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Ohio State Fan Assault Update

It seems the story of the two Ohio State fans being assaulted prior to the game last Saturday is getting a lot of attention in State College now. New details are becoming available tonight.

A man seen in a Youtube.com video throwing beer cans at an Ohio State student during a tailgate party has been identified by police as a University of Pittsburgh student, and the fraternity that hosted the party will be cited in connection with the "melee," police said.

So the main player in all of this was a Pitt student. Insert your own joke here.

Who knew Pitt hated Ohio State so much?

But let's not forget the fact that the overwhelming majority of the people there were Penn State students and fans. And they either joined in throwing cans of beer, stood by doing nothing, chanted "F___ Ohio", or worked the video camera making asinine comments. These people should not be let off the hook. While charges may be harsh, a stern talking to is in order from someone. That's why I'm glad to see the Pi Kappa Alpha house facing sanctions from the University and Police.

A summary citation of disorderly conduct will be issued to Pi Kappa Alpha for hosting the party.

"It was invitation only, but we feel that based on the investigation, the majority (of attendants) were Pi-ka members involved in this melee," Robb said.

Good. I would like to see PKA punished. Like say, no parties with alcohol for a year? That sounds about right.

We're also learning some details as to why two Ohio State fans would be walking down a back alley where a PSU frat party was going on.

Buckeye fans shown in the video are members of the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at Ohio State who attended a party at the Penn State chapterhouse Friday, according to a statement Wednesday by Penn State.

Oh, so this is how they treat fellow Pi Kappa Alpha brothers visiting from out of town? Wow. Where do I sign up for this frat? Are we being led to believe this was just some good natured ribbing going on? Apparently the Pitt guy didn't get the memo, bitch.

(HT: JGuiher and other readers who pointed out the article in the comments)

0 recs  |  Comment 13 comments

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Mike - honestly - how do you focus on the one kid from PITT when he's surrounded by all those PSU students doing pretty much the same thing?  You lead your article with this fact (nice kick save by deflecting blame there) and buried at the back of your article is the fact that the PSU fraternity kids turned on their own guests! Imagine - what a thrill that must have been for those OSU brothers to be socializing with their PSU brethren and then have to leave after their hosts start threatening them and throwing beer at their backs as they leave.... Perfect PSU gentleman I suppose, higher standards and all.

But, who cares - one kid was from PITT!! He'll get charged while everyone else there "should get a stern talking to"??

This PITT student was obviously an asshole, as was every other kid out there.  Watch the video again - unless this punk has five arms there were a lot of others tossing beer cans around also.

Or to be as asinine as you - one could look at it like the PITT kid was the only one that had the guts to get up close to the OSU kids while the PSU pussies sat around egging him on and filming it, all the while throwing beer from their relative 'safety in numbers' pack like a bunch of 13 year olds tasting their first beer.

God Mike, stick to talking about football.......

by Reed on Nov 1, 2007 5:36 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

What Mike actually said
Reed - Two things.  First, while I don't know what Mike intended, my reading of his statement was far different from yours.  Let's look at what he actually said, rather than your characterization of what he said:

"But let's not forget the fact that the overwhelming majority of the people there were Penn State students and fans. And they either joined in throwing cans of beer, stood by doing nothing, chanted "F___ Ohio", or worked the video camera making asinine comments. These people should not be let off the hook."  

So far so good, right?  Then he says:

"While charges may be harsh, a stern talking to is in order from someone."

What he doesn't say is "Charges are OK for the Pitt student but not for the Penn State students and fans."  You seemed to take that from his statement, and maybe that's what he meant.  But I didn't read it that way.  Finally, he closes with:

"That's why I'm glad to see the Pi Kappa Alpha house facing sanctions from the University and Police."

Again, no discrimination.  I personally disagree with Mike that charges may be harsh -- I'd charge everyone against whom charges can be substantiated.  I was walking in the parking lot area across from Beaver Stadium about two hours before the game and witnessed at least three similar incidents -- it was disgusting.  As a longtime fan, I was ashamed of Penn State.  

Finally, there's no need to resort to ad hominem attacks (e.g. "Or to be as asinine as you").  Personally, I find as a general rule that the level of discourse rises when criticism is directed against ideas, not the person voicing the idea.

by nyline on Nov 1, 2007 6:30 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Level of Discourse
NYLINE - yes, you are correct that the level of discourse rises when critism is directed against ideas vice the source.  And, may I add that journalistic, or public, discourse also rises when it isn't directed against an institution, or groups of people, in an unfounded manner.

But, if we are parsing Mike's writings, read his words again - to quote...

"Apparently the Pitt guy didn't get the memo, bitch."

Especially notice the mention of the fact (again) that he attends PITT, and of couse, calling someone 'Bitch' keeps that discourse level right up there, doesn't it?

Here's my take on Mike's writing for what its worth - he has taken the effort to create and maintain a public forum for discussion of college football - Penn State in partcular, but also publishes social commentary as part and parcel of that subject. It's his right to do so, and he does it very well for the most part.

However, I believe that he has also put himself in the position to have certain responsibilities that go along with that. One of those responsibilities is to be as fair and even handed as possible in 'reporting' on his chosen subjects (call me old fashioned but I do think there are certain standards of behavior - even on the internet). Does that preclude his being a PSU fan and showing his love for the school? - of course not, otherwise he wouldn't have a Blog subject. But, if he is doing it with blinders on, and not expecting critism when someone disagrees with him, then all this site becomes is a diary of a shill. I do not think that is Mike's intention, and I certainly don't view "Black Shoes" as such.

