Tunnel vision

 Times like these, you gotta wonder how much heinousness people got away with before there was video surveillance everywhere, including on your cellphone. Big Brother wipes his feet on the constitution these days with outrageous impunity, but aren't you glad he was there on January 6?

Or, say, in the tunnel beneath Michigan Stadium last Saturday night?

Without all the video available of what happened, we'd be left with conflicting versions of the shameful events, a lot of he said/he said. "Sparty attacked our guys!" ... "Nah, it was just a lil' ol' scrap" ... and of course that timeless fave: "THEY started it!"

But because there is video (TunnelVision?) we know what was what. And what was what was a straight-up mugging, as many as ten Michigan State players assaulting Michigan defensive back J'Den McBurrows -- kicking him while he was down, even -- and MSU cornerback Khary Crump swinging his helmet at Michigan DB Gemon Green.

(Also on the video: A Michigan Stadium security guard standing around with his thumb up his keister while all this was going on. What was up with that?)

In any event, Michigan State has now suspended eight players indefinitely, and the police are looking into the whole disgraceful business. The Blob doesn't always agree with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, but he was absolutely on point when he said he can't imagine criminal charges not being filed. God knows they should be.

And because the Blob is resolutely a living-in-the-past Blob, I wonder if J'Den McBurrows will now unavoidably be remembered the way we remember Luke Witte.

Doesn't ring any bells?

Well, it has been almost 51 years.

 On Jan. 25, 1972, see, Luke Witte was a 7-foot center on the Ohio State basketball team, and he was about to become a household name in a way no one ever wants to be a household name. That night, in the final minute of a 50-44 victory at Minnesota, Witte was brutally assaulted by Gopher players Corky Taylor and Ron Behagen. Several other Buckeyes were also set upon, but it's Witte who's most remembered because of the viciousness of the assault.

Knocked down taking it to the tin with 36 seconds to go, Witte was offered a hand up by Taylor, who instead kneed him in the groin. Behagen then joined in, stomping Witte as he lay curled on the floor. He wound up in intensive care with a scarred cornea and 29 stitches in his face.

Taylor and Behagen were both suspended for the rest of the season, but no criminal charges were ever filed, largely because Witte refused to press them. He wound up becoming an ordained minister who has long since forgiven his attackers.

But that night in Minneapolis remains one of the worst outbreaks of violence in collegiate athletics history, and the Blob suspects what happened Saturday night in Ann Arbor will similarly resonate. Watching the video of McBurrows getting stomped certainly brought it all back for me.

"My God, it's Luke Witte all over again," I said to myself the first time I saw it.

Not the sort of memories college football should evoke.