We’ve written so much about Goldy the Gopher on these pages that the befurred University of Minnesota mascot should probably be considered the official rodent of Off the Bench. That is why it saddens us today to report that Goldy was brutally punched in the snout while performing his antics at a gymnastics meet at Williams Arena on Tuesday.
Apparently Goldy was annoying a 60-year-old fan, who had finally had enough and struck the mascot “in the face.”
“All of a sudden, the guy just turned around and punched Goldy in the face,” says Ellen Sunshine, a witness to the brawl. “We all kind of laughed because we were so shocked by what happened. And then the guy wound up and punched him again!”
After that, Goldy ran off. And when the gymnastics meet ended, police were waiting to talk to the man who’d assaulted the Golden Gopher. Dokken was arrested, issued a citation for disorderly conduct, and given a trespass warning banning him from the Sports Pavilion and Williams Arena for a year, according to an account in the Minnesota Daily.
“The whole rest of the night we could not believe that we saw that happen,” Sunshine says. ‘Someone freaking punched Goldy.’”
I guess that UCA Mascot National Championship trophy doesn’t buy you the respect that it once did.
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Goldy the Gopher gets punched in the face [CityPages]
