MSU athlete injured after weekend fight
By Abby Lubbers and Jacob Carpenter (Last updated: 10/21/08 10:59pm)A fight involving MSU athletes at an off-campus house where several hockey players live sent one MSU athlete to the hospital Sunday morning.
East Lansing police Lt. Kevin Daley said “three, possibly four victims” suffered injuries during a fight involving “multiple” suspects at about 1 a.m. Sunday outside 130 Center St., which is located on a side street near Michigan and Harrison avenues.
Daley said some of the suspects involved are members of the MSU athletics program but their names and sport affiliations were not released.
“We’re still trying to determine who got assaulted and who did the assaulting,” Daley said.
Daley said one unidentified individual left a house party at the residence and later returned with several other suspects, instigating multiple fights.
Daley declined to comment on what triggered the altercation.
One victim was sent to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital with undisclosed injuries and remained hospitalized Monday evening, Daley said. WLNS TV-6 reported Monday that the individual hospitalized was sophomore A.J. Sturges, a defenseman for the MSU hockey team. A hospital spokesperson said Monday evening that Sturges was in fair condition.
Police would not confirm that Sturges was the victim. Sturges’ father, John, declined to comment Monday night.
There were between 50-60 people in Center Street, yelling at each other between 12:30 a.m. and about 1:15 to 1:30 a.m., said Aly Moore, a dietetics junior who lives on Center Street and watched the night’s events from her window.
“There was name calling, people hitting each other and then people would go away,” she said. “Then they would come back — on and off for about an hour.”
Moore’s roommate, elementary education junior Alyse Pallas, heard the incident from her second-floor bedroom.
“You could tell there were two sides versus each other,” Pallas said.
Moore and Pallas did not see or hear emergency vehicles.
Daley said police are in the process of interviewing witnesses and victims who might have been injured at the scene but left without receiving treatment.
Charges stemming from the fight have not been filed and would not be filed until the end of the week or early next week, Daley said.
MSU athletics officials released a statement Monday, saying, “We are aware of an off-campus incident that occurred early Sunday morning. The MSU Athletics Department is cooperating fully with East Lansing Police in its open investigation.”
MSU Associate Athletics Director for Communications John Lewandowski said it was too early to comment because the investigation is still ongoing.
Originally Published: 10/21/08 12:01am
Ivan Yankinoff
10/21/08 1:19amPending pictures of Aly or Alyse, I will determine my interest in this article.
Chase
10/21/08 8:00amDid anybody see the fight? What really happend? Please, let’s hear the details.
Steve
10/21/08 8:45amHere’s an idea for the morons living at the house and their equally moronic neighbor (Alyse): CALL THE POLICE.
We are all grown up now, we don’t need to be acting like beligerent animals to mark our territory on the playground. If there are people outside looking to fight you, why not just go back inside, lock the door and let the police handle it? Not to mention, you never know when someone is going to pull a weapon on you. Letting your ego do your thinking for you is how you get stabbed/shot/beaten/etc.
duh
10/21/08 8:59amhey dumb ass, someone called the police…read the first part of the article.
My New Haircut
10/21/08 9:08amFirst MotherF**a that looks at me wrong…I’m Startin a fight!
Spartan Dog
10/21/08 9:59amFIGHTING these mutherfuckers should have been fighting at 3:30 earlier that day when we were getting our ass beat by Ohio state.now these motherfckers want to fight over some female man please. I Shure hope someone on the wolverines tries to mess with that same female and then maybe we can win Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bbwhine
10/21/08 10:30amAn unknown number of people were involved in an unknown crime resulting in unknown injuries to an unknown number of participants from an undisclosed location for doing something unknown. The unknown parties made unknown statements to the police. No arrests have been made nor charges filed for the unknown event. Man, reporting is really easy, maybe I need to change careers. My current job requires me to actually have information before making a report.
fuck the football players
10/21/08 10:31amit was 3-4 football players who came in and started shit with the hockey players in the HOCKEY HOUSE. lets see if the football players actually get in trouble for something they did and not get off with nothing because the are on the team
First of all...
10/21/08 10:39amFirst of all, more than one person called 911. Second of all, they weren’t fighting over a girl. It was an ambush. Get your facts straight and don’t be beligerent. Someone got sent to the hospital with a serious injury and you’re talking about winning the stupid football game against U-M. Get real.
And Steve, the football players that oh so politely drove up onto the lawn and beat the crap out of several people ENTERED THE HOUSE and started throwing punches. They weren’t on the front lawn initially. So please, tell me…what should they have done then?
