Daybreaker: Soccer hooligans! Punching on the pitch up in East Texas

Texas cheerleaders have been doing this kind of thing for years. We refer, of course, to hazing; like that incident that occurred up in Katy last year.

Back in 2003, an Illinois girls football initiation sent five girls to the hospital, one with a pig intestine around her neck. Gross, but we'll give 'em points for creativity.

And just last week, in a video the entire world saw, a University of New Mexico soccer player did her best Brock Lesnar imitation, yanking another player's pony tail like she was trying to scalp her. She also had a few kicks to the face and a nice punch in the back. Way classy.

Girl-on-girl violence in organized athletics is a lot more common than most of us imagine. Since no one watches the WNBA, we'll fill you in on another melee. This one, which took place last season, got 10 players suspended; when a brawl broke out between the Detroit Shock and the Los Angeles Sparks. And no, Ron Artest was not involved.

We were reminded of all of these incidents when we saw the weekly crime blotter in the Lufkin newspaper. Along with the usual domestic disputes and drunken debauchery, it appears a girl in East Texas got the "win at all costs" message. While playing in a soccer game over the weekend, she reported to Lufkin authorities that she was punched in the face by another player. Do they teach uppercuts now in gym class?

No one should be surprised. After all, we had a parental brawl break out late last year at a Lumberton/Bridge City youth football contest. When kids see their folks slugging it out, is it any wonder they do the same thing on the field?

The days of jocular sporting competitions appear to be over. Girls, time to grab your brass knuckles. In the words of Michael Buffer, "let's get ready to rumble."

THESE ARE LIGHTS OUT

• Brady: "If IRS and Medicare had a baby, it'd look like this..."
  
• British tourist who stopped off at a bar in Amarillo just 'cause he liked the Tony Christie tune, should've kept on driving.
  
• Al Gore calls for revolution.
  
• Is Aerosmith done?
• With names like Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti and Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, this sounds more like a hitman convention than a meatball eating contest.
  
• Keep an eye on your gum.