Butt drag ‘dangerous path to take’
A high school wrestler in Fresno, Calif., is facing criminal charges and possible expulsion for executing a move that he thinks is an accepted part of the sport.
Buchanan High School senior Preston Hill, who was supposed to be the captain of the wrestling team, is instead suspended pending an expulsion hearing and standing trial on charges of sexual battery for using the "butt drag" maneuver on a teammate in practice.
The move is performed by "intensely grabbing an opponent's butt cheek to obtain leverage and better positioning."
Occasionally, in the commission of the technique, fingers will find their way into, well, let's just say, an uncomfortable area.
The story has led to a great deal of discussion in Fresno about the move and the sport in general.
"To think I'd ever instruct my guys to get on the mat and practice sticking their fingers in their teammates' rear end, it's stupid and ridiculous," longtime Fresno State wrestling coach Dennis DeLiddo told the Fresno Bee. "A butt drag isn't sticking your finger up a guy's (rectum). That'd be illegal. That'd be counterproductive. That's not the move. That's not a butt drag. That's just perverted."
Fresno City College coach Paul Keysaw admitted accidents do occur.
"I'm not going to say anal penetration never happens," Keysaw told the paper. "But I absolutely, unequivocally say no that a coach would ever teach his kids to shove fingers up another kid's rectum. That's just a dangerous path to take."
Well, that's something we can all agree on.
■ MILLEN TIME -- The only downside to weeknight NFL games is being forced to listen to Matt Millen and Joe Theismann pontificate about things they have seemingly no clue about on the NFL Network broadcasts.
A Millen diatribe during Thursday night's Colts-Titans game might have given insight into why he failed so miserably as an executive.
Millen chose to deem Randy Moss, of all people in the game, as a potential NFL coach.
"The thing people don't know about Randy Moss is what a great football mind he has. He's a phenomenal worker. He is all about football," Millen said. "You hear about all the other stuff. You don't hear about the good things. He's one of the best teachers. In fact, his coaches were telling me this guy should be a coach. He's off the charts with how much football he knows."
A lot of people know a lot about football. It doesn't necessarily make them great coaches. Hard to believe Millen failed so bad as an executive with the Lions, isn't it?
■ BALL HOG -- With the Los Angeles Lakers in Chicago to play the Bulls on Friday, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune asked Kobe Bryant about a conversation the superstar had with the Bulls' Derrick Rose when the teams met in L.A.
Johnson asked Bryant if the conversation had any symbolic passing-of-the-torch undertones.
"Oh, sure, but I ain't passing (expletive)," Bryant said.
That sounds more like something Bryant would say to his teammates during the early stages of his career.
COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
