Sticking with the Valentine's Day theme

We knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. I mean, they've had numerous television shows already where "reality" contestants can compete to find somebody to marry them. So I suppose this was inevitable.

Radio station offers free divorce for Valentine's Day

SYRACUSE, New York (AP) -- Cupid occasionally misses his mark, so a local radio station is running a Valentine's Day contest offering a free divorce.

"Everyone associates Valentine's Day with love, and diamonds, chocolate, roses. But what about those people that hate it? This is for those people," said Scott Petibone, program director at WKRL-FM, a progressive rock station.

The station began promoting its divorce-giveaway last week. By Thursday, the station received over 100 entries, Petibone said. A winner will be selected on Valentine's Day.

Of course, whenever you try to do something nice for somebody, there's always going to be a spoil sport waiting in the wings to rain on your parade. In this case it was ... surprise, surprise ... one of the local churches.

"A divorce is a death, the death of a dream," said the Rev. Joseph Champlin, rector at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. "You wouldn't make a joke out of someone who died, would you?"

Petibone, who is married, is surprised by such criticism.

"We're not asking happily married couples to get a divorce. The people who are entering want to get a divorce," Petibone said. "If a contest makes you want to get a divorce, then you've definitely got problems."

I hate to break it to you, Scott, but any of your listeners who even answered this contest have likely got some problems.