Wagner Bryant crowd fight

[CheshireCat]

Bryant hasn’t been a commuter school for locals since the early 70’s. It’s actually one of the schools where most people live on campus and has been for 45+ years. Bryant was highly rated and competed with Babson and Bentley directly for years. What changed was the addition of multiple liberal arts majors to the curriculum. When they did that it was to broaden the student base as the president realized the future would have to be as a university that could serve more people. Enrollment dropped quite a bit during the late 90’s. Back then just the math requirements at Bryant scared people away with Calculus 2 being required to graduate. Business grads of Bryant do very well and it is almost always on best value lists. I have one of my degrees from there, so I have some bias. It’s a great school and to this day I have access to resources and faculty for advice and business consulting, as do all graduates. They did some cutting edge things there. It was one of the first schools to have a fully operating trading room simulator.

Well said. I know several Bryant grads that have done very well for themselves (using money as the measuring stick for success as most are doing here). Lots of great takes in here from people who’s ***t doesn’t stink looking down from their high horses.

 

[CCSU97]

Crazy how you can see the crimson bloom spread around his nose and mouth in the moments after the punch. On TV, there was a shot of that kid standing in the aisle full-on bloodied.

I was really concerned that the Bryant fans were going to disregard the AD’s instructions, which would have put the fans and Wagner players in a dangerous spot. Thankfully, things didn’t get chippy in the closing moments. I thought Grasso could have cleared the bench when play resumed. Kiss going to the hole with 3+ minutes remaining was kind of bush league IMO.

This is his M.O. - not sure why any program would hire him.

 

[CCSU97]

Disagree, the Wagner crowd was clearly the group that turned around and escalated it. The kid in the USA jersey got kicked out. No matter what you think of Bryant (we're probably all in agreement there), it was just kids getting ready to go to the dance, they were singing "Goodbye", etc. Game's been over since the first 5 minutes.

Wrong - it was a highly lubed-up crowd that was taunting and throwing things at the small group of Wagner fans/family.

The Bryant administration had zero control and allowed things like this to happen all season. There were similar incidents at other games vs. LIU, CCSU, and The Mount.

Sure, a lot of this is kids that just don't know better - but the real failure was the environment created by Bryant officials (and the NEC did nothing to intervene)

 

[CL82]

Wrong - it was a highly lubed-up crowd that was taunting and throwing things at the small group of Wagner fans/family.

The Bryant administration had zero control and allowed things like this to happen all season. There were similar incidents at other games vs. LIU, CCSU, and The Mount.

Sure, a lot of this is kids that just don't know better - but the real failure was the environment created by Bryant officials (and the NEC did nothing to intervene)

What should they have done differently?

 

[TRest]

What should they have done differently?

It said on the broadcast that Wagner had to move their shoot around to PC because Bryant let the students in hours early and they were all in there screaming when Wagner got off the bus.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Wrong - it was a highly lubed-up crowd that was taunting and throwing things at the small group of Wagner fans/family.

The Bryant administration had zero control and allowed things like this to happen all season. There were similar incidents at other games vs. LIU, CCSU, and The Mount.

Sure, a lot of this is kids that just don't know better - but the real failure was the environment created by Bryant officials (and the NEC did nothing to intervene)

Reminds me of a situation I saw once that was diffused immediately.

St. Jospeh's (Trumbull) was playing Hillhouse in the state final at Mohegan. St. Joe's had a large, obnoxious student crowd. At one point early in the game, Hillhouse fans decided to move into the same section. There were verbal exchanges and taunting. Security immediately separated the two groups and the game went on with an issue-free crowd.

 

[outlaw]

What should they have done differently?

not placed the wagner contingent directly next to a well lubricated student section. I get being behind your bench, but c'mon.

 

[RichCTBB]

Perfect description of Gene Simmons

 

[XLCenterFan]

I wish I had known about Wagner having to move their shoot around. I would have dropped a bet on Bryant.

 

[CCSU97]

What should they have done differently?

Um ... a ton of stuff. I assure you this wasn't run like anything you witnessed at Gampel or the XL Center. The school was unprepared for such a large and rowdy crowd. They wanted to create this type of atmosphere and were ignorant of what was likely to happen.

First, they did not do an adequate job conducting searches before the game. You had clearly intoxicated students allowed to enter and tons of excess alcohol in the stands.

Second, you had students sections rows from the visiting teams bench and visiting fan section.

They had no "event management staff" or police in the area where you knew problems were going to arise.

This was a league Championship event - not a Bryant home game - and NEC officials allowed this environment to happen, knowing there were previous incidents in the QF game vs. CCSU and Semifinals vs. Mount St. Mary's

When adults don't act like adults - this is what happens.

 

[shizzle787]

Not everyday does a fight at a CBB game look like a Serbian club soccer brawl.

 

[Hoophound]

Yes, I’m sure the kids that started it had to be from the Boston area. What does the Boston area have anything to do with what happened? I’m sure there are zero “semi-obnoxious” kids from where you live.

Lol. It isn’t personal. I am related to many of these people. Boston area people are often edgy and say what’s on their mind. They are great at talking smack, particularly surrounding sports.

 

[UofCT]

He’s a redshirt senior… grad transfer perhaps? Although I see his 3pt shooting is sub-30% this season.

Would love to have him

 

[Bomber36]

What a classless punk…I can’t wait to see them get blown out in the first round.

 

[husky429]

What should they have done differently?

You're pretty ignorant if you don't think violent crowds can prevented by event staff. Having fans behind the opposing bench is moronic, letting them in early, having 0 security in sight for a championship game... just a few problems that could have been avoided.

 

[husky429]

What a classless punk…I can’t wait to see them get blown out in the first round.

Bryant has really gone from the "funny low-major that offers every kid in America" to "punk a** program that everyone hates" because of Peter Kiss. This incident is really just making it worse.

As far as whether Bryant is a good school... you can get a decent or better education there just like any school. It depends on how hard you work. Even the professors at lower-tier schools are talented academics. Oftentimes at smaller schools they're more interested in teaching than research compared to big state schools too. Less TAs teaching your classes as well. The last two are BIG problems at flagship state schools still, despite recent emphasis on improving teaching.

However, 65,000$ for a school that offers nothing more than CCSU at 6x the cost is ridiculous.

 

[Windsorlocks]

It said on the broadcast that Wagner had to move their shoot around to PC because Bryant let the students in hours early and they were all in there screaming when Wagner got off the bus.

 

[BlueMAB]

Bryant is a POS school anyway
Loved beating the piss out of them in soccer in the 70s
A bunch of kids who couldn't get into a good private school - besides it's in RI - need to say nothing else

UConn was also a POS school in the 70s.

 

[husky429]

.

 

[Get a Job]

That’s a strange take. How would anyone watching on ESPN know who escalated it?

hmmmmmmmmmm

 

[XLCenterFan]

Geez, that was a bit much.

 

[NYC_HUSKY22]

is it wrong that I find watching USA kid wobble around very entertaining?

It's terrible, horrible - a disgrace to the game. But yeah, anyways I watched the whole thing. Twice.

A better view:

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I wonder what Dr. Gittell would say after watching that.

Not at all a good look for his university.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Wagner Bryant

Law firm??
CPA????
Third generation rich kid who site on board of local arts council?
Smart ass C- student at prep school who gets good drugs???