Transcription: College Drinking Takes Twist
Books describe student games like ‘Chug Boat,’ ‘Hi Bob’
By Brian McCoy
Games do many things, not the least of which is to promote their participants’ physical well-being.
But recently, there has been the rise of games that mean to impair one’s health. The participants suffer from bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and, in extreme cases, vomiting. All are characteristic of that college past time, the drinking game.
Drinking games have been well-documented by the media. Teen-age sex films abound with scenes of fraternity brothers chugging huge quantities of beer, usually at some young pledge’s expense.
One of the most popular games, “The Beer hunter” (a type of Russian roulette with Milwaukee’s best) was featured by those two hosers Bob and Doug McKenzie on their album The Great White North.
All this exposure has lead to the inevitable cash-in ploy - a book of lists. One such recent publication, “The Complete Book of Drinking Games,” even lists the top 10 games in America. “Bizz-Buzz” came in first, followed by “Thumper” and the granddaddy of them all, “Quarters.” The latter is popular with college students, the authors note, “presumably because they have nothing better to do with their time or money.’’
The top 10, like most drinking games, cover every possible field of interest. There are games based on knowledge, luck, trivia and even television reruns.
Among the most popular of the latter is “Hi, Bob.” The rules are simple. Friends get together to watch reruns of “The Bob Newhart Show” and everytime a character says “Hi, Bob,” everybody drinks.
The same can be done with “The Love Boat.” “Chug Boat,” as the game is called, involves each drinker selecting a ‘character and whenever that character appears on screen, it’s time to chug. The game’s highlight, though, comes with every panoramic shot of Capt. Steubing’s vessel. When the boat shot appears, all the contestants chug.
Drinking games are as varied as their players. Some games claim to have long traditions, others complicated rules. Some are known for the equipment required to play them.
Most games limit themselves to beer while others feature every alcoholic beverage known to man. Drinking games, in reality, have only one thing in common - the desire for total inebriation.
There are even rules concerning a player’s conduct. Most books on the subject feature an exhaustive section on the finer points of drinking game etiquette. And not a moment too soon. After reading these books, a drinker need never again commit such drinking game faux pas as swearing, finger pointing or (horrors) using another competitors first name.
In “The Complete Book of Drinking Games,” there’s even advice on how to avoid competitive drinking’s ultimate social blunder, public vomiting.
The book provides a much needed public service by listing graceful exit lines to be used when the hours of alcohol abuse finally take their toll. These include the obligatory reference to a toilet as “a porcelain god” and the classic “Excuse me folks, I think a technicolor yawn is imminent.”
The best advice anyone can give, though, is to remember that drinking games are fun but discretion is a must. Furthermore, participants should not drive any vehicle, not even a tricycle, after playing.