However, we read a lot from PSU fans and alumni about certain standards and sets of behavior that need to be adheared to because it's the "PSU Way" or somesuch.  OK, if you are willing to self-impose those standards, then adhere to them - don't just be an arbitrator.  So, that can, and should,  be accomplished without dragging other's reputations through the mud. Apparently in this case it's easier to demonize the fool from PITT then it is to put the blame squarely on everyone's shoulders where it so obviously belongs.  And, somehow, that kid now represents the University of Pittsburgh as awhole - but all those PSU students doing the same thing would not and could not represent Penn State as an institution.

Well, you can't really have it both ways.

by Reed on Nov 1, 2007 8:13 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Don't want it both ways
Reed: I may be wrong, as again, I can't possibly know what Mike was thinking, but my take on the use of "Bitch" was a reference to what I seem to recall was the use of that word in the video.  In other words, it struck me as intended to be ironic (though admittedly jarring, and I had to reread the sentence to reach that conclusion).  As to your other points, we simply disagree on what Mike meant, or didn't mean, and unless Mike weighs in, we can't resolve that disagreement.

by nyline on Nov 1, 2007 8:46 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Reed
Thanks for the comments. I can understand why you are a little defensive.

Nothing should be read into the order in which I singled out the Pitt guy, the people standing around, and then the frat. What I simply did was mirror the flow of the article that was linked.

I do think the guy from Pitt, for lack of another name to call him, shows the most egregious behavior. Anyone that threw a beer can at them is an a__hole, but does throwing a beer can from 30 feet away constitute assault? Technically probably yes, but was there intent to cause harm there? I don't think so. If someone threw a beer can at me from 30 feet away I don't think I would really feel threatened. The OSU fans were moving on trying to leave the scene when the guy in the fleece ran up and threw a beer can from point blank range. If someone did that to me, I would feel threatened, and I probably would have punched the guy in self defense.

But again, I think you're reading too much into this. The guy was from Pitt, that is now a proven fact, and I reported it. I'm not pointing it out to deflect any blame from PSU. I think I did a fair job of describing my displeasure with the fraternity and all of the PSU fans on site.

Yes, I tried to throw a little humor in there by mocking the camera man that said, "This is Penn State, bitch". I've taken a lot of heat around here lately for showing bias and using profanity. I guess maybe I've been too level headed at times because people have come to view this site as some sort of credible news source. As such they feel I should hold myself to typical journalistic standards. I'm sorry to inform you all I have no interest in being a credible journalist. I'm a blogger. I'm going to show bias. I'm going to interject humor where it isn't always appropriate. When I'm mad it's entirely possible I may drop an F-bomb or two. If you have a problem with that, BSD probably isn't the place for you. Go get your news from ESPN.com. I can't possibly please everyone, so I'm just going to be me.

My goal is to make BSD an entertaining venue where Penn State and college sports fans can come to discuss the issues of the day. Some blogs bombard you with news, some analysis, some blogs use schtick, some blogs just use 4th grade potty humor to keep their readers coming back. I try to do a combination of analysis and schtick and leave the potty humor out when I can. But sometimes it's going to creep in there. I think I do a good job of making BSD a place where everyone with a respectful attitude can come to talk college sports, so I don't intend to change a thing.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Nov 1, 2007 9:05 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Mike
... And thanks for replying.  It's your site and you can do whatever you like, obviously. I enjoy it (99% of it) so I'll keep coming around, and - I hope - keep adding food for thought.

Thelast paragraph in my reply to NYLINE was not necessairly addressing you personally - although I seem to have written it that way.  More so to the PSU faithful en mass.  I try not to insult other teams and their schools, and guess that I just don't really understand what good it does to do that.

(But I'll throw in some good natured jibes from time to time though).

So, back to football - good luck on Saturday, I'll be watching on TV.  I do think it will be a tough one as Purdue can pass very well, so I've predicted 24-21 Purdue on another site, but I'll root for PSU to win.

by Reed on Nov 1, 2007 9:18 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Frats
suck.

by WarStreets on Nov 1, 2007 10:07 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Before we head down that road
Let's just say that frats and sororities do some good work with the community and charity, most notably THON. So let's not start dropping sweeping generalized statements like frats suck. Unfortunately, frats do have a bad side as exhibited here. If you are not a brother, a rush, or a chick you usually don't get a lot of courteousy.

The pro-frat vs. anti-frat discussion has been raging in the message boards all week and it can get pretty ugly. I would prefer not to go down that road here.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Nov 1, 2007 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

tooth brushes
Do you think that since the osu "brothers" spent friday night and were obviously in a rush to leave that their psu "brothers" will mail their tooth brushes to them or will they have to buy new ones.

by PSU86 on Nov 1, 2007 10:33 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

If they did mail your tooth brush back to you
would you put it in your mouth?
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Nov 1, 2007 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Ironic
I wonder how many times that line is used in the upstairs of PSU's fraternities on a given weekend?

[Insert Ed McMahon hey-oh]

by NittwittAlum on Nov 1, 2007 11:25 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Mr. Pitt Fan
Has been charged along with the frat.  

by CDRS on Nov 2, 2007 9:30 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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