Is there anything better in the world than cheerleader-on-mascot crime? I don’t think so.

The good folks at Western Illinois University are getting some national publicity after their mascot got pummeled by a cheerleader during a game at Western Hall on Jan. 24. Rocky wasn’t watching where he was going and wound up taking a hit worse than any that has been delivered during the NFL playoffs or last Sunday’s Royal Rumble, which was a huge disappointment.

Take a look:

The school released a statement on Friday as the clip reached the top of ESPN’s Not Top-10 list. The cheerleader, who looked to do a face plant, is OK. However, the student in the Rocky gear suffered a concussion and a sprained ankle. Those proved to be season-ending injuries since the student won’t be back as Rocky for the rest of the season. That could really be painful since the men’s basketball team is on the top of the Summit League standings and could make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since it made the move to the NCAA Division I ranks in the early 1980s.

“Western Illinois has received a great deal of national media attention over this collision,” WIU Athletic Director Dr. Tim Van Alstine said. “During our home events in which the cheer team or Rocky performs, we always have a member of the athletic training staff in attendance working. We take whatever preventative measures we can, however, this was simply an unfortunate collision that was caught on video by Mediacom. Thankfully our cheerleader is OK and the student wearing the Rocky suit is recovering from their injuries. Head injuries are a serious matter. Rocky was immediately taken back to the training room, and that student did not return to the court. Our cheerleader was fine, she declined medical attention. … It was an unfortunate accident caught on video, but thankfully our cheerleader is fine, the student in the Rocky suit will recover, and Rockey will be back at our next event ready to cheer on the fans.”

The clip has a chance to be the “Worst of the Worst.” It faces some stiff competition, going up against New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez’s “butt fumble.” If you want to vote, go here.

Somebody has some explaining to do. This morning, we woke up to the news that Twinkies, Ho Hos and Ding Dongs may become extinct. A worker strike and some poor management by Hostess executives have put some of America’s favorite snacks on the endangered foods list.

I can’t imagine not being able to go through a grocery store or convenience store and see the Hostess display there with all of the goodies. Heck, earlier this week at the office I passed on some home-made brownies in favor of three-day old Hostess chocolate Donettes. When I cruise through my local market, I always take a look at the Hostess display to see if anything is on sale so that I can justify a purchase.

Hopefully the ding dongs who started this mess can figure out a way to save my Ding Dongs.

I’ve never claimed to be a fan of the National Hockey League. It’s not that I hate the sport or anything, I just didn’t grow up around it. Growing up, games were rarely on TV where I lived and it’s not like the NHL had a national television deal in the 1970s and 1980s.

Yet, I do feel for the real hockey fans who have nothing to watch right now. I know I’ll be excited with the opening of the NBA season next week. Those hockey fans should have already had games by now, but their players are being locked out by owners in a labor dispute that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. The league has cancelled games through the end of November. Next to get put on the chopping block are the popular NHL Winter Classic, which is played on Jan. 1, and the league’s all-star game.

I don’t know enough about the dispute to side with the owners or the players. I’m siding with those NHL fans, who only want to watch the puck fly. Here’s to hoping both the owners and players wise up soon to get a deal in place so the fans can enjoy the sport.

I was hoping for someone to top it, but the clear Slap of the Week winner came out early this week and captivated a sick nation.

The news of Edward Archbold’s win in a cockroach-eating contest in Florida made headlines — for all of the wrong reasons. Archbold wound up dying after he ate dozens of large cockroaches during a contest at Ben Siegel Reptiles in Deerfield Beach, Fla. He wound up winning an ivory-ball python for his efforts, but never got to enjoy his prize.

Authorities are investigating Archbold’s death.

Today’s tip: Don’t enter cockroach-eating contests.

There have been times in the Slap of the Week post where instead of slapping someone around for doing something foolish, I give them a slap of a high-five for doing something good.

This is one of those weeks.

As a baseball fan, I’d love to see every Major League park. It’s a goal a lot of baseball fans share. But there’s a Milwaukee Brewers fan who put a bit of a twist on that this year. Ben Rouse didn’t see every park in the bigs this year. However, he did see every game that the Brewers played this year — home and away. That’s a 162-game odyssey any baseball fan would love to do — even Cubs fans.

Rouse, who is in remission from a fight with leukemia, got some help from the Brewers, who upgraded his 20-game season ticket pass and helped him get tickets for all of the team’s road games. Rouse blogged about his adventure and tried to raise awareness for the Be The Match Foundation, which helps finds donors for those in need of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants.

