"WE SUCK" - How High School Rivalries Are Born
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War of words in Hilliard
Senior pays for 'legendary' prank
Thursday, August 30, 2007 5:45 AM
By Alayna DeMartini
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Take top poster and pass to the left.
Following those instructions, hundreds of Hilliard Darby High School football fans fell into an elaborate prank on Friday night.
When they stood up during a football game against cross-town rival Hilliard Davidson High School and held up squares of construction paper, they thought they were spelling out: "Go Darby."
But from across the field, Davidson fans read the actual message:
"We suck."
Hilliard Davidson senior Kyle Garchar masterminded the trick at Crew Stadium and suffered an in-school suspension for it.
Garchar, 17, even produced a videotape for YouTube. The video had been viewed more than 3,400 times as of last night.
"That was the ultimate in-your-face," said Jordan Moore, a Davidson junior. "I think it was ingenious."
Moore didn't go to the football game but quickly learned about the prank at school on Monday. Everyone was talking about it, and they still are.
The war of words between the two Hilliard schools started before the game. On Friday morning, someone painted an obscene message about Davidson on the school's parking lot.
The rivalry is particularly intense this year because it's the first year the schools have competed on the football field.
"It's made friendships go sour -- just over this game," Moore said.
Besides the three days of in-school suspension that Garchar received for the prank, he also has been banned from participating in any school activities for a semester.
For Garchar, that's the rest of his high-school career. He's finishing school early and moving to California, where he plans to attend college for engineering.
His girlfriend, Danielle Jewell, and their friend Jen Trimmer helped with the prank and got the same punishment.
Some students consider the penalty harsh and want to organize a petition in an attempt to help them.
Garchar isn't too concerned.
"If you're going to do a senior prank, you want it to be remembered," he said yesterday.
Days before the game, he and some friends brainstormed on ideas for a prank and a friend suggested the "We suck" trick. They'd seen it done before, when Yale University students pulled a prank on archrival Harvard University during a 2004 football game.
"I saw it could be done, so I just wanted to see if I could do it," Garchar said.
He spent about 20 hours over three days plotting it.
First, Garchar went to Crew Stadium to shoot a picture of the seats. Then he made a grid so he could figure out how the words could be spelled out by having fans hold up either a black or white piece of construction paper.
"It was tedious," he said. "I didn't really think it was going to work."
But when he talks about it now, he can't help but smile.
"I just think it was hilarious."
Davidson Principal John Bandow wasn't as amused. He called Garchar to his office first thing Monday morning.
Bandow had told students that he expected them to show good sportsmanship at Friday's football game.
Stephen Bell, a Darby freshman, said he was facing the field Friday night. So he missed the big moment.
"It was sneaky, knifing and downright clever," he said yesterday as he walked to football practice.
"But we'll get them back."
In one sense, Darby already did -- the team won Friday night's game, 21-10, ending Hilliard Davidson's winning streak. Davidson was the Division I state champion last year, having won all 15 games.
For many Davidson fans, the most memorable part of the game wasn't the score but the prank.
"It's going to be legendary," said Andrew Eusebio, who graduated from Davidson last year. "No one is going to forget about it."
Garchar's YouTube video ends with a zinger: "Special Thanks: To the 800 + Parents, Staff and Alumni in sections 125, 126 and 127.
"It couldn't have been done without you."
WE SUCK - the video
Senior pays for 'legendary' prank
Thursday, August 30, 2007 5:45 AM
By Alayna DeMartini
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Take top poster and pass to the left.
Following those instructions, hundreds of Hilliard Darby High School football fans fell into an elaborate prank on Friday night.
When they stood up during a football game against cross-town rival Hilliard Davidson High School and held up squares of construction paper, they thought they were spelling out: "Go Darby."
But from across the field, Davidson fans read the actual message:
"We suck."
Hilliard Davidson senior Kyle Garchar masterminded the trick at Crew Stadium and suffered an in-school suspension for it.
Garchar, 17, even produced a videotape for YouTube. The video had been viewed more than 3,400 times as of last night.
"That was the ultimate in-your-face," said Jordan Moore, a Davidson junior. "I think it was ingenious."
Moore didn't go to the football game but quickly learned about the prank at school on Monday. Everyone was talking about it, and they still are.
The war of words between the two Hilliard schools started before the game. On Friday morning, someone painted an obscene message about Davidson on the school's parking lot.
The rivalry is particularly intense this year because it's the first year the schools have competed on the football field.
"It's made friendships go sour -- just over this game," Moore said.
Besides the three days of in-school suspension that Garchar received for the prank, he also has been banned from participating in any school activities for a semester.
For Garchar, that's the rest of his high-school career. He's finishing school early and moving to California, where he plans to attend college for engineering.
His girlfriend, Danielle Jewell, and their friend Jen Trimmer helped with the prank and got the same punishment.
Some students consider the penalty harsh and want to organize a petition in an attempt to help them.
Garchar isn't too concerned.
"If you're going to do a senior prank, you want it to be remembered," he said yesterday.
Days before the game, he and some friends brainstormed on ideas for a prank and a friend suggested the "We suck" trick. They'd seen it done before, when Yale University students pulled a prank on archrival Harvard University during a 2004 football game.
"I saw it could be done, so I just wanted to see if I could do it," Garchar said.
He spent about 20 hours over three days plotting it.
First, Garchar went to Crew Stadium to shoot a picture of the seats. Then he made a grid so he could figure out how the words could be spelled out by having fans hold up either a black or white piece of construction paper.
"It was tedious," he said. "I didn't really think it was going to work."
But when he talks about it now, he can't help but smile.
"I just think it was hilarious."
Davidson Principal John Bandow wasn't as amused. He called Garchar to his office first thing Monday morning.
Bandow had told students that he expected them to show good sportsmanship at Friday's football game.
Stephen Bell, a Darby freshman, said he was facing the field Friday night. So he missed the big moment.
"It was sneaky, knifing and downright clever," he said yesterday as he walked to football practice.
"But we'll get them back."
In one sense, Darby already did -- the team won Friday night's game, 21-10, ending Hilliard Davidson's winning streak. Davidson was the Division I state champion last year, having won all 15 games.
For many Davidson fans, the most memorable part of the game wasn't the score but the prank.
"It's going to be legendary," said Andrew Eusebio, who graduated from Davidson last year. "No one is going to forget about it."
Garchar's YouTube video ends with a zinger: "Special Thanks: To the 800 + Parents, Staff and Alumni in sections 125, 126 and 127.
"It couldn't have been done without you."
WE SUCK - the video
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