Huh
10/21/08 10:48amHuh? I read in the Detroit Free Press as well that the fight happened at a hockey house and that a hockey player was injured, but what evidence do we have that the members of the football team were the instigators?
I’d like to hear players’ names and whether or not Dantonio is going to suspend their sorry asses for this incident. Maybe if they showed this much fight earlier in the day they wouldn’t have been destroyed by Ohio State.
I would venture a guess that the hockey players started talking crap and the football players started a fight. Hopefully Dantonio will suspend them and keep this program above the John L Smith garbage that it used to be.
sore losers
10/21/08 10:56amchances are these football players weren’t starters because what dumbass starter would go and fight risking not playing. whoever did this are probly no name players on the roster who think they are hot shit
i hope they get hardcore punished
spartan Dog
10/21/08 11:08amI got my facts straight trust it was over a female.And what you mean AMBUSH we ain’t the damn MAFIA talkin bout ambushing your a dumbass.
Spartyon
10/21/08 11:23amNo trust me, it Was NOT OVER A GIRL!
My friends are Hockey players who live in the house.
One of them was really drunk, and (stupidly) talking trash about MSU football. Saying “the football team sucks, blah blah, the hockey team can beat OSU hockey, why do they get all the respect, etc.”
A football player (no one knows his name cause he is like 4th string LB) took exception and started talking back.
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Tom
10/21/08 1:16pmStarter or no starter, it doesn’t matter. When I was there, we had this mediocre DB named Cliff Dukes that beat up some frat guy (who ended up needing surgery). Dukes was a starter at that point.
These players will be facing some very serious charges – B&E, aggrevated assault, etc.
I also remember how beligerant hockey players can get, and because they are pretty scrappy guys, their mouths run when they drink. Although what the football players did was wrong, you better not talk trash unless you’re ready for a rumble.
LOL
10/21/08 1:46pmThis is hilarious. I thought hockey players were supposed to be tough? Looks like they’re bigger pussies than I thought.
Ed T
10/21/08 1:54pmI’m no lawyer, but I don’t think “trash talking” is a criminal act, especially when you’re doing it to a guest in your own home. However, entering someone’s house and assaulting them is a crime. I trust the football program keeps some good lawyers on retainer.
comicbook man
10/21/08 2:36pmWoo woo, waa waa, hoot hoot, click click. Sounds of stick being beaten against rock followed by more hoots and growls then a charge by the dominant male pigmy brained ingnoathleticus as it swoops by another challenger. Soon the entire area erupts into display behavior before settling down briefly to pick bugs out of each others hair and groom their fellows briefly. Carefully setting a beer trap the hunter is able to easily draw several less intelligent members of the troup towards his trap……..Aahh life in the wilds of E.Lansing following a total beating by OSU. Peace be among you furry little brothers.
Steve
10/21/08 2:41pmForgive me, but where does it say that several people called the police? And where does it say that they entered the house?
“âThere was name calling, people hitting each other and then people would go away,â she said. âThen they would come back â on and off for about an hour.â”
If they were off and on for about an hour that to me sounds like there were several opportunities to call the police.
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Water boy
10/21/08 2:44pmDon’t forget the little Mexican guy that was there. He saw everything but when ELPD got there he said he see naaating Me was just out si cause there were not to mushroom room in de house.
Jimmy the Gent
10/21/08 4:12pmHow stupid. Maybe the football players could have taken out some of that aggression in practice while preparing for the game. Morons. This pisses me off. They deserve to be insulted. They made a fool of themselves on Saturday. They need to get out there and WIN. If we lose to Michigan then we all deserve everything michigan fans say about us. They are lucky enough to be on the football team at MSU, and to blatantly throw it all away because some drunk is talking shit, is so asinine that they deserve everything they get. Hopefully expulsion and criminal charges. Who hasn’t had a drunken asshole talk trash to them?
Cannot Spell Sparty Without The Party
10/21/08 4:25pmIt’s sure convenient that no charges will be made until late this week or early next week. That will leave just enough time for our boys to see the field for the game this weekend. Some might consider this lucky, but if our football program knows who is involved, they should be suspended pending further investigation. Didn’t something similar happen in Ann Arbor recently? I believe their player was immediately kicked off the team. We should follow in a similar manner, or else we’ll continue to be laughed at more than we already are.
a;sldkfj
10/21/08 4:39pmI was there, Steve. AND I was sober. I watched the whole thing happen and talked to the police. I think I know my facts.
