After the Arizona-Oregon game in Tucson Saturday night, Oregon cheerleader Katelynn Johnson was, while still on the field, struck in the head by a full water bottle apparently thrown from the stands.
The PORTLAND OREGONIAN sets the “terrifying scene” Saturday night:
Oregon senior associate athletic director Joe Giansante, who announced the Ducks’ television replay broadcast in the corner of the field where Johnson was hit, said several items were being thrown toward Oregon players after the game.
“As the team was coming in, they were getting bombarded with water bottles, batteries, and various other items coming out of the stands,” Giansante said. “We were yelling at everybody to keep their heads up, but one got through and hit Katelynn in the head. All the kids (on the cheerleading team) are scared, but hopefully she’ll be OK.”
Brutal, inexcusable behavior by the Arizona fans.
Johnson sustained a concussion but has since been released from a Tucson hospital and returned home to Eugene.
The ARIZONA DAILY STAR reports that University of Arizona police have every intention of finding the person who injured the Oregon cheerleader and charging them with a crime.
Sgt. Juan Alvarez of the UA Police Department said the investigation into who threw the bottle that struck Johnson is ongoing, and that charges could range from disorderly conduct to assault or aggravated assault.
“We are not going to condone this kind of behavior,” he said.
I watched the game Saturday night, and it appeared that security personnel had every intention of allowing Arizona fans on the field if the Wildcats won the game. But Oregon staged a late comeback to claim the contest, and that’s when the Arizona fans turned unruly and started launching objects onto the field.
If security hadn’t made clear that fans would been allowed to rush the field, I’m not so sure there would’ve been the ugly scene that ensued.
Univ. of Arizona officials are no doubt extremely relieved that Johnson appears to be okay.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Johnson is also an accomplished model. Here’s some of her past work.
1:33 am on November 23rd, 2009
casualty of war.
Just because she has a pretty face……it makes no difference…..and how is someone getting a concussion from a water bottle?
When fans always start throwing things on the field……..where do they find these batteries that i have always heard about flying from out of the stands
One battery thrown turns into multiple……..i could throw a dvd player on the field and it would turn into a couple hundred dvd players were thrown on the field.
1:48 am on November 23rd, 2009
O.K. some points to hahahaha.
Throw a full water bottle 30 feet and hit someone in the head and yes, you could give someone a concussion.
No, this is not about her face. If this would have hit a coach, a trainer, a player, etc. there would have been the same reporting.
I agree, once someone reports fans are throwing things on the field the second item ALWAYS listed are batteries.
2:13 am on November 23rd, 2009
Not to belabor the point but ‘hahahaha’ is an obvious DUMBASS.
4:54 am on November 23rd, 2009
I’d hit it, but not with a water bottle.
6:50 am on November 23rd, 2009
So much for the myth that only Philly fans do this.
Yeah, hahahaha, stay classy. Like we have so many hot chicks in this country that we can let hicks like you kill them with projectiles. Let me guess - trailer trash in AZ that couldn’t deal with another sad loss by your team. No Rose Bowl for you!
7:51 am on November 23rd, 2009
Regardless of the value of the original topic, it’s a great excuse to post those pics. Glad she’s ok.
9:41 am on November 23rd, 2009
Brooks: Where do you find this stuff? If there is some eye candy out there and a sports connection, you will track it down.
10:34 am on November 23rd, 2009
Arizona deserved to loose that game. Half their students have jumped down to storm the field with 2 minutes still on the clock. Talk about putting the cart before the chickens hatched across the road.
It is not surprising that a Cheerleader was hit in the head. Hopefully the hairspray-helmet protected her from serious injury.
10:35 am on November 23rd, 2009
Methinks there was another side of this story. Time for me to get something off my shoulders.
I used to work as a volunteer at the Univ. of Washington games, assigned to the visiting fan section. You would think that the inter-state rivalry with Washington State would be the worst games to work. But it was always Oregon games where we had the most trouble.
At one game, someone at Oregon was counterfeiting tickets, we ended up with twice as many in the stands (non-assigned seating in that section). We had groups of Oregon fans breaking wooden seats and throwing them on the field at U.W. players who were warming up (yep, before the game even began). They then demanding we give them replacement seats in the expensive sections, and throwing bottles at us when we told them it wasn’t possible. That was the high point, their conduct whet downhill from there.
