Pranks, practical jokes, ridiculous bets, and all the assorted mischief is reminiscent of childhood. Summer camp pranks a la Parent Trap are stories that may last a lifetime. The 92% of summer campers who say that camp made them feel good about themselves probably have a bunch of memories of poorly-conceived pranks. The trouble is, this playful spirit too often leaves us as we get older. One group of friends was determined not to let that happen.
Fantasy Football is an incredibly popular pastime around the United States. People get teams together and look at statistics to see which players will perform well, and lots of people get really into it. Other people couldn’t care less about it.
Twenty-five-year-old Steven Shrout from Arlington, Texas couldn’t care less about Fantasy Football. Since 2009 his high school buddies have been playing in a league together and Shrout had never been interested. They finally got him to join the league and Shrout, not caring at all, didn’t prepare or do any homework whatsoever. He came in last place at the end of the season. His buddies, feeling terrible for him, offered him an alternative to paying the winner $250. Shrout had to do something embarrassing. Naturally, he opted for embarrassing antics over shelling out $250.
Of the five most common personal injury cases, premesis liability is high on the list. Why? Because of things like this. The rest of the league decided that Shrout’s punishment was that he had to spend 10 minutes in a Dallas dog park wearing only a gold speedo and slathered in peanut butter. What could possibly go wrong?
“I said, ‘That’s not a big challenge.’ No one believed me, they’re like, ‘No way is he going to do it,’” Shrout said.
So, he just did it. It was recorded. Probably could’ve been dangerous, possibly offensive, but apparently, the people in the dog park were good sports about his little stunt, as pet owners usually are easy going.
“My strategy was to do it as fast as possible, and hope that not many people would see me. A lot of (the dog owners) just wondered what I was doing, and then when I said I lost a bet, they all laughed,” he said after his punishment was over.
After the video went viral, Shrout officially joined the populous ranks of all those who have had to do embarrassing things in the name of Fantasy Football.
When asked if he’d ever play Fantasy Football again, he said he would. He just probably wouldn’t play with those guys. What are friends for?
