Iowa State mascot Zane Brugenhemke posted this photo Saturday on his Facebook page, after accusing UConn fans of pushing him eight feet on to a pavement surface at Rentschler Field during the Cyclones
UConn’s football team isn’t exactly getting positive press today after the Huskies’ 24-20 loss to Iowa State last night.
But the real scorn in the sports blogosphere today is directed at a small group of UConn fans who are being accused of beating up Iowa State’s mascot and giving him a broken arm.
In a string of posts on his Facebook page last night and this afternoon, Iowa State mascot Zane Brugenhemke said that a group of Huskies fans shoved him eight feet out of the stands and on to a pavement surface during the first half last night at Rentschler Field.
UPDATE (8:24 p.m.): A news release from the University of Connecticut says a police investigation determined there was no physical alteration, Brugenhemke simply tripped. Read more here.
Brugenhemke, who dresses up as “Cy” the Cyclone, was replaced by a backup Cy in the second half, when the Cyclones came from behind to hand the Huskies their second loss in as many weeks.
Before the game was even over, Brugenhemke took to Facebook to announce he could be done for the season as the Cyclones’ mascot.
“Possibly last football game as Cy,” he wrote. “Best memories of the last 4 years come from this.”
Early this morning, Brugenhemke posted a photo of his arm in a sling, partially covered by a red and yellow ISU jacket, and the words “helluva story.”
The posts continued into the afternoon, with Brugenhemke going on the offensive against the Huskies’ fan base and reporting that, since doctors in Ames, Iowa didn’t feel comfortable operating on his arm, he’d be traveling to Omaha, Neb. tomorrow for surgery.
“UConn quickly rose to No. 2 on my most-hated fan bases,” he wrote. “Breaking my arm isn’t a good first impression guys.”
The incident first came to light in the Des Moines Register, which noted the injury near the bottom of its game coverage.
But the story picked up momentum when it was covered by Deadspin.
Brugenhemke then announced on Twitter that he was the mascot with the broken arm, and proceeded to post Facebook updates on his status.
The incident left fans on the UConn message board The Boneyard lamenting the incident, with a poster named “Justauconnfan” saying charges should be pressed, but that the incident shouldn’t reflect poorly on UConn as a whole.
Other Boneyard users submit that we aren’t getting the whole story. “Krugs17″ claims to have seen the mascot shove a UConn fan before the fan retaliated, causing Brugenhemke to lose balance and fall down the stairs.
Were you at the game? What did you see?
I was at the game, sitting a section over, myself, and the other fans with me saw him get pushed down the stairs. The police/ security the whole game allowed anything to happen and ignored it. Leaving the game saw security gaurds yelling and swearing at Iowa State fans as they left to go back to Iowa. University needs to take a good look at the people who work security at the games, they are a joke.