Usually team mascots just give out high-fives. Sometimes mascots give out autographs. I've never heard of a mascot giving a fan a bloody nose...until now.
By now you've seen the video, but if you haven't, you can check out the link below to ESPN. Vanderbilt's mascot, Mr. Commodore (a.k.a. "Mr. C" for short), was crowd surfing in the student section during Tuesday's game against their instate rival Tennessee. The video shows Mr. C appeared to be using the fan to brace himself in order to maintain his balance while being carried by the crowd. Suddenly the mascot grabs the fan's neck with a quick chokehold, and then comes the punch to the face with his right hand. The fan's nose was bleeding so profusely that the mascot had to get some newspaper for the fan to stem the blood.
According to the AP, Vanderbilt officials are investigating the incident to determine how this happened and wait to decide whether to address crowd surfing stunts such as this one. It looks like they may have to do something, or they could be facing a lawsuit from this incident - or a similar one in the future.
Assistant vice chancellor Brock Williams said yesterday that the student is fine - which is probably true about his physical condition. However, the fan is now enduring the humiliation of being seen in this video on national TV and all over the Internet. Fellow students are going to recognize him on campus as the guy who got clocked by Mr. C. He's going to be found on Youtube everytime someone does a search on "Vanderbilt mascot fail". He didn't ask for this.
At this point the name of the student has not been revealed. However, it is likely that his name will become public at some point in the near future. It would be interesting to hear how this incident impacts his life in the days and weeks to come.
VIDEO: Mascot mishap [ESPN]
Vanderbilt reviewing bloody mascot incident [AP via FOXSports.com]
By now you've seen the video, but if you haven't, you can check out the link below to ESPN. Vanderbilt's mascot, Mr. Commodore (a.k.a. "Mr. C" for short), was crowd surfing in the student section during Tuesday's game against their instate rival Tennessee. The video shows Mr. C appeared to be using the fan to brace himself in order to maintain his balance while being carried by the crowd. Suddenly the mascot grabs the fan's neck with a quick chokehold, and then comes the punch to the face with his right hand. The fan's nose was bleeding so profusely that the mascot had to get some newspaper for the fan to stem the blood.
According to the AP, Vanderbilt officials are investigating the incident to determine how this happened and wait to decide whether to address crowd surfing stunts such as this one. It looks like they may have to do something, or they could be facing a lawsuit from this incident - or a similar one in the future.
Assistant vice chancellor Brock Williams said yesterday that the student is fine - which is probably true about his physical condition. However, the fan is now enduring the humiliation of being seen in this video on national TV and all over the Internet. Fellow students are going to recognize him on campus as the guy who got clocked by Mr. C. He's going to be found on Youtube everytime someone does a search on "Vanderbilt mascot fail". He didn't ask for this.
At this point the name of the student has not been revealed. However, it is likely that his name will become public at some point in the near future. It would be interesting to hear how this incident impacts his life in the days and weeks to come.
VIDEO: Mascot mishap [ESPN]
Vanderbilt reviewing bloody mascot incident [AP via FOXSports.com]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
