In one of the most bizarre and troubling incidents in recent youth sports history, an assistant coach of a Massachusetts middle school basketball team channeled his inner Mike Tyson after a 6th grade basketball championship, attacking the coach of a team which defeated his side and biting his opponent's ear.
According to Springfield, Mass. news network WWLP, 34-year-old Timothy Forbes was charged with mayhem, assault and batter and disorderly conduct on Monday in Springfield District Court after turning himself in to police. The charges follow Forbes' attack on an unnamed fellow middle school basketball coach at Springfield (Mass.) Holy Name School following his Springfield Heat's loss to the Sprinfield Migs in the Springfield Catholic Youth Organization middle school basketball finals.
According to WWLP and NBC Connecticut, among other sources, Forbes was enraged following his team's loss and instigated a fight with the Migs coach. In the midst of that scuffle, he then bit the Migs coach's ear, allegedly removing part of it in the process.
The victim, a fellow 34-year-old Springfield resident, was rushed to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and had his ear reattached. He was released shortly thereafter.
While Forbes was named as a coach in the Heat organization by Springfield police, Heat officials themselves denied that the man was a coach for the team and argued that he was not on the organization's roster.
Regardless of official roles, Springfield Heat president John Maloney told WWLP that the entire incident was shocking for all involved.
"I think everyone who heard it couldn't believe it and it was certainly very devastating to the program to have something like this happen," Maloney told WWLP. "We feel it hasn't happened before and we hope it will never happen again."
One can only hope that will be the case, given the severity of Forbes' bizarre attack.
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