Steve
10/21/08 4:57pmto the person who can’t type their name – So you are telling me that people did call the police, yet one person claims it went on for an hour? I know the police response time may not always be the fastest, but when I’ve called 911 the response time certainly was not an hour.
Football
10/21/08 5:12pmDon’t even start calling out the football team. People get into fights all the time at college who aren’t football players. It happens everywhere at every major college once or more. Good luck to Sturges on his recovery. There was a few walk-ons involved, nothing huge here. Don’t be so quick to kick people off the team, that would just ruin their lives…their is a better way to be taught a lesson than that.
Julius Holmes
10/21/08 5:28pmAll i can say is coach d won’t be happy. He doesnt play that fighting and undisciplined stuff like john L. used to do. When john l was the coach football players like teage and adams ran around beating people all the time but you always saw them playing on saturday. Whatever it is there will be conseqences. Sometimes its just easier to walk away.
Support Spartan Hockey
10/21/08 6:45pmIts pretty messed up that a U of M football player sent a U of M hockey player to the hospital and one week later it happens here at State. I would have thought our school was better than those assholes in Ann Arbor.. guess not though. Im sure there was shit talking, but guys will be guys.. especially when they’re drunk. The football player at UM was kicked off almost immediately and I think that any and all football players involved in this fight should receive the same.
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Sue
10/21/08 7:01pmOhhh Steve. Obviously you have a stick up your ass.
...It didn’t go on for over an hour. It lasted less than 10 minutes. Usually when you kick someone out of a party, that’s the end of it. Would you expect a dozen massive men to come back (an hour later, maybe that’s where your mistake is) and attack people? Take notice that the “witnesses” in this article didn’t even see or hear the emergency vehicles.
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matt
10/21/08 7:20pmI don’t care if you’re first string or fourth string, should you really be fighting the week of the michigan game? And why are scholarship athletes hosting a party? I know they want to have some fun like normal students but thats just asking for trouble.
Neil
10/21/08 7:40pmThis is the last type of distraction State needs before playing Michigan. This is the Dantonio Super Bowl and he’ll look like a clown if they lose. Losing to a 2-5 Michigan team makes his discipline decision for these 6-8 individuals all the more important. Mark Dantonio is a GREAT coach but he’s a crappy human being. He’ll have to do something about this, but we’ll see exactly what.
Funhowser
10/21/08 8:00pmThis is way off the subject, but if these guys were are stoned none of this would have happened. They all would have got the munchies and went to bells.
Fuck tom
10/21/08 9:14pmso tom do you want to stop talking shit so we can “rumble” then? Who cares how the hell it was started. It just goes to show you the maturity level of the football players. I believe all student athletes are somewhat cocky, it comes with the uniform but that doesn’t make it right to attack a house of people. Also, to say that hockey players are pussies is crossing the line (I would love to see you take them on), I don’t really think its a fair fight when you pull up with four cars to raid a house.
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Go State
10/21/08 9:25pmUntil the whole story is released or if it ever will be, the focus should be on the football game Sat, and the hockey games this weekend. If in fact his was done by some no name football players just to make the “big” news, don’t give them the credit, they obviously aren’t deserving anyways if they are not playing this year anyways.
Chuck Norris
10/21/08 10:18pmHockey Players – Don’t talk shit to someone/people that can kick your ass, it’s your own fault. Find the table tennis team if you want to talk shit.
Football Players – You should have been hiding in your dorms after that embarrassing loss to OSU. Being out in the first place was wrong, let alone at a party.
Soccer Players – Better start getting involved in these brawls or you will never gain any street cred. Just an idea if you want to quit getting mocked.
scott
10/21/08 10:27pmAt UofM, the fight that happened last week was between a walk-on who just joined the team in the spring who wrestled his first two years at school, and a junior defenseman on the hockey team.
SpartyBuddy
10/22/08 12:13amMy issue: the kid in the hospital was sober, and coming down to see what was happening in his home, not really asking for a brawl if you ask me. It sounds to me like some barbarians came in to fight someone, but got the wrong people. What an intelligent young group.
knew it
10/22/08 3:45amWhile getting ready to go out thursday night, the idea of a fight crossed my mind. I kept thinking about how much shit every drunk person would talk about the football team, and then how mad the football team would be.
Today I pick up the paper and read the first paragraph — no mention of a football player, but it was already ingrained in my mind that a football player(s) beat whoever was beaten. Funny I’d find out shortly later that is exactly what happened.
1wolverines
10/22/08 5:01amhttp://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081021/SPORTS0202/810210426/1132/SPORTS0202
EH2003
10/22/08 10:20amYeah, good one Chuck Norris, your right on top of that one you dumb ass. Hockey players can fight, get your fucking skates and meet them on the ice asshole.
