A "Gauntlet" addendum: "Real World" Beth is kind of, not really, a celebrity

If there's anyone whose journalistic veracity we respect at the Press-Gazette, it's award-winning Packers beat writer, Rob Demovsky. While his affection for "A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila" would seem to disqualify him from such a distinction on our TV blog, Rob walked in on a conversation between myself and prep sports reporter Scott Venci earlier today. Scott -- whose last name I use to describe "Gauntlet" contestant Kenny, because, well, they're both Italian and prone to ridiculous behavior -- is also a fan of the show, and to the best of my knowledge, is the only person who actually cares about my recaps here. Hey, one fan is better than none. Unless that fan is the manly-looking chick stalking Bob Uecker. But I digress.

Anyway, Rob pulled the "I went to college with someone from the 'Real World' " card during our conversation, and left that bit of information dangling in the air before Scott and I were able to determine it was renowned "Gauntlet" villain, Beth. A veteran of six -- count 'em! -- six spinoff challenges, Beth has earned a reputation as quite the (ahem) witch, on the reality TV circuit. Prior to her newfound challenge fame, she was best known for goading Tami into a bogus rape claim against Crazy David on "Real World: Los Angeles," leading to his dramatic eviction. She also seems to have a weird skin rash that we can only imagine looks very, very scary on high-def TV.

Anyway, Rob shared with Channel Surfing an exclusive story about Beth from their shared days at Ohio (not State) University in Athens. This was during the '90s, you know, when Hammer was big and people on the "Real World" fought about stuff like peanut butter instead of having threesomes in hot tubs. Rob's kinda old.

"A bunch of us were in line to get into a bar called the Crystal Casino, which by the way contained neither crystalware nor casino gaming. It's located in the heart of Court Street, in Athens, not far from the Ohio University campus. There were probably a dozen, maybe 15 people in line, waiting patiently, when Beth comes bopping up. She attempts to cut right to the front, and the bouncer dude gets up off his stool and says: 'Excuse me, there's a line.'

To which Beth replies: "But I'm Beth, from the 'Real World.'"

And the bouncer says: "Well, in the real world (and he makes the quotation-mark sign with his fingers) the line starts at the back."

So Beth leaves in a huff and everyone else busts up laughing."

It's a great story. We believe it's true. It's chronicled here because we've always wanted to play "Six Degrees of 'Real World' Separation."

For the record, here's our ranking of the most notable students in Ohio (not State) University history:

1. Matt Lauer, co-host of "Today"
2. Richard Dean Anderson, "MacGyver" (didn't graduate)
3. Mike Schmidt, Hall of Fame baseball player
4. Ed O'Neill, Al Bundy on "Married with Children" (attended, then transferred)
5. Beth from "The Real World"
6. Peter King, Sports Illustrated writer
7. Rob Demovsky, Press-Gazette writer and principal member of "The Insiders"
8. Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart Simpson (attended, then transferred)
9. Arsenio Hall, actor, former talk show host
10. Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times sports writer, professional windbag

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com