Women's Soccer Suspended At Northwestern

For those of you who have been disinterested in sports ever since news of those Carolina Panthers cheerleaders faded from view, I give you the Women's Soccer Team at Northwestern University (subscription required):

Northwestern University suspended its women's soccer team on Monday after a Web site published photographs of an alleged hazing incident involving team members.

The photographs, which are believed to have been posted by a Northwestern player on a student file-sharing network, show members of the team dressed only in underwear and blindfolded with their hands bound. Two images show athletes performing lap dances for players on the Northwestern men's soccer team...

I blame Title IX (heh)! I guess it's good to know that boundless stupidity isn't limited to campuses on the East Coast.

Here's an update from the school's student newspaper:

A review of the NU athlete code of conduct, particularly focusing on the proper usage of Internet picture hosting sites such as Facebook.com, Webshots.com and MySpace.com, is "already being looked at," athletic department spokesman Mike Wolf said.

While the university cannot mandate that students should not use Internet hosting sites, Athletic Director Mark Murphy has advised coaches to have players exercise vigilance in what they post, according to Wolf.

NU men's tennis coach Paul Torricelli confirmed in an interview with The Daily that Murphy met with a gathering of the varsity coaches on Monday but declined to specify what was discussed.

"We have not ordered them to take pictures down," Wolf said. "With privacy laws and freedom of speech, we cannot tell them what they can and cannot do. We've just urged them to use caution."

You don't say. For more, visit, where else, BadJocks.com (I'm guessing NSFW), who broke the story.

I wonder if this will get as much play as the Duke Lacrosse story? I guess we'll find out soon.

UPDATE: Some other thoughts, which are coming fast and furious:

* It's hard to see how either the Men's or Women's program can survive a scandal like this one. In both cases, you'd have to conclude that senior members of both squads were involved in planning and executing the event -- something that is sure to at least shatter the Women's team. And if the Women's program gets terminated, there's no way the University won't do the same to the Men's program.

* I can't imagine how forcing somebody to perform a lapdance couldn't be considered a crime. Quite frankly, I can't see how it could be interpreted any other way. And what would the culpability be for the person getting the lapdance? It's hard to see how they couldn't be charged too.

This is all just mind boggling on so many levels. Possible crimes, photgraphic evidence and college students. What more could the folks at the tabloids ask for?

Eric 12:46 PM

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