As valuable as the paper it was printed on
April 5, 2013 7:30 AM Subscribe
The Hershberger Award In March of 1973, the National Association of College Basketball Writers awarded The Hershberger Award to the top 15 rookies in the nation. It was never awarded again, and now we know why.
It's not as if any of the "real" awards are all that much more legitimate.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:57 AM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 7:57 AM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Seventies hair was the best hair of all time.
posted by srboisvert at 8:02 AM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 8:02 AM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
"It would be impossible to reconstruct 40 years ago, but I find it hard to imagine this could ever happen again at the AP," says Paul Colford, the AP's chief spokesman.
Cue raucous laughter.
posted by chavenet at 8:03 AM on April 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
Cue raucous laughter.
posted by chavenet at 8:03 AM on April 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
President Reveley added that the pranksters had demonstrated "succulent loquacity," before strolling off, arm-in-arm with a seven-foot-tall pants-less sea eagle.
posted by fifthrider at 8:05 AM on April 5, 2013
posted by fifthrider at 8:05 AM on April 5, 2013
William & Mary's current president, Taylor Reveley, said the school has been fostering creativity for more than 300 years and that "these four students obviously fall in that grand tradition."
Good attitude. I think he stands less chance of being fooled again than the AP.
posted by arcticseal at 8:07 AM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Good attitude. I think he stands less chance of being fooled again than the AP.
posted by arcticseal at 8:07 AM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
It was never awarded again, and now we know why.
I went into the article with trepidation because this framing had me worried that like all fifteen of them had died of heartbreak-related maladies or something.
Cue raucous laughter.
To be fair, I think the required response to "you got fooled, you gonna get fooled again?" pretty much has to be some gentle variation "not on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine" if you want to keep your job as spokesman. "Man, who knows, probably!" doesn't really sell organizational confidence, even if it's more honest.
posted by cortex at 8:07 AM on April 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
I went into the article with trepidation because this framing had me worried that like all fifteen of them had died of heartbreak-related maladies or something.
Cue raucous laughter.
To be fair, I think the required response to "you got fooled, you gonna get fooled again?" pretty much has to be some gentle variation "not on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine" if you want to keep your job as spokesman. "Man, who knows, probably!" doesn't really sell organizational confidence, even if it's more honest.
posted by cortex at 8:07 AM on April 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
cortex: " "Man, who knows, probably!""
He could always just say that in a very complex world of fast-moving global news from nearly-infinite sources it's incredibly improbable that mistakes might not be made. And he could always stress that the upside is that any news organization is quickly able to realize the error and correct it. (In that Colford is absolutely right; it is very unlikely that in these modern day times such a prank would go un-flushed-out for 40 years until the perps themselves 'fessed up.)
posted by chavenet at 8:18 AM on April 5, 2013
He could always just say that in a very complex world of fast-moving global news from nearly-infinite sources it's incredibly improbable that mistakes might not be made. And he could always stress that the upside is that any news organization is quickly able to realize the error and correct it. (In that Colford is absolutely right; it is very unlikely that in these modern day times such a prank would go un-flushed-out for 40 years until the perps themselves 'fessed up.)
posted by chavenet at 8:18 AM on April 5, 2013
Seventies hair was the best hair of all time.
Has it won any awards?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:29 AM on April 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
Has it won any awards?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:29 AM on April 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
Did they explain why they're going public? I kinda feel bad for Arizin.
posted by skewed at 8:43 AM on April 5, 2013
posted by skewed at 8:43 AM on April 5, 2013
"I kinda feel bad for Arizin."
Four schoolmates he didn't know volunteered dozens of person-hours in an elaborate effort to ensure he got the national recognition that they believed he deserved and feared he would not receive. If I were him, I'd hold the award even more dear after hearing the truth.
Best. Award. Ever.
posted by klarck at 9:01 AM on April 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
Four schoolmates he didn't know volunteered dozens of person-hours in an elaborate effort to ensure he got the national recognition that they believed he deserved and feared he would not receive. If I were him, I'd hold the award even more dear after hearing the truth.
Best. Award. Ever.
posted by klarck at 9:01 AM on April 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
The pranksters went to great lengths to make the award believable . . . They designed stationery with a spinning basketball and the official-sounding slogan
Immediately brought back memories of junior year in prep school, crafting fake college acceptance packages for the seniors that had given us a hard time in the past. We got big brown envelopes, stole college booklets from the school library, hand-crafted stationary (via rudimentary desktop publishers and literally via hand for the logo for the University of San Francisco) and came up with outrageous reasons why they'd been accepted. The bigger the lie, the faster they bit. It's a sad statement, but there are few things I've taken more pride in then seeing those poor schmucks tape our acceptance letters to their door.
God, they really did breed assholes. There's your secret to success.
posted by yerfatma at 9:03 AM on April 5, 2013 [6 favorites]
Immediately brought back memories of junior year in prep school, crafting fake college acceptance packages for the seniors that had given us a hard time in the past. We got big brown envelopes, stole college booklets from the school library, hand-crafted stationary (via rudimentary desktop publishers and literally via hand for the logo for the University of San Francisco) and came up with outrageous reasons why they'd been accepted. The bigger the lie, the faster they bit. It's a sad statement, but there are few things I've taken more pride in then seeing those poor schmucks tape our acceptance letters to their door.
God, they really did breed assholes. There's your secret to success.
posted by yerfatma at 9:03 AM on April 5, 2013 [6 favorites]
chavenet: "It would be impossible to reconstruct 40 years ago"
40 years ago everyone in this city lost their Memories.
posted by wierdo at 11:44 AM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
40 years ago everyone in this city lost their Memories.
posted by wierdo at 11:44 AM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
"It would be impossible to reconstruct 40 years ago"
40 years ago everyone in this city lost their Memories.
CAST IN THE NAME OF HERSHBERGER, YE NOT ACTUALLY AN AWARD WINNER
posted by Rangeboy at 11:59 AM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
40 years ago everyone in this city lost their Memories.
CAST IN THE NAME OF HERSHBERGER, YE NOT ACTUALLY AN AWARD WINNER
posted by Rangeboy at 11:59 AM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm terrified that we now live in a world where:
...of the pranksters...Mr. Bohne is a regional director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration living in Savannah, Ga.
Will be the main takeaway point from this article by tin foil hat wearing climate deniers.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:08 PM on April 5, 2013
...of the pranksters...Mr. Bohne is a regional director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration living in Savannah, Ga.
Will be the main takeaway point from this article by tin foil hat wearing climate deniers.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:08 PM on April 5, 2013
The article doesn't say whether they sent out the replacement certificate with the spelling fix. I hope they did.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 9:08 AM on April 6, 2013
posted by vibratory manner of working at 9:08 AM on April 6, 2013
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posted by Slap*Happy at 7:41 AM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]