We gave up cursing the state of the world's finances for Lent, but when economic atrocities tread this close to home we feel compelled to speak. The Worldwide Leader's Bruce Feldman bears news of the apocalypse -- naked ladies and college athletes are the latest casualties of the recession:

Another sign of the tough economic times: Playboy magazine, which for years has invited its All-America team to the Phoenix area in late spring for a relaxing weekend at a resort, informed colleges that it won’t be staging the event this year.

Last Friday the staff of Dr. Saturday mused on the dangers of sober pro football trends permeating college ball. Sure enough, look far back enough from this latest disturbing element and you'll find harbingers of no fun in the NFL.

Actually, the writing has been on the wall for months when it comes to Hef's extracurriculars, and not just because he was rebuked by the Tebow Child over last year's team. Still, while we have never had the privilege of attending Playboy's celebration of impossible physical perfection, its frank juxtaposition of virile young men at the peak of their prowess and cavorting young women of the less-than-clothed persuasion marks it as a fine American institution. (We applaud the organizers, too, for setting the festivities so close to the Bunny breeding ground of Arizona State.) Its cancellation is patently un-American, and should be protested by love-ins, mass streakings, and earnest Internet petitions at high schools and universities across this great nation. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

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Hat tip: College Football Talk.