Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
The sad, inexcusable list of fan attacks at sporting events continues to grow, with an incident during last Sunday's Ravens-Raiders game leaving one man clinging to life. Joseph Bauer, a 55-year-old Ravens season-ticket holder from Jessup, Maryland, remains in critical condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center after hitting his head on the concrete during an altercation with two Raiders fans at M&T Bank Stadium."We're clinging to hope," Bauer's sister, Susan, told the Baltimore Sun. "He's still not responsive and not awake, and we don't know the extent of his brain damage. The doctors said it was consistent with a major stroke."Susan said her brother is an ex-Marine with two grown children who has been coming to Ravens games ever since the team moved to Baltimore.Scott Smith and Andrew Nappi, a pair of Raiders fans from New York, were each charged with first- and second-degree assault. Nappi told police that Bauer threw a bottle that hit Smith in the head following an argument, and that he went up to Bauer and punched him in the face. Bauer's wife, Sharon, said that Smith shoved her husband to the ground, where he hit his head on the concrete, knocking him unconscious.Both suspects have been released on bail. Smith, a rookie firefighter with the Mount Vernon Fire Department, has been suspended without pay pending an investigation.Ravens head coach John Harbaugh spoke about the incident during a Monday press conference:"Here's a man and a family that have been longtime season ticket holders, that know the people here that work in the building, that love the Ravens and have been to countless numbers of games at M&T Bank Stadium without incident," Harbaugh said. "Then all of a sudden, there's an incident where a gentleman is assaulted by somebody. That's just not what we're about. We're a family. It's a family atmosphere."Susan Bauer no longer agrees with that "family atmosphere" part: "I think after this, we'll all think twice before going to a game."[The Baltimore Sun]
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