Sun-Times Misidentifies G-Rod's College Crimes as Pranks

By Tim State in News on Feb 7, 2009 11:37PM

In a story posted on the Sun-Times site today, “Blagojevich was quite the college prankster,” the S-T has identified a number of college behaviors and misidentified them as “pranks”:

• Turning up the volume on Elvis Presley’s “Blue Hawaii” and singing along.
• Identifying “intensely” with Richard Nixon.
• And our favorite: “Blagojevich and his college pals would sometimes head to a 24-hour diner for a very early breakfast and then run out before paying the bill.”

Seriously? Really? Pranks? Isn’t the last a crime?

Our understanding of college pranks is relocating a sculpture on campus, or assembling a car in the student union, or letting a cow loose on campus. Singing along Elvis style?

The S-T quoted a college friend, saying, “Except for his long ago fascination with Richard Nixon, there isn't much in his background to suggest that this was coming.”

Umm, dine and dash? People, what do you think is a good college prank? And what’s the difference between a prank and a crime?