Naked man and his pole

Technically, there is nothing wrong with the lede of a story, written by Reuters and published on ESPN.com.

It's about a French pole vaulting champion, who, seeking attention and corporate sponsorship, ran through the streets of Paris naked.

Here's the lede:

PARIS, France -- A French pole vaulting champion ran naked with his pole through the streets of Paris and posted a video on the Internet, hoping to draw attention to his quest for a new sponsorship deal.

Maybe it is just me, but I busted a gut reading the story. Let's dissect this, just a bit. Man, naked, with his pole. Get it.

I'm wondering, how would I write this different? Basically, there is no other word to use instead of pole when describing a pole vaulter. Equipment? Spear? Stick? No, none of that would work either. I guess it has to be pole.

The only other way to write it would be to leave pole out of the lede and insert it -- whoops, sorry -- write pole later in the story.

At any rate, to steal a phrase from Larry The Cable Guy, that is funny, I don't care who you are.

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