That’s a pretty cool adventure if you ask me.

I’m sure being a flight attendant is a pretty stressful job at times. I’m sure the passengers aren’t always on their best behavior. You have to deal with the pilots. And you’re pretty much always moving.

This past week, two separate incidents made the skies not so friendly. First, a flight attendant in Philadelphia caused a stir when she brought a gun with her to work and it accidentally discharged while it was going through security. She was ticketed and didn’t have to worry about working that day.

Then there was the tale of a Chicago-bound flight out of the Raleigh-Durham airport. The pilot had to return to the airport after there was a report of an assault on board. Instead of a couple of passengers mixing it up, it was the United Airlines flight attendants who had been going at it. No one was arrested and all of the passengers were accommodated for the hassle.

If you happen to be flying soon, tell your flight attendance thanks or give them a hug. They need it.

Like millions of Americans, former NFL quarterback Vince Young is unemployed right now.

Young isn’t like the rest of those in the unemployment line though. He somehow has lost all of the $26 million contract that he signed with the Tennessee Titans after being the third player taken in the 2006 NFL Draft. Young says people he trusted mismanaged his money and put him in the spot he’s in right now.

While that may be true, Young wasn’t too worried about spending his money either. According to Clyde Travis at outkickthecoverage.com, Young once spent $6,000 at a TGI Friday’s. As a rookie, Young made it a habit to spend $5,000 a week at a Cheesecake Factory.

I’m sure the NFL tries to help its players manage their money. There’s a rookie symposium that goes over all kinds of things about being a pro. Too bad Young didn’t take advantage of that training.

The easy thing would be to give this week’s Slap of the Week honors to the Chicago Bears for their pitful play on Thursday night. Jay Cutler threw four interceptions, was sacked seven times and pouted on the sidelines like a 4-year-old.

But why do the easy thing? There was actually someone who trumped the ineptitude of the Monsters of the Midway.

Bradley Fuller was working his shift as a bartender at the Clevelander Bar on Miami’s South Beach on Monday when a patron tried to order a drink. When the patron paid for it, he handed Fuller a credit card — Fuller’s own credit card.

Unknown to him, Fuller’s car had been burglarized. David Weber, 53, told police that he had found the credit card on the street. They didn’t buy his story and booked him for credit card fraud and theft.

Of all of the gin joints, in all the towns, in all of the world, Weber has to walk into that one.

Anyone who has ever played golf on a course that has houses near it has the fear.

OK, maybe only high-handicappers like myself actually worry about driving a golf ball into somebody’s living room. I can’t ever remember driving a ball into a house. (If you ever run into WGEM’s Ben Marth, ask him about the time he drove a ball into someone’s backseat at Spring Lake Country Club.)

Anyway, a Nevada man is wishing he hadn’t hit a house while playing at Lakeridge Golf Course in Reno, Nev. A 33-year-old was taken to the hospital after he was shot by home owner Jeff Fleming. Fleming, 53, fired at least one shotgun round at the group after someone broke a window in his house on Thursday afternoon with an errant shot on Lakeridge’s 16th hole. The 16th is a 454-yard, par-4 from the tips at Lakeridge, a Robert Trent Jones-designed course, which is dubbed “Reno’s must-see, must-play golf course.”

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, Fleming was charged with one count of battery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon. The newspaper reported that the golfer was treated and released form a local hospital after suffering minor wounds.

This will make me think twice the next time I take a shot with a house nearby.

We’ve seen what happens to gas prices when a hurricane blows through.

Thanks to Hurricane Issac, we’re all paying a little more at the pump this week. But what happens to chicken prices when some 70,000 birds die?

Hopefully, we all won’t find out. Unfortunately, there’s a farmer in Maryland who has had to deal with the cleanup after 70,000 of his chickens died when someone turned off the power to his chicken houses.

Joshua D. Sheldon of Delmar, Md., was arrested for turning the power off to three chicken houses while he was in a drunken stupor. Sheldon was found inside the power shed passed out wearing nothing but a T-shirt and boxer shorts. Sheldon was arrested on charges of second-degree burglary, trespass and malicious destruction of property.

The birds were valued at $20,000. They were set to be processed the next day. The processing plant estimated its loss at $220,000.

“I have never heard of a drunkard going in and killing chickens,” Bill Satterfield, executive director of Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc. told DelmarvaNow.com. “This is a new one on me, and it’s unfortunate that it occurred.”