The Pit (Trona Football)

News pertaining directly to Trona, Death Valley, the northern Mojave Desert, Inyo County, and adjacent areas.

Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby twister » Sat Dec 01, 2018 7:49 am

High school football players indicted for rape in alleged broom attack: Officials
Football culture has always embraced initiations and rough horseplay, but this might be a little extreme although I'm sure it is far from an isolated incident. I'm sure similar initiations have occurred thousands of times across the USA since the 1940s. It's just part of the football tradition. To see fifteen-year-olds actually being held responsible for this type of activity is rare, however. The charges against these boys, who are being tried as adults, carry a potential life-sentence.
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby desertrat » Sun Dec 02, 2018 7:33 am

When I was going through high school the football team held informal initiations just like they do at most high schools. Ours were pretty mild. Mostly just involved towels being snapped, buckets, and tape and you can imagine the rest. Even way back in the late 60s I recall hearing about cases where things were done with brooms, but I never witnessed anything like that. The initiations I witnessed or heard about directly from other people who were there were mild hazings. Some pain and humiliation, but nothing traumatic.
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby shadylady » Mon Dec 03, 2018 7:17 am

desertrat: I always assumed that the stories about initiations involving broomsticks were just urban legends. I know boys like to joke about really gross things. Believe me I've overheard even kids as young as ten or eleven joking about some pretty shocking stuff, but there's a difference between joking and actually doing something. Then again it's naive of me to assume that there are not those who will take a joke too far and actually do something gross and disturbing. Having a dark sense of humor is one thing, but actually doing something of that nature is seriously disturbing.
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby CactusHugger » Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:24 am

I hate to say this, but the thought of getting poked in the backside with a broomstick really bothers me. I hope they at least use librication. Otherwise real damage could be done. Even then someone could get seriously injured. That's a really dumb initiation no matter how you slice it.
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby shadylady » Tue Dec 04, 2018 9:41 am

There's a lot of latent homosexuality when it comes to football. Footballers will insist that's not the case, but anyone with an ounce of sense knows otherwise. Initiations are just an expression of this latent homosexuality and the stunt with the broomstick is not even slightly surprising. Usually initiations don't go to this extreme, but it's all about homosexual impulses repressed by society.
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby surfsteve » Mon Dec 10, 2018 12:02 pm

Don't know why Trona athletes are so proud of having a dirt football field. Doesn't seem like the right spirit for competition. Give me a sprinkler system, some grass seed and a bail of straw per 1000 square feet and I will have beautiful green grass growing on there in no time!
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby recluse » Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:55 pm

surfsteve wrote:Don't know why Trona athletes are so proud of having a dirt football field. Doesn't seem like the right spirit for competition. Give me a sprinkler system, some grass seed and a bail of straw per 1000 square feet and I will have beautiful green grass growing on there in no time!

The athletes would most likely prefer grass (growing on the field). It's the community that is so proud of "The Pit" and which would go crazy if anyone messed with the sacred tradition of an all dirt field.
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby tronagirl » Tue Dec 11, 2018 7:12 am

The Pit is Trona High School's one and only claim to fame. Why would we change anything now? After all these years? It's a tradition and it gives visiting teams something to remember. Besides the amount of water it would take to keep grass living through the summer would be ridiculous. Also the stuff they use to line the field has a lot of salt in it. I think you'd have to remove about six feet of topsoil and replace it with something less salty before grass would grow. I don't think a few bails of straw would do anything more than make a mess.
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby surfsteve » Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:42 pm

All native dirt in Trona has a lot of salt in it. I had no problems at all growing a lawn in pioneer point with the method I described. Downward percolation with fresh water will push excess minerals away from the roots as they grow. The straw is only for temporary shade till the grass can become established. Ask any horticulturist or just take my word for it. I used to be the grounds superintendent for Douglass County School District in Colorado and owned a commercial lawn service and a sprinkler system company for a combined total of 20 years. However the cost of water would be another matter entirely. If it weren't for that I'd be growing grass everywhere! There seems to be plenty of money in Trona when it comes to schools and plenty of schools and parks in Ridgecrest and places like Phoenix have grass! Smoking in indoor public places used to also be a tradition but times change. Money from just one lawsuit would buy enough water to keep Trona's football field green for a very long time!
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Re: The Pit (Trona Football)

Postby surfsteve » Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:54 pm

How much asbestos is in that dirt that those kids are breathing in?
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