Things Got Really Ugly For Some Fans During Rivalry Weekend
As stupid as it always sounds when someone reminds you that football is “just a game,” it’s worth pointing out that it’s actually true. Most fans don’t cross the line while celebrating a big win or blowing off steam after a crushing loss, but there are a few that do.
Tensions always run high in college football, but never higher than during rivalry weekend. This year was no different. Most of the fights were decided on the football field, but a few bad apples couldn’t resist the urge to spoil the bunch.
According to The Gainesville Sun, a Florida State fan went overboard in trying to play the knight in shining armor to a woman involved in a verbal altercation with a man inside the EndZone Bar and Grill in Gainesville.
37-year-old Brant Brown approached the man and tried to coax him outside to fight. When several Florida fans in the bar tried to stop Brown, he then invited all of them pesky Gators to meet him outside in the parking lot.
After calling 911, the bar manager followed him into the parking lot while providing a description to the operator. That’s when Brown retrieved a machete from his truck and charged at the manager while threatening him.
The manager (understandably) booked it back inside, which is when the woman he was initially trying to assist went out to the parking lot. Having clearly lost his grip on reality, Brown then proceeded to threaten her with the machete.
Eventually he was calmed down by a fellow Seminoles fan, who just so happened to be an out-of-town police officer, before police arrived to arrest him. Brown was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrested and possession of marijuana.
Over the weekend University of South Florida athletic director Doug Woolard traveled to Orlando to watch his team take on the University of Central Florida. A drive that is approximately 100 miles from Tampa.
The Knights defeated the Bulls 23-20, which apparently wasn’t quite enough for at least one UCF fan; at some point during the game the tires on Woolard’s Audi were slashed. UFC athletic director Todd Stansbury publicly apologized for the embarrassing incident.
A local car dealership provided transportation home for Woolard, who said he was very disappointed with the incident, but also expressed his gratitude for the response of the UCF police and administration.
The rivalry between South Carolina and Clemson is one of the most underrated in all of sports. There’s nothing but bad blood between these Palmetto State foes, who engage in vicious, round-the-clock trash talk 365 days a year.
On Saturday the rowdy crowd in Columbia was treated to another decisive Gamecocks victory; their fifth consecutive against the Tigers. That didn’t do much to calm the hostility of the home crowd towards the Tigers, particularly those in the student section at Williams-Brice Stadium.
According to the Post and Courier, Clemson players were pelted with bottles and other debris as they headed to the locker room down 17-10 at halftime. Apparently there were also “words exchanged between the visiting team and host fans.”
Following the game there was reportedly a physical altercation between a member of the Clemson staff and an SC student. Ugly as the incidents may have been, nobody was injured and police intervention was not required.
Pretty impressive since fans of each teams expressed their feelings toward one another via public arson earlier in the week.
The highlight of rivalry weekend was absolutely the Iron Bowl. Undefeated Alabama looked poised to deliver Auburn their second loss of the season, when everything just fell apart for the Tide. Auburn tied it up with 32 seconds left and then won it by running back a failed Bama field goal attempt as time expired.
The stunning turn of events was momentarily incomprehensible to the viewing audience, but those of us with no real vested interest in either team were able to appreciate it as the most thrilling finish in college football history. Alabama fans, on the other hand, probably didn’t see much worth appreciating.
One such fan is Adrian Laroze Briskey, who was arrested and charged with the murder of Michelle Shepherd, a fellow Crimson Tide fan. The incident happened outside an apartment complex in Birmingham within minutes of Alabama’s soul-crushing defeat.
According to witness Nekesa Shepherd, Briskey flew into an uncontrollable rage when she heard the sisters making light of the loss, saying it would’ve been worse if the Miami Heat would’ve lost. It started off as a physical altercation, but eventually Briskey pulled out a “small caliber handgun” and shot Shepherd.
The victim was a case work for at risk youth and young parents and a mother of three. Briskey is being held at Shelby County Jail, with bond set at $75,000.
