, 17, created a grid to plan how the message would be spelled out once fans in three sections held up either a black or white piece of construction paper.

Directions left on stadium seats instructed fans to check that the number listed on their papers matched their seat numbers. Darby supporters were told the message would read "Go Darby."

"It was tedious," Garchar said. "I didn't really think it was going to work."

But it did, and everyone at Davidson has been talking it ever since, said Jordan Moore, a third year student.

"That was the ultimate in-your-face," he said. "I think it was ingenious."

Davidson Principal John Bandow had told students that he expected them to show sportsmanship at the game, which Darby won 21-10.

Bandow gave Garchar three days of in-school suspension and banned him from extracurricular activities for a semester, the students said. Two Darby students who helped Garchar received the same punishment after the principals from both schools spoke by phone.

Hilliard schools spokeswoman Michelle Wray said she could not confirm the punishment because the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act forbids the release of student disciplinary information.

"We weren't expecting it to be such a severe punishment," said Jen Trimmer, 17, one of the students involved. "We just thought it was all in good fun."

Watch a video of the prank on YouTube.

[glb1969]

Typical overreaction from authority figures with no real grasp of the issue. They should reward this man for his ingenuity and restraint from violence. The principal should be let go for imposing such and unjustified harsh sentence.

[nativewoman]

This was a great prank and caused harm to no one!

Why the severe punishment?

[rray52]

Great prank. A tip of the hat to the new generation. They may be hope for us yet.

[agnim]

Obviously this prankster did not earn his smarts from the school system, which seems to be filled with asinine administrators.

No sanction, no suspension is warranted. It''s harmless kids'' stuff.

We have a freaking dumb national leader. So of course the dumbness is going to seem OK with lunatic leaders of lesser influence.

[grammawhamma]

A big round of applause to this kid for a well planned "harmless" prank!! Boooo to the school officials. Idiots.

[candy-apple]

Posted by Agnim at 04:13 PM : Aug 30, 2007

I think that the punishment was too harsh also, but what on earth does this have to do with our "national dumb leader?"

[theroux1]

I think this is funny as hell. In a world where kids are shooting each other in the playground isn''t this a refreshing breath of fresh air?

[inmo-2009]

This is hilarious!!!! Good prank and good idea?
Why can''t we let teens and kids have fun - especially SAFE -- HARMLESS fun!

[ianlou]

Years ago I suggested to some girls at school to name their new female student organization "National Institute of Technologies Women in Technology", They liked the sound of it until they realized the acronym would be NIT WIT.

[candy-apple]

Why can''''t we let teens and kids have fun - especially SAFE -- HARMLESS fun!
Posted by InMo at 04:38 PM : Aug 30, 2007

Because that would be too much like the right thing to do.
Or because the kid(s) who pulled the prank probably weren''t members of a sports team or a dance team, or any other "Popular" group in school. Had they been they probably would''ve been slapped on the wrist and sent home.

[rray52]

I wonder if they would have been punished if the message had been %u201CPay raises for Teachers%u201D

[republic1776]

Funny prank!

This kid should get an "A" not suspended

[cfin5]

I really got a kick out of this story! He probably broke a school rule but heck, sounds like he deserved an A for his team spirit. All he did was mess with the other teams pride that''s all. LOL

[ramos937]

I am 69 and got a kick out of it. To be very honest, I would bet that the other school''s kids also got a kick out of it once they found out about it. Had one of their kids thought about it, he would have done it first. No critisim. I bet even his Dad must secretly be proud of him.

[jt92202]

I AM SICK OF "PC"

FUNNY PRANK!!

[cfin5]

I got to thinking of a school that I attended whose football team really did suck. The day of a certain football game we had a school pep rally in the gymnasium. Those poor cheerleaders were down there flipping and jumping their little hearts out, but absolutely nobody gave a hoot. We were just glad to get out of a period of class and used it for social reasons. All of a sudden, three guys came through the side door of the gym and streaked all the way across to the other door where a get away truck was waiting. Instant attention was given to the rest of the pep rally and to the game that night. I couldn''t help thinking that if the first two guys (all three were football players, trust me) could run that fast with a football our team would not have sucked. The third was our huge''n''hairy but slow center. The best part was the paper bags over their heads with the batman capes with old work boots!

