VIDEO: Vanderbilt’s Happy Mr. Commodore Punches Basketball Fan, Results in Bloody Nose

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Vanderbilt University officials are investigating how their mascot, left a fan with a bloodied nose. Video shows the mascot, known as Mr. C, putting his hand on the young man’s shoulder before knocking him in the face.

Did somebody pinch or grope the mascot? Did the mascot know the victim?
Vanderbilt school officials are investigating how or why their mascot left a young man with a bloody nose while crowd surfing through the bleachers.

Video shows show fans carrying Mr. C or Mr. Commodore overhead in a crowd surfing ritual in the bleachers. When Mr. C is brought down near a basketball fan in the crowd, he puts his hand on the young man’s shoulder, but then suddenly starts punch/slapping with his right arm in costume. One of the punch/slaps connects and causes the man to suffer a moderate-to-severe bloody nose.

The sight is a little strange because the mascot has a fixed smile on his face, which has viewers wondering what the facial expression is under the mask. The student applied pressure on the blood flow with a newspaper, and walked away from the scene. Mr. C put his head down with his hands on his knees and walked in the opposite direction toward the basketball.

The incident occurred during No. 18 Vanderbilt’s 60-51 loss to in-state rival Tennessee
at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym on Tuesday February 22, 2011 in Nashville.

It looks like crowd surfing at basketball games is in jeopardy.

School officials are trying to determine what happened. Williams says they will wait to decide whether to address stunts like crowd surfing. Vanderbilt’s next home game is March 5 against Florida.