Scott You Are Wrong
10/22/08 10:47amMike Milano didn’t join the team in the spring. If you’re going to post, get your facts straight. I swear, we have so many retarded people at this school. It was only a few weeks ago when one of our glorius Sparty News reporters predicted Wisconsin to beat Michigan because of the strong home field advantage the Badgers have in Madison. The dumb ass clearly didn’t do any research to find out the game was in Ann Arbor so his entire argument was irrelevent.
http://mgoblue.com/football/playerbio.aspx?id=130928
Zkczyk
10/22/08 11:40amDoes this sort of thing happen at Toledo? Or Appalachian State? Just curious.
So Green
10/22/08 12:16pmSounds like the football players are tough sh!t. Well maybe hockey players are just all talk and clearly cannot back anything up. It’s their fault that it was 4 v 9. Call more people up if you’re just going to cry about it. Serves them right.
Eat blue
10/22/08 12:18pmWhy are football players even at a party after a HORRIBLE loss? Dantonio better get his sh!t together for Saturday.
Real Pissed off
10/22/08 12:29pmWHy are people arguing over who was right and who was wrong? In any situation our athletic teams have disrespected MSU. We all wear the green and white, so why was the Hockey team talking shit to the football team, and why would the football team want to hurt a fellow athlete? This is complete bullshit and im embarrassed to say that I belong to an athletic team at MSU. This all doesnt make sense to me. Stop recruiting thugs to come to MSU who all they want to do is fight…maybe one of the criteria for recruiting needs to be having some class!
Steve R
10/22/08 12:52pmThis is hopefully an isolated incident. I believe our Coaches and AD do try to recruit character guys and these unfortunate idiots are the exception. Violence like this is embarassing.
TKMisBigRed
10/22/08 1:02pmThose of you calling for the football players to be immediately kicked off the team should stop it! They are entitled to due process like everyone else. But when the dust settles and the police have all their information, getting kicked off the team will be the least of the football player’s worries. If they get convicted, they are looking at serious prison time for this.
Tom
10/22/08 1:30pmTo the college boy who’s name says “F-Tom”, I am not talking shit. Just don’t run your mouth unless you are willing to deal with the consequences. And this time, they appear to be more than these so called tough hockey players could handle. This whole thing is horrible, and maybe people will realize that you can’t just go around saying what you want to people, even if you think you should be able to.
Toledo
10/22/08 1:53pmToledo had 2 starting football players arrested from a bar Saturday night after the Michigan game for disturbing the peace.
Michigan Incident
10/22/08 2:00pmThe incident at Michigan involved the hockey player being attacked from behind and body slammed to the cement without a chance to defend himself. He got released from the hospital in a neck brace after suffering a fractured skull and possibly cracked verterbrae. The football player suspected of the attack was suspended until further notice and the conclusion of the police investigation. The opposite happened here, all parties involved obviously were able to see what was going on in front of them. And the football/hockey players will be disciplined AFTER the police investigation, that speaks poorly of the control Hollis has over these coaches and teams.
Tom's a douche
10/22/08 3:03pmTom
...You’re right. This is exactly why the state should issue more CCW permits. Then the football player that felt slighted could have just put a cap in someones ass. Problem solved.
The fact is, I was not at the fight, but if the “eye witnesses” that have posted on this board are correct this was a criminal act.
And yes, boys will be boys.
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bbwhine
10/22/08 3:40pmAfter all the BS over Cedarfest that basically no one got hurt, couple fires, few bottles tossed, tree destroyed, sing torn down I would think all the stops should be pulled out on this one and these guys prosecuted to the MAX. Or is this somehow different???
Joe
10/22/08 4:09pmWhy is it that people feel the right to say whatever they want without consequences? The most credible eyewitness who has posted on this article said that the hockey player was running his mouth. I don’t think he deserves a beating, but he’s not innocent either. He ran his mouth to someone who is obviously unstable and got the short end of the stick. Someday you college folks will realize, when you get to the real world, that you can’t act as you wish all of the time.
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Pointless
10/22/08 4:24pmZKCZYK – It’s absolutely pointless to ask if this stuff happens at Toledo or Appalachian State. First off, if you did any research at all you would realize that Toledo had two players suspended for an incident right after the Michigan game. Second, you would also notice that Appalachian State’s football team is comprised of people who were kicked off Division I football teams for a number of different reasons.
