THE WEEK Sept: Hardcore pillow fight

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Hardcore pillow fight

Several weeks ago at West Point Academy – that's the prestigious military school in Upstate New York that educates future U.S. Army officers – the freshman class held a pillow fight in an open courtyard to blow off some steam. The pillow fight is a West Point tradition that goes back decades and it’s actually pretty fun to watch. But this year, some of these brainiacs got it in their heads to stuff the pillowcases with helmets and other solid objects. I guess they thought striking someone in the face with a helmet would be just plain old fun.

The end result?

Busted lips, broken bones, dislocated shoulders, and several people knocked unconscious – out cold! At least 30 cadets were injured, including 24 with concussions. There was at least one report of a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone.

"While these spirit events do occur, we never condone any activity that results in intentional harm to a teammate," said academy Superintendent Lt. General Robert L. Caslen Jr. "Although the vast majority of the class appears to have maintained the spirit of the event; it is apparent that a few did not."

Caslen also said in a statement that he takes full responsibility for the pillow fight. "We remain committed to the development of leaders of character. We will continue our investigation, ensure accountability, and reinforce with the Corps that we must all take care of our teammates."

I have high hopes for the Class of 2019.

Referee tackled

Speaking of class, two San Antonio, Texas, high school football players showed none – zero! zilch! – when they tackled a referee from behind in the last moments of a football game their team was about to lose.

The tackle happened in the final minute of a match between John Jay High School in San Antonio and Marble Falls High School, located about 50 miles northwest of Austin.

Trailing Marble Falls 15 to 9, one of the John Jay players barrels toward the ref, who was standing watching a play. At full speed he tackles the ref from behind and the ref is knocked to the ground. Another John Jay player then dives into the ref, head first, striking the ref with his helmet.

The 14-year veteran ref, Robert Watts, did not appear to be injured. The two students have been suspended along with an assistant coach pending a school investigation.

According to reports, the ref had made some controversial calls and the students decided to take revenge. They were were sore losers, news outlets reported.

But in recent days the players said the ref had made racial remarks and they tackled him as instructed by the now-suspended assistant coach.

Meanwhile police say the students could face criminal charges for "targeting" and "blindsiding" the ref.

It just goes to show, kids, it just doesn't pay to take justice into your own hands, on or off a football field.

Nature's call

Now on to another loser. And by that I mean this woman really loses it. She simply could not hold back or holdout.

You see, this woman decided to smuggle drugs in her stomach by swallowing 78 pellets containing a total of 348 grams of heroin. She was hoping to get by a security checkpoint at the Turpan train station in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, but nature had other ideas. She went to the toilet and passed eight pellets and then hid them in her underwear.

At the security point the woman was acting erratically, police said, and so they did a pat down. The close examination revealed the stash in her underwear. She then came clean and confessed to having swallowed the 78 pellets. She was taken to a hospital where X-rays showed she indeed had the drugs in her stomach.

She was held as nature continued to take its course, one by one. Kids, it gives a whole new meaning to doing drugs.

（中國日報網英語點津 編輯）