Too good not to blog

While I'll refrain from making too many jokes about it (despite the fact that it's one of the funniest news items I've ever read), you have to check out this juicy story from America's heartland.

I've linked it, but I'm also including the text of the story, just in case Kansas.com plans on taking it down one day. But since I really have no right to republish the story, I'd like you to please read it on their site. Here it is:

Dance-off led to rumble

BY STAN FINGER

The Wichita Eagle

It sounded like something out of a teen competition movie such as "Drumline" or "Bring it On."

But the brawl that broke out Saturday night at McAdams Park following a spontaneous "dance-off" wasn't a movie scene, and police and city officials on Monday were sorting through the aftermath that left one person hurt and two others -- a mother and a son -- facing criminal charges.

"This is a whole new arena" of crime, said Lt. Jeff Easter of the Wichita Police Department's gang and felony assault section.

The Dynamic Steppers, a local drill team, was practicing routines at McAdams Park near 13th and I-135 on Saturday night when members of another drill team, the White Tigers, showed up and challenged the others to what was described as a "dance-off," police said.

When it became clear the challengers were losing, Easter said, a 28-year-old woman struck a 17-year-old drummer with the Dynamic Steppers in the face with a drum stick. The teen, who had left the White Tigers recently to join the Dynamic Steppers, retaliated by punching her in the face. He then ran toward his Ford Explorer and tried to run over spectators with it, witnesses told police.

The boy's mother, who served as a coach of the Dynamic Steppers, grabbed a box cutter and sliced the other woman's right arm, Easter said. The wound required eight stitches.

An estimated 50 people were involved in the altercation, although only two people were facing charges on Monday.

The mother was booked on suspicion of aggravated battery for cutting the other woman, Easter said, and the son faces charges of simple assault and aggravated assault.

Police said additional charges are possible.

Larry Foos, director of parks and recreation for the city, said a park employee told him the Dynamic Steppers had been practicing earlier in the day not far from Barry Sanders Field, but their whistles were confusing players in a youth league football game under way on the field.

The drill team was asked to move to another part of the park so their whistles would not interfere with the football game, Foos said.

"There was no conflict at all from that," he said. "They understood completely."

The brawl won't lead to changes in access or activities at the park, Foos said. To do that, he said, would be "an over-reaction" to Saturday's fight.

"I just believe this is one of those crazy, isolated incidents that happen once in a while," Foos said. "Thankfully, these incidents are rare."

Police may be asked to step up patrols at the park after ball games, he said, to discourage confrontations.

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Reach Stan Finger at 268-6437 or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com.

We can only hope the Dynamic Steppers sell their TV movie rights.

Coming soon: HDYN's fall season TV reviews. HDYN will be your best bet for finding out what you're missing by not owning an HDTV and not spending as much money as I do on high-definition digital cable with DVR. Stay tuned!