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Jacie
12/9/2013, 08:32 PM
Over at hornfans, the consensus is that if Oregon football team gets over not making it to the title game in time for the Alamo Bowl, sa*et will get rolled big time.

Well orange bleeders, here is a spot of good news for you.

Oregon Ducks Football Players Face Disciplinary Actions over Snowball Fight

By Gabe Zaldivar (Pop Culture Lead Writer) on December 9, 2013

Several Oregon Ducks football players are in hot water over a snowball fight that quickly got out of hand last Friday.

ESPN reports Ducks coach Mark Helfrich has announced that several players will be reprimanded for their part in a large snowball fight that caused one former professor to get pummeled with snow.

UPDATE: Monday, Dec. 9 at 2:45 p.m. ET

The Oregonian's Andrew Greif reports tight end Pharaoh Brown is suspended from the Alamo Bowl for his part in the snowball fight.

Greif states there are no other suspensions at this time, but several "unidentified" players have been scolded by football officials.

According to the report, players organized the entire event and eventually saw upwards of 100 students participate.

KATU-TV's Anna Canzano (h/t The Oregonian) identified on her Facebook page the man who gets out of the car only to be pelted with snow as "retired University of Oregon professor Sherwin Simmons."

According to Canzano, Simmons was on his way to the school's museum of art to donate pieces when he was stopped by the snowball fracas he described as innocent fun—at least that was his initial thought.

Simmons came to a halt because the piles of snow that had pelted his windshield made it nearly impossible to see and he didn't want to injure any bystanders. However, when he got out of the vehicle, he realized that this seemingly harmless fun had escalated into something more.

Canzano continues, stating Simmons couldn't locate anyone who was in charge of the fight. Amid expletives and snow tossed his way, Simmons looked for anyone who might help. The woman he confronted even proclaimed she wasn't participating.

The former professor finally made it to the museum and mentioned the snowball melee to a security official. Although, it's important to note Simmons' reaction and subsequent claims are far more measured than the students who once greeted him.

Via Canzano's report, Simmons made it clear he will not be pressing charges and even admitted he might have engaged in this type of behavior years ago:

It was a snowball fight. The students shouldn't involve people who aren't part of it, but this is not high crimes, not an assault, not even a misdemeanor. No one should be charged. That would be nuts.

It's not anything I wouldn't have done at Yale when I was a student there, only we would have thrown snowballs at each other. Not at a white haired professor like me! I am 68 years old, after all.

Helfrich isn't taking this lightly, and offered the following, via ESPN:

On Saturday, I was made aware of an incident that occurred Friday afternoon during the snow day involving multiple Oregon students, including members of the football team. The behavior exhibited in the video is completely unacceptable and dangerous. We take this matter very seriously and disciplinary actions have begun.

Amid its extensive coverage of the event, the Daily Emerald ran a column by Julianne Parker that aptly describes the scene and explains how such fun can turn ugly so quickly.

"A crowd can be a pretty powerful force when you’re caught up and not thinking of yourself as an individual. People might do things they wouldn’t normally do without a crowd’s influence," Oregon psychology professor Sara Hodges told Parker.

Thankfully, it seems as though nobody was injured and this horseplay gone awry only lives on as a viral video, while several players facing disciplinary actions at the moment have hopefully learned a lesson.

We can all use a reminder every now and again: Even a jubilant crowd enjoying the change in seasons can turn unruly rather quickly.

aurorasooner
12/9/2013, 09:22 PM
I saw that video of the incident on our local news tonight. If I was that retired professor, I would bring those delinquents up on charges and not leave it up to the university for discipline. That was absolutely ridiculous.
Hopefully this whole incident won't be swept under the rug because those ""some of those thugs are football players and that professor won't be intimidated (or paid off by Phil Knight) to not file any charges for the sake of the university.

8timechamps
12/9/2013, 09:30 PM
Having seen the video, I think it's being taken a little over the top. There was one throw (right at the drivers window) that seemed a tad too much, but otherwise, it looked like a typical group of college kids.

The driver made the mistake of getting out of his car, and was met with a bucket(?) full of snow (which I thought was pretty funny. It did take a turn downhill when they started throwing snowballs at him though. Again, maybe not a great idea to get out of the car.

8timechamps
12/9/2013, 09:31 PM
Here's a link to the video: LINK (http://www.kptv.com/story/24173705/ducks-football-player-suspended-for-snowball-fight)

soonercastor
12/9/2013, 09:45 PM
The guy is person came out and said it was no biggie

Ruf/Nek7
12/9/2013, 09:50 PM
Hell, had it been Mack's team, he would have applauded them for building team camaraderie.

olevetonahill
12/9/2013, 10:15 PM
Here's a link to the video: LINK (http://www.kptv.com/story/24173705/ducks-football-player-suspended-for-snowball-fight)

I clicked yer Link then closed it Cause I really dont care:soap:

BoulderSooner79
12/10/2013, 12:39 AM
That prof comes across as a pretty cool dude to me.