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Brawl of 35 years ago serves as a warning today
Thursday, January 25, 2007
ROB OLLER



FILE PHOTO
Ohio State center Luke Witte writhes in pain after first getting flagrantly fouled then kneed in the groin on this date in 1972. The brawl remains one of the darker moments in college sports history.



Dave Merchant cringes whenever thunder clouds of chaos roll into college basketball arenas, concerned that a second Perfect Storm could swirl across the court.

The former Ohio State guard has good reason to worry. Combine fan expectation and escalating player anger because of perceived disrespect and mix them in a 24/7 media hopper, and you’ve got a volatile cocktail.

It only takes a spark to ignite the dynamite, the kind of flash point that occurred 35 years ago today in Williams Arena on the Minnesota campus. On that night, frustration converged with resentment caused by overactive anticipation to create what former Ohio State coach Fred Taylor once described as "the sorriest thing I ever saw in intercollegiate athletics."

Taylor might not have gone far enough. The Minnesota melee of Jan. 25, 1972, in which three Buckeyes players were taken to hospitals after being beaten by Golden Gophers players and fans, ranks among the ugliest incidents in all of sports, not just college.

Ohio State was leading 50-44 with 36 seconds left and about to take the undisputed Big Ten lead when Buckeyes center Luke Witte drove for a layup and was fouled flagrantly by Minnesota’s Clyde Turner, who was ejected.

As a stunned Witte sat on the floor, Gophers player Corky Taylor reached down in an apparent attempt to help Witte up, but instead kneed him in the groin.

Merchant ran over to help his teammate and shoved Taylor out of the way, which prompted Minnesota’s Jim Brewer to "jack me, and it was off to the races," Merchant said, describing how the whole floor quickly became covered with fans and players skirmishing with the Buckeyes.

Gophers player Ron Behagen charged off the bench, kicked Witte in the head and stomped him unconscious. Minnesota players and fans, including several members of the football team, cornered Ohio State forward Mark Wagar and beat him. One of the Gophers basketball players was future baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.

"He jumped me from behind, hit me four or five times in the head and I was out," Wagar said.

Fans booed Witte as he was hauled off on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he spent the night in the intensive care unit. Wagar lay in the bed next to him. Both players had concussions. Witte required 29 stitches in his face and suffered a scratched cornea that permanently dulled his vision. Teammate Mark Minor was treated for cuts and abrasions and released.

"People were throwing things and spitting and hoping (Witte) died; that’s the mass crowd," said Wagar, who like Merchant reflects on that night every time he sees brawls break out during sporting events.

"I have personal knowledge and experience of how dumb it is," said Wagar, who works for Blue Cross-Blue Shield in New York. "The mistakes made there will follow people the rest of their lives."

Among the biggest mistakes, coach Bill Musselman had worked Minnesota into a frenzy, billing the Ohio State game as the biggest in school history and telling his players that defeating the Buckeyes was essential to putting the basketball program on the map. Musselman encouraged aggressive behavior and a win-at-all-costs mentality.

Sadly, those mistakes are just as likely to happen today, if not more so. The pressure to win begins earlier than ever. As parents push their kids toward scholarships and children watch professional athletes taunt and trash-talk their opponents, another Perfect Storm might be brewing. Smaller squalls already have hit, some approaching the Category 5 status of the Minnesota mugging.

In 2004, three Indiana Pacers players entered the stands to fight Detroit Pistons fans. This past season in college football, violence broke out when players from the University of Miami and Florida International squared off on the field, swinging fists and helmets.

Some blame the trickle-down effect — the pros do it, so why shouldn’t we? — for creating unstable situations for younger athletes. But bad behavior trickles up, too. Within the past year, incidents at Ohio high school basketball games have included students holding up white trash bags to demean the economic or class status of the "white trash" opponent.

"I’ve got to hope that coaches and athletic directors are smarter than (in 1972), and security is better … but you can say all you want, there is still less respect for other people today than there used to be," said Merchant, a teacher and former basketball coach at Lebanon High School.

Although what happened in Minnesota remains more of an anomaly than not, there remains work to be done to ensure that such an idiotic episode never happens again. No question that innocence was lost that day. Fortunately, a sense of shame still exists — for now. Let’s hope forever.

Rob Oller is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.


roller@dispatch.com

and Luke Witte was never the same after that incident....he was basically cheated out of millions of dollars by the Minnesota thugs. Those good folks should have done jail time for that bullcrap.

Dave Merchant ..... now that's a name from the past. I played baseball against him in high school at the district tourney. The guy was a good athletic. He was offered a contract to the Indians farm system but decided to go to OSU and get his education instead.

nordawg

I have never heard of this before.

boy thts sort of random? r the bucks play MINN this week? i don't think so?

Today is the anniversary....Jan, 25, 1972

lol okay....nevermind....

man if this happend in this day and age....the whole program would be shut down for a year at lesttt....and say goodbye to march madness for a while..

I remember watching the game on TV. There were sanctions against Minnesota, as I recall. I just don't remember what they were. Musselman did lose his job, and some players were kicked off the team. Dave Winfield wouldn't talk about it after he turned pro in baseball, all he would say was that he regretted the incident.

That was a very good OSU team. Wagar, Witte, Hornyak.... they were never the same after that game.