By Matt Sheehan

On Jan. 12, a Sacramento, Calif., radio station (107.9 KDND-FM "The End") held what they thought was the greatest contest ever created. It was only a matter of time before everything soon went down the pisser.

The contest, entitled "Hold Your Wee for a Wii," included 28-year-old Jennifer Strange and 20 others. Each contestant had to drink 8 oz. bottles of water in 15-minute intervals, up to two gallons . . . and not urinate or vomit. The last one standing was to win the Nintendo Wii video game system.

The morning show hosts "running" the contest took calls reminding them that it is possible to get sick or die from water intoxication. The hosts joked that the contestants signed waivers, so they weren’t liable for anything.

As the contest progressed, the hosts talked to the remaining two contestants, one of whom was Jennifer Strange. They asked how she was and other than a headache, she said was fine. The second time they spoke to her she was miserable-sounding and complaining extensively of a huge headache.

According to an Associated Press article, Strange left the competition and called her supervisor at Radiological Associates of Sacramento to say that she was going home due to a terribly painful headache. A co-worker contacted Strange’s mother, who later found Strange’s body in her Sacramento home.

In the wake of the tragedy, 10 radio staff members were fired and the morning show was removed from the airwaves indefinitely.

Strange’s family filed a wrongful death suit last week. The lawsuit alleges that the station was negligent and ignorant of the dangers of the contest. Additionally, the suit accuses the station of not providing medical attention for contests complaining of pain or discomfort. Apparently only an intern was in the room with the contestants.

The lawsuit seeks not only medical, legal, funeral and burial costs, but also punitive damages. Strange was married with three children, ages 11 months, 3 and 11 years old.

Strange’s family is also calling on the Federal Communications Commission to revoke the station’s license.

Water intoxication, also known as hyper-hydration or water poisoning is "a potentially fatal disturbance in brain function that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by a very rapid intake of water," according to a reference on Wikipedia from Patrick J. Bird’s book, You Can Drink Too Much Water.

How crazy has our society gotten?

We know that the radio station was in the wrong. They didn’t do their homework to discover that drinking too much water can be deadly.

Let me play devil’s advocate for a minute: what kind of society do we live in when people will risk personal injury or even death for a stinking video game system? I thought the men and women standing in line late last year for the Wii and Sony’s Playstation 3 to be released were nuts; Strange could have avoided this. Yes, she was doing it for her kids, but what does it say about people who ignore medical risks for the latest in couch potato technology?

It is a terrible occurrence that most definitely could’ve been avoided. Radio stations should just go back to giving away concert tickets and free pizza.

All I have to say is, don’t revolve your world around a stupid video game system.

Don’t piss it away.