It's an annual tradition among Mattoon High students for the girls to play a friendly game of flag football for homecoming week. Well, according to the deputy chief of police (and it's never a good sign for a women's football game when the police are being quoted), "It was a flag football game that turned into tackle."

Tempers flared and you know how girls will be girls. A number of them got into it after the final whistle blew. That's when the crowd got involved.

One boy reportedly trying to separate two girls at about 8 p.m. was punched by Jason P. Hudson, 36. Officers investigating the incident determined Hudson's action had no legal justification and he is charged with battery, facing a court date in Coles County Circuit Court. Hudson posted bond after he was charged late last week.

However, many people that night seemed ready to attack Hudson after he threw his punch. He was followed by many individuals into the JFL parking lot.

An off-duty officer kept things from escalating, thereby keeping a lynching from becoming part of the annual tradition. But this being Mattoon, I'd keep away from the Glee Club's next bake sale; the gingerbread might be laced with cyanide.

UPDATE: Joe writes us,

I grew up in Ottawa Il, roughly 150 mi north of Mattoon. Apparently there is something about girls in Illinois playing flag football and beating the shit out of each other. My high school had the annual tradition of "powder puff" football during the homecoming festivities. The games were always rough but my senior year the girls really stepped up the insanity. At the start of the second quarter a girl broke her nose taking a nasty helmet to helmet hit minus the helmet. I was on the sideline about 15 feet from the whole thing. Holy shit. After the whole situation cooled the game resumed only to see another girl get kicked in the face as she was tackled. Took something like 11 stitches to her forehead...she was my date. So not only did I take Frankenstein to the Dance, they banned powder puff for life.

Cool Heads Kept Fight From Escalating After 'Powder Puff' Contest [Journal-Gazette Times-Courier]

No, the ladies in the above photo are neither strippers nor queens, so let's not cast aspersions upon them like that. They just won the Jim Edmonds Google image search contest. And Edmonds apparently owns the restaurant where this event is taking place,so let's not pin the scumbag tag on him so quickly either.

Here's the flyer, courtesy of the Riverfront Times:

Classy! 20 dizzy, bubble-chested girls. One long pole. Jim Edmonds.Even though he's now a Cub, I know some lovely people in Mattoon that might be willing to hop on the family motorcycle and make that trip to see this in person.

The only thing that would make it more special is if Texas A&M-Commerce guard Britney Jordan would slap on the pasties one more time since Edmonds is back in town.

Queen Of The Pole: With Special Guest Jim Edmonds [Riverfront Times]

From the Peoria Journal Star:

The penalty is substantial, Mayor Kevin Meade said after the city liquor commission voted unanimously Wednesday to suspend the license for Outskirts Bar and Grill at 725 W. Locust St. "It's meant to send a message to other businesses in town that this won't be tolerated," Meade said.

Outskirts owner Kim Scott cried after the vote. "I'm not being treated like any other business," she said. "Don't tell me I am, because I'm not." Scott said she had a contract with the group for male wrestlers to perform. When the group arrived, Scott said, two women in oil were wrestling topless while she was outside smoking.

As one might imagine, this has caused much activity on the Peoria Journal Star message boards. A sampling:

• I agree wholeheartedly with Jim Beam, for once, lol. What's the big deal! — JD

• JUST BECAUSE SHE LOST HER LIQUOR LICENSE , DOES THAT MEAN SHE CAN'T STILL BE A RESTAURANT??? — cg

• A Canton bar had naked midget wrestling. Just think about that for a second. — Barrak

• Dang it. What are we going to do for the next 8 Saturday nights? — RegalBeagle

• Classic Canton logic. It's a good thing Creve Coeur exists. — admin

Liquor License Suspended After Topless Midget Wrestling [PJStar.com]

We were reminded of this when we read this story, of a bear in an Amsterdam zoo that attacked and ate a monkey in front of countless stunned (and, presumably, stoned) onlookers. This is why there are more sports teams with the nickname "bears" rather than "monkeys."

It also got us to thinking: What's the lamest sports nicknames? We think it's hard to beat the Bunnies. Try us.

Zoo Visitors Watch Bears Kill, Eat Monkey [MSNBC]