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Going Google and gaga over those cheerleaders

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published November 12, 2005

The news story that had everyone in Tampa Bay buzzing this week was, of course, the arrest of two Carolina Panthers cheerleaders at Banana Joe's in Tampa last Saturday night.

The original story was that Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley kept other women waiting outside a bathroom stall as they had sex. By the end of the week, that story was starting to look flimsy, with Thomas and others denying it outright. Whatever happened behind the stall door, other women got irritated about it and Thomas ended up punching Melissa Holden, 26, of Lutz in the left eye, according to police.

Soon the sex-and-slugging story was racing around the Internet, talk radio and TV news shows. Here's some information you might not have heard about this, er, vitally important case.

- According to AskMen.com, the diseases one can catch from a public restroom include streptococcus, staphylococcus, E.coli and hepatitis A.

- Thomas may have performed with the Moscow State Ballet, but she is no softie. She is into NASCAR, motocross and American Chopper, and according to a police report, she has a butterfly tattoo on her lower back. "Pain is weakness leaving the body," she told Panthers.com.

- You can request a personal appearance by a Carolina Panthers cheerleader by calling (704) 358-7722. Keathley and Thomas have been fired, so they're not available.

- Total bail paid by Keathley and Thomas to get out of jail: $1,250

- Percent of Americans who've engaged in some sort of public sex, according to a 2002 survey: 21

- Percent of British people who've engaged in public sex, according to a 2004 survey: 60

- Percent of couples who said they'd made love at a party, according to a 2002 survey: 32

- Percent of couples who said they'd gotten frisky at the movies, according to the same survey: 18

- Peak chart position of Digital Underground's Humpty Dance, which includes the lyric, "I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom": 11

- Number of Google News hits for "Carolina Panthers cheerleaders" on the Tuesday after the arrest: 646 - Number of times the story was e-mailed by ESPN.com users in the 24-hour period from Monday to Tuesday: 2,813

- Number of times the second-most popular story, regarding Terrell Owens, was e-mailed: 566

- Number of times the term "gal pal" was used in a WTSP-Ch. 10 report on the incident on Monday: 1

- Approximate number of hours devoted to the story on Monday and Tuesday on sports radio stations across the country: 57,929

- Jay Cridlin can be reached at cridlin@sptimes.com

Sources: Google, ESPN.com, Reuters, Carolina Panthers, BBC, VH1, FHM, Redbook, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, WTSP-Ch. 10.

[Last modified November 11, 2005, 09:05:05]