Punk’d

Schneier on Security: Basketball Prank — Priceless story that should have been picked up as a scandalous national story. Hilarious. Go Bears!

With Cal in contention for the PAC-10 title and the NCAA tournament at stake, the game was a must-win.

Enter “Victoria.”

Victoria was a hoax UCLA co-ed, created by Cal’s Rally Committee. For the previous week, “she” had been chatting with Gabe Pruitt, USC’s starting guard, over AOL Instant Messenger. It got serious. Pruitt and several of his teammates made plans to go to Westwood after the game so that they could party with Victoria and her friends.

On Saturday, at the game, when Pruitt was introduced in the starting lineup, the chants began: “Victoria, Victoria.” One of the fans held up a sign with her phone number.

The look on Pruitt’s face when he turned to the bench after the first Victoria chant was priceless. The expression was unlike anything ever seen in collegiate or pro sports. Never did a chant by the opposing crowd have such an impact on a visiting player. Pruitt was in total shock.

The chant “Victoria” lasted all night. To add to his embarrassment, transcripts of their IM conversations were handed out to the bench before the game: “You look like you have a very fit body.” “Now I want to c u so bad.”

Pruitt ended up a miserable 3-for-13 from the field.

Cal won that game 71-60, then a few days later beat USC once again in the Pac-10 tournament (I’m sure Pruitt was feeling the pain heaped on by fellow teammates) 82-67 putting them into the NCAA tournament where they, as usual, got drubbed and eliminated in the first round by NC State. It was fun while it lasted.