I generally think of pranks as being pretty stupid and childish, but this one is so stupid and childish, yet creative, that I can''t help but LMAO at it!

[Krazcarl]

I tip my hat great prank why not just make him pick up the trash. Don''t worry he''ll be a school hero even the team will high five him plus got a week off from school no harm no foul....

[rillifane]

Bad sportsmanship and crude obscenity isn''t particularly funny except to ugly minded little children.

Exploiting the good will and enthusiam of others doesn''t prove you''re clever only that you''re immoral.

This boy and those who applaud him have the same mindset as a street thug, different only in degree.

He should be ashamed of himself but clearly lacks the moral sense to feel any such decent emotion.

[vancouverboo]

It won''t hurt their chances of getting into Yale.

[nativewoman]

Posted by Rillifane at 06:31 PM : Aug 30, 2007

Lighten up, Francis.

How do you get to "street thug" from this?

[rray52]

Posted by Rillifane at 06:31 PM

With all the doom and gloom in the news let us see the humor in something. Relax its not the end of the world. Yet.

[Krazcarl]

Rillifane were you born constipated, you trying for a spot in the moral majority, I''ll bet your dog doesn''t like you...

[mrvolleyba11]

Rillifane pull the corn cobb out of your @ss and go find your sense of humor which you obviously lost many years ago! ...sounds like you must of been one of the poor harvard fans that got duped by Yale!!!

[rushlimpdrug]

This was over the top!
Kids should get a free pass to football games.

[likeitis5050]

Pretty clever...he may have already gotten a job offer from some ad agency. I grew up in an era of ''kids will be kids'' and that included bubbles in fountains, tp-ing yards, food coloring in public pools, and my favorite...e-lax in chicklet boxes. I would be doing time for this c..rap today. Sad to say pranks fall under terroristic threats and destruction of property today and they carry a ''no tolerance'' code of conduct with them. Shoot, even hurling a cup of ice at an a..sshole who tries to ram you in their car can get you a felony without a whole lot of publicity and sympathy from the public. When will the pendulum swing the other way again?

[likeitis5050]

This boy and those who applaud him have the same mindset as a street thug, different only in degree.

He should be ashamed of himself but clearly lacks the moral sense to feel any such decent emotion.

Posted by Rillifane at 06:31 PM : Aug 30, 2007


You had to eat by yourself in school...huh?
1-800-bwa-haha and they have you laughing in no time.

[toolmangler-2009]

I have to applaud the boys, the sheer ingenuity of the effort shows a great deal of intelligence and planning. If I were a company exec I would have my people set up a meeting with the boys. This kind of talent needs a guiding hand in the best direction.
-------------------------
Posted by Rillifane at 06:31 PM : Aug 30, 2007

You had to eat by yourself in school...huh?
1-800-bwa-haha and they have you laughing in no time.
Posted by likeitis5050 at 09:17 PM : Aug 30, 2007
--------------------------

sorry Rillifane, I''m with likeitis5050 on this one. As I say this, I am thinking about some of the neat stuff my friends and I pulled as teenagers. "wonederful memories" and no one got hurt, miffed maybe but not hurt.

[mitywhity]

Nefariously clever. If you must do such - do it young! Focus your energy towards your future and you''ll excel all these who are putting you down.

[mitywhity]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Y_AkT7PEM

They would have never known they were duped!

[amazedd]

:)

[bobpcoll--2008]

Not at all, Amazedd. If you were the principal of a school you would have exacted a similar punishment: not too severe but measured.

[lastdance2]

- ATTTTTTTTA BOY ! ! ! !

Lastdance

[dylanxxv]

Both principals should lighten up and get a sense of humor...They should consider themselves lucky the kid has a mischievous sense of humor instead of a callous killers mentality and went on a shooting rampage...This was harmless and hurt no one...

