Filed under: Brawl,College Basketball,Ohio State,University of Minnesota | Tags: Fight, Luke Witte, Philosophy
As our team sat in the dark, dingy locker room … I emerged from a near-comatose state and jumped up, wanting to finish the game. I have no memory of anything that occured from halftime to the next morning … What happens to the human psyche when a person suffers traumatic harm? What does a person do with the deluge of emotions that infiltrates his mind and changes from minute to minute? One minute I felt that everything would be fine, that healing was happening. The next minute all I could think about was hatred and retribution … Emotionally and philosophically, I was in a crisis. Ron Behagan, Clyde Turner, Corky Taylor, and Coach Bill Musselman had become objects of what philosophers Jeffrie G. Murphy and Jean Hampton call ‘moral hatred.’ … After college, I played for a few years with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA, but I never played with the same intensity of enjoyment that I had before the Minnesota game.
– Luke Witte’s post-brawl account is excerpted from an essay on forgiveness in Basketball and Philosophy. Sports Illustrated called the fight “the most vicious attack in college basketball lore.” This was Witte’s face. He is now a pastor.
3 Comments so far
Leave a comment
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
I watched this game on TV with my father. I was sixteen years old and , even by then, a big Buckeye basketball fan. I’ll never forget the horror of watching this whole unbelievable scene unfold. By the time I got over the initial shock, I became outraged as I saw one Buckeye heaved into the fists of waiting Gopher fans in the stands by two Minnesota players.
Even more outrageous than the brutal attack was how quickly the whole thing was swept under the rug by Big Ten officals. Fred Taylor, one of the best coaches in Big Ten history was incredulous, calling it a “bush league” reaction. Despite being ranked as a top five team at the time of the attack, the Ohio State basketball program sank quickly into oblivion. It would take over six years for the program to recover.
Watching this horror again, for the first time in 37 years, makes me sick, especially for the lasting harm it did to Fred Taylor and all the fine Buckeye payers who would never be the same after the senseless bloodletting.
Minnesota BOO!
Comment by M. Stephen Lamb November 12, 2009 @ 7:07 pmMy dad and I were big OSU basketball fans. I was 21 at the time and went over to my mom and dad’s house to watch the game as we always did. The game was a low scoring, close game up to the last 30 secs. That’s when all hell broke loose. I recall that Luke Witte went up for a layup and Minnesota center Jim Brewer fouled him, hard. I think Brewer got tossed from the game. Corky Taylor reached a hand down to Witte in what appeared as a gesture of sportsmanship. Jerking Witte to his feet, Taylor then kneed Witte in the groin. Dave Merchant, an OSU guard shoved Taylor away from the writhing Witte. Several scuffles broke out on the floor and then the Gophers Ron Behagen ran from the bench to the prone Witte and stomped several times on Witte’s head. Dave Winfield was chasing Merchant up the court grabbing his jersey and ripping it off. I also remember some fan jumping OSU forward Wardell Jackson under the basket and Wardell then clocking the fan back about 2 rows into the stands. My dad and I were on our feet in front of the tv screaming at the screen like a couple of nuts. I thought my dad was gonna have a stroke. He was so enraged. OSU was not the same team afterwards. And really not for several years. OSU coach Fred Taylor was quoted upon his retirement 4 yrs. later as having lost his love of the game after the incident. Sports Illustrated next issue had the cover – “The Mugging in Minnesota.” It is a terrible memory and OSU fans who witnessed it will never forget it and always have poison in their hearts for Minnesota.
Comment by dave crabtree February 1, 2010 @ 6:03 pmThe total lack of control during this game by the Minnesota team, coaches, and fans will, and should, always cast a dark pall over the school’s reputation. To permit such heinous acts by players such as Corky Calhoun, Dave Winfield, and especially Ron Behagen is indicative of the mindset of entire the U of Minnesota. To allow Behagen, whose family has obviously not been out of the trees for more than 1 generation, to continue at the school is repulsive. Today, as I sit and watch OSU thrash the Gophers in the BIg 10 championship game I can only feel a morsel of revenge for the incident that occurred way back then. I think I can hear Luke Witte saying: “Hey Gopher, Behagen, go fetch the trophy for my wining Buckeyes.”
Comment by Robert Miller March 14, 2010 @ 5:03 pm