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ME
10/22/08 4:37pmI agree with the fact that the fight between the students was stupid and avoidable, but is everyone forgetting that these are people that we are talking about? Quit putting athletes up on a pedestal.
madd hatter
10/22/08 5:02pmFact, The injured MSU Hockey Player was NOT the one talking trash or involved in the fight. He was sober and was attacked at his residence by a group of individuals that came into his house when he came downstairs to see what was happening. He was blindsided and suffered a serious head injury.
TKMisBigRed
10/22/08 5:27pmThe footballers will not be able to justify their behavior in court by saying or implying “the victim had it coming” in that the most seriously injured party of the beat down was not a part of the earlier “incident”. This victim will make a compelling witness for the prosecution. I’m looking at unlawful entry and aggravated battery. They risk: 1) being convicted and 2) serious jail time.
madd hatter
10/22/08 6:33pmMy comments were directed at Joe who had it wrong but I totally agree that the trash talkers and fight starters should be held accountable. But the athlete who got hurt did nothing wrong, nor did the others injured other than being present. The group that did the beating did it on innocent people, the trash talkers were long gone. The fighters should of thought of what could happen. They disrespected MSU and their teammates, so so stupid.
urban-anthro
10/22/08 6:51pmhmmm…I know a number of Cedar Fest kids who did nothing beyond being in the wrong place at the wrong time, hurt no one, were subsequently found not guilty of all charges, yet were IMMEDIATELY suspended from MSU and put on house arrest for many months before trial.
The treatment of this serious assault is shockingly inconsistent. Why does anything Cedar Fest related cause such a dire reaction in East Lansing (certainly not affording those accused anything bearing upon an “investigation”), while pretty much anything else, including an attack which lands someone in the hospital does not?Jason Van Dyke
10/22/08 8:07pmThose people who started a fight in the “hockey house” are lucky to be alive. As far as I am concerned, if someone left and then came back to the “hockey house” to start a fight, he is the one responsible. If he is also the one most seriously injured, that’s just too bad.
I am certainly not God’s gift to fighting – especially at 1:00 a.m. When someone breaks into a house to start a fight at that time of night, they are lucky someone wasn’t shot.
Chuck Norris
10/22/08 9:00pmEH2003…I played hockey throughout high-school in Minnesota and was all-state my sophomore, junior, and senior season. I went on the play juniors and played for a minor team in Toronto and was getting looked at by the Maple Leafs. I blew out my knee at a practice and they removed me from the program because the healing process would be too long. I then came to MSU to get an education.
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Ashamed Lansing Dweller
10/23/08 12:21pmEveryone has turned this into a retarded fight, with everything being said you are no better than those in the fight. You talk about how they should be ashamed and how you think things should happen.. It’s a college campus and it has its politics things will develope in due time. Honestly shouldn’t we be thankful that he didn’t die? U-M and MSU both had a fight happen end of story.
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idiots
10/23/08 7:21pmwhat is wrong with football players? first at UM a football player and wrestler beat up a hockey player…then at central a football player beats up a frat boy…now here?
regardless of the fault of what happened….why are sports teams of the SAME university beating each other up? like we don’t get enough from the opposing teams already we have to bring the battle home? WTF
Steve
10/23/08 10:03pmJoe you have to be one of the biggest morons to ever post on here.
“The most credible eyewitness who has posted on this article said that the hockey player was running his mouth. I donât think he deserves a beating, but heâs not innocent either. He ran his mouth to someone who is obviously unstable and got the short end of the stick.”
What is your IQ, around 12 maybe?
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I can't come up with a snarky name
10/24/08 2:15pmI wish people knew how to type and use proper punctuation.
John
10/25/08 9:12pmHere are some facts that I hope we can all agree on:
- Those of us who were not there have no business making any claims about what likely happened. – Someone was hurt seriously enough to be sent to the hospital. Hopefully we can all hope that he recovers. Once a Spartan, always a Spartan. – Aside from the obvious physical harm, the potential consequences for fighting can be pretty harsh for all involved, and is not something to be made light of.
In the meantime, here’s some food for thought who seem to think this is all somehow funny or entertaining:
1) REAL Spartans only fight for things that truly matter (e.g., freedom), and not over some drunkard’s stupid comments.
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Pray2theHockeyPlayer!
10/29/08 1:13pmFirst of all, this is the funniest thing I’ve ever read. Really, we’ve got some characters at this school!
Second. Football players, hockey players, whatever, they’re all jocks. They all love a particular game, and they all get the privilege of playing for a Michigan State athletic team. The fight was stupid and pointless, which I’m sure everyone would agree on.
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