Something is wrong in the sports world. Or maybe just in the state of Michigan.
Football is a violent game, but the violence extended off the field after the big rivalry game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans. After the Wolverines defeated the sputtering Spartans 29-7, several Michigan State players assaulted two Michigan players in the tunnel on the way to the locker room. A video shows one Michigan player (without his helmet) being jumped by multiple Spartans, who punched him repeatedly and threw him to the ground.
You could say it’s the most fight the 3-5 Spartans have shown all season.
Oddly enough, this is not the first instance of violence involving Michigan college sports teams this year. Wolverines basketball coach Juwan Howard similarly acted like a child after a loss, smacking a Wisconsin assistant coach after starting a confrontation between the two teams in the handshake line.
Perhaps the Spartans were emboldened to act out because they saw that the Wolverines only gave Howard a slap on the wrist (police are now investigating members of the Michigan State team). Or maybe it isn’t the only place in Michigan with something in the water.
When adults are allowed to assault members of the other team after a loss, players tend to think the same. And everyone is worse off for it: the victims of the assault, the players themselves coming up seeing how players and coaches act after a loss, and the fans who just want to see some good-spirited competition and are left with a bitter taste in their mouth.
Well, everyone loses except Howard. He’s getting paid millions over the next four years. Take that, Sparty.
