Bollocks

"Three varsity wrestlers bound a 13-year-old boy with duct tape on a bus — at the state wrestling meet — and sodomized him with a pencil […] townies sided overwhelmingly with the coach and the pencil-wielding attackers"

[...]

"At New York’s fancypants Bronx High School of Science, three members of the track team stand accused of violently sexual abusing at least one younger student, reports CBS New York.

"'You need a good fingering, you freshman,' one of the attackers allegedly told the victim at one point."

"Anal hazing is apparently a thing in American high schools now." June 21, 2013. http://news.yahoo.com/anal-hazing-apparently-thing-american-high-schools-now-140040056.html

Yikes. Not that it's anything new, unfortunately. New York might be a pioneer of anal hazing and pedophilia in athletics (setting aside the naked wrestling and pedophilia in ancient Greek times). It may even have the debatable honor of being the first state to have a court define tea bagging, something which might eventually be quoted to support a definition in a dictionary - if that hasn't already happened.

"In early October 2001 defendant McGreevy, the president of the Board of Education, received a letter from [...] a parent of a high school football player. Ashdown relayed stories she had heard of disturbing misbehavior in the boys' locker-room such as a 'shampoo bottle [being] shoved up [a student's] rectum.' Cioffi and another administrator investigated Ashdown's allegations. The investigation led to an October 12, 2001 interview with a student on the football team. The student, a 14-year-old freshman, told Cioffi that he had been 'tea-bagged' by other football players. Tea-bagging is a hazing act — indeed a form of sexual assault — during which the victim is pinned down on the floor by several players while another player rubs his genitalia in the victim's face. After the hazing was brought to Superintendent Johnson's attention, the School District took certain steps to address it, such as changing supervision protocols in the football locker rooms, seeking the involvement of the New York State Police, and advising parents in the School District that unspecified incidents of 'sexual harassment and/or hazing' had been uncovered. The School District, however, failed to inform the parents of the freshman who had been the victim of the assault recited above."

Cioffi v. Averill Park Central School Dist., 444 F. 3d 158 - Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit 2006. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13649274941473483080

Another excerpt from the above:

"On January 31, 2002, after learning of the impending abolition of his position, Cioffi held a press conference during which he expressed his belief that the Board's decision to eliminate his position was in retribution for his criticisms regarding Coach Earl, the football program, and the investigation into the tea-bagging. Plaintiff reiterated his overriding concern for the student athletes. […] Cioffi also chronicles his many complaints about the football program over the years, indicating that his alarms were raised to no avail. Cioffi ends his letter voicing consternation about the manner in which the Board and school administration conducted the investigation."

"The US. Supreme Court declined last week to hear a dispute between the Averill Park, N.Y., school district and its former athletic director, who alleged that the district had infringed his right to free speech."

A., T. "Justices Decline To Review Employee-Retaliation Case." Education Week 26.8 (2006): 21. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 June 2013.

Nice to know just how much area school administrators care about hazing, assaults, etc....

At least one area sportscaster has vigorously, unapologetically defended hazing in print (any apology from him would be meaningless), though what his public (or actual) opinion is on anal hazing, I don't know. Hopefully nobody much looks up to or listens to sportscasters?

"Why all the fuss over the Giants' hazing incident? It's over with, and the only person to blame is punter Steve Weatherford, who posted the video on Twitter, and then apologized. Boys will be boys, but the video usually stays in house. Prince Amukamara, who got dunked for the eighth time in two years, did not get hurt, and head coach Tom Coughlin made his point. So much for a quiet preseason. NewsChannel 13's Rodger Wyland can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon on WOFX 980 AM."

Wyland, Roger. "Rodger's quick take." Albany Times Union. August 22, 2012. http://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Rodger-s-quick-take-3808604.php

Coughlin's point appeared to have been that hazing is OK as long as it's kept out of the public eye:

"'No way anything that occurs within this family or within this group should be a part of any kind of social media aspect,' Coughlin said, sounding more irked that the video was posted than he was at the incident itself."

Rock, Tom. "Tom Coughlin miffed Giants posted apparent hazing video online." Newsday. August 19, 2012. http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/giants/tom-coughlin-miffed-giants-posted-apparent-hazing-video-online-1.3914392

The New Jersey-based so-called "New York" Giants (and NFL?) have authorized merchandise made not in New York, not in America, but in China. "NFL New York Giants Infant/Toddler Blanket Sleeper", "New York Giants Sports Beanie Ballz", etc.: made in China. One wonders what John Mara and Steve Tisch have against New York businesses and workers, or isn't the decision up to them? One wonders why the fiction of city or state ties to sports teams is still maintained when teams don't have any allegiance to any government and seemingly can be bought and sold pretty much as the owners like?

Presumably the lead content of children's toys is better regulated now than it was six years ago.

Lipton, Eric S. and David Barboza. "As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China." N.Y. Times. June 19, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19toys.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0