I tried to talk one guy into behaving by telling him that such destruction just ended up costing students more, he just said it didn’t matter, his father pays all the bills, and then made a derogatory remark about me not understanding since the only job I can get is working at a stadium.
Anyway, I’m wondering if the Arizona fans weren’t engaging in a bit of pay-back. Yes, it’s immature and irresponsible, nobody should engage in such conduct. But I’m not particularly impressed by the Oregon people expressing such outrage over the incident, given what I saw of their own fan’s conduct at games at Husky Stadium.
11:24 am on November 23rd, 2009
Soo… somehow it’s the woman’s fault that a Zona fan drilled her in the head with a full water bottle?
Seriously?
Jeez, the internet is just awesome.
12:07 pm on November 23rd, 2009
So a chick has to get taken off the field on a stretcher for SbB to post modeling pics? What happened to the glory days of frequent SbB model pics???
12:26 pm on November 23rd, 2009
Those people are desert trash! There was a similar incident a year or two ago at the McHale Center when someone threw a bottle on the court as USC was finishing off their basketball team.
If this happens again, maybe they should make their teams play in empty stadiums and arenas for a year.
3:26 pm on November 23rd, 2009
Here is some of the chaos that went on after the game. You can see bottles flying in the cheerleaders direction. http://www.fandome.com/video/116587/Bottles-Thrown-At-Oregon-Ducks-Cheerleaders-and-Players-After-OT-Win-vs-Arizona/
3:38 pm on November 23rd, 2009
i wish i could see video of her getting nailed….
and hit in the head by the bottle as well.
4:25 pm on November 23rd, 2009
at least now cheerleaders know what real athletes have to go through…
non-story, happens all the time, just blown out of proportion like usual…surprised that this isn’t being made out to be Ron Artest’s fault, cuz you know, if a Duck player got hit and went after the person who hit him, it’s always the athletes fault and fake reporters (bloggers) would go crazy…
4:30 pm on November 23rd, 2009
Hey! That is my coffee girl! You Arizona bastards, if she can’t make me the same kind of latte, I will find you myself!
6:49 pm on November 23rd, 2009
Watching Masoli rip our collective hearts out all by his own self was bad enough. This is far worse. I can’t identify with the tools who would do that. Just stupid.
11:09 pm on November 23rd, 2009
The Arizona police should have gone in the stands and arrested the people throwing things. Do that a few times and the fans won’t be acting like hoodlums.
7:55 am on November 24th, 2009
WTF? these fans at AU, sound as bad as the Colorado fans, This is a sad and very cruel, I hope the person that did this is caught, and spends a considerable amount of time behind bars. Wether it was a cheerleader or player, it was totaly uncalled for.
Id like to kick his ass myself, fuckin coward
9:56 am on November 24th, 2009
in my words i believe the ducks started it as they won and ran onto the field with there hands up and saying shit to the fans i believe there the ones who spark it….. come on you have a team come to your home town and beat you and players start saying shit and throwing there hands up how would you be…. and so sorry for the cheerleader she just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time…. u of a fan
9:59 am on November 24th, 2009
but ya they shouldnt be throwing shit though….. but i like said wrong place at the wrong time…… and i do hope they catch the guy who throw it…
10:26 am on November 24th, 2009
Deport the preps to Philadelphia
2:15 pm on November 24th, 2009
Okay, she looks cute in the others photos but damn, that reclining bikini photo is all “Get this woman sammiches, STAT, before she snaps in half!”
9:59 pm on November 24th, 2009
i thought it was blake lively
1:41 am on November 25th, 2009
Screw the water, she needs a couple o’ cheeseburgers…is crack still a problem at uni these days??
5:07 pm on November 28th, 2009
don’t act llike water bottles don’t get thrown at other football games. That cheerleader just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It has NOTHING to do with how “respectful” or “rude” Arizona students are. Things like this happen at ALL games.
PS- Is there really a need to post those photos of her on here?????……NOOOO
11:46 am on January 26th, 2010
Yes these photos are needed her! Very, very badly.