[adhoyt1]

Hummmmm..... I remember the days when getting a rival team like that was rewarded not punished.

[zootallures2]

Think of it in a broader sense. Like a message from America. Home of greatest demolition team.

[gunnerv1]

This guy is a hero and a real "go getter". He''ll have a job waiting for him after he Grads. from school

[themurph2000]

Posted by Rillifane at 06:31 PM : Aug 30, 2007

Lighten up, Francis.

How do you get to "street thug" from this?
Posted by NativeWoman at 06:54 PM : Aug 30, 2007

Amen, NativeWoman. (and good Stripes reference, too) Like Santa said to Mike Ditka "We need to get Rillifane a big pair of pliers to get that big bug out of his @$$.

The principal should be glad: this kid knows mathematical formulas and statistics to organize the placards like that. (although his grammar could use a bit of work) How many of his kids can say that?

[craash1]

Geez, talk about uptight and overreacting!!! In my day (1984) that would have been considered an awesome senior "prank" and nobody would have been punished. What happened to those good old days? Lighten up people and let the kids have some harmless fun!

[mennowoman]

It sounds pretty funny to me.

But I can see the principal''s point about it being poor sportsmanship.

I guess ultimately, you shouldn''t do the crime if you can''t do the time. ;-)

[mennowoman]

"It seems like the harshness of the penalty, a semester of no extracurricular activities, is out of proportion to this prank."
Posted by koko98 at 04:02 PM : Aug 30, 2007

I''m betting these kids don''t to a lot of sports and clubs, so it really seems like a "non-punishment" to me. Maybe that''s why the principals chose that punishment, since it would give the appearance of punishment without creating any negative consequences for the pranksters.

[edjohn66]

Who got hurt? Was it profane? Was it openly offensive?

NO. I say nice work, guys! A harmless prank -- evan an intricate one -- is always good to remind people to lighten up a bit!

Take your punnishment with pride. You did a trick that everyone in the country is talking about. Isn''t that worth a little suspension?

Job well done, kids!

[olebd]

Awesome job, guys! Enjoy the mandatory "vacation" I''m sure you''ll have a permanent smile for years over this one.

[marybethinct]

Bravo, thanks for the laugh thank goodness good old fashion pranks still exist!! I would have loved to have seen it in person!!

[themurph2000]

As a college PROFESSOR OF WOMEN''''S STUDIES, I can define here a more subtle, anti women and anti feminist agenda, which is so obvious. His choice of words ? Is there a "pass" given for this ?
Posted by Trueprogress at 10:45 AM : Aug 31, 2007

"We Suck?"------OK, I must be missing your point here somewhere, ''cause I''m not seeing anything anti-woman or anti-feminist in those two words. Of course, if you''re inferring a sexual connotation there, then both men and women were duped on that one, so your argument is still confusing. Unless YOU''RE argument is just a prank as well.

[tcoleman12]

Fantastic prank...nothing profane or vulgar. Just a good dupe.

And to Trueprogress, if this was "anti feminist" as you assert, that is just a bonus. Get over yourself.

[oleander8]

I''m sure the principal was laughing just as hard as everyone else - but he couldn''t very well officially condone the prank.

[dbstevens]

Although I don''t really like "pranks" because I don''t condone ANY behavior which makes fun of, embarrasses, or makes a fool of ANY other human being, it''s always nice to see a high school kid using his brain. LOL

If he''d been smarter, he''d have made it an ad and had someone pay him loads of money for the attention it would garner.

[jdmaldonado]

Done at a Yale/Harvard football game but Kudos for still pulling it off
http://www.funnyvideos.tw/funny-videos/latest-funny-videos/yale-students-organize-elaborate-we-suck-prank-against-harvard.html

[jester188]

Trueprogress... okay.. and did you make up the university you work at... or is it one of those community collage ones... cause there is not way you work at a real university with comments like that...

i hate to say it.. but all the people who took your class are now dumber for bing there...

thank you for proving any idiot can become a professor...

now i know what to write my thesis on... can i interview you on stupidity in the workplace