MLS goalie felled by thrown bobblehead doll

When Sporting Kansas City came up with the idea of Omar Bravo Bobblehead Night, they obviously didn’t figure that Omar’s head could be used as a missile. Oh, the humanity. The first 10,000 fans at Kansas City’s MLS match with the Portland Timbers on Wednesday were given Omar bobbles, and at least one of the toys ended up headless — that head striking KC goalie Jimmy Nielsen in the temple in the 26th minute, knocking him to the turf. I thought this kind of thing only happened in Europe?

Nielsen lay on the field for about four minutes, but was able to continue after being checked by medical personnel. The Omar head was removed from the game on a tiny stretcher.

Of course the throwing of objects at athletes is a loutish and despicable act, especially when that athlete is Danish. What has Denmark ever done to anyone? Kansas City held on for a 3-1 win.

From the Boston Herald:

“I did not see it coming,” Nielsen said. “First I thought I walked into the post, then I realized I was a long way from the post.

“I had a crazy headache,” Nielsen continued. “I was like ’Oh my god, I need to lay down for a second. Then I saw I was bleeding, and was just waiting for them to come and fix it so I could play again.”

And that’s exactly what he did, as the stillness turned cheers the moment Nielsen rose to his feet and chose to finish in the game. Shortly thereafter, stadium security escorted multiple people out of a section located behind Nielsen’s net.

“Two people from the same group in the third row both threw the head of bobbleheads, one of which struck Nielsen,” said Sporting KC vice president of communications Rob Thomson. “Both were apprehended, both will be prosecuted.”

Bring me the head of Omar Bravo.

And now, my favorite soccer paragraph of the year:

The breach is the second high-profile incident to occur at Sporting’s $200 million jewel, which has received non-stop acclaim since it opened. The stadium’s security came under scrutiny in its home opener against Chicago on June 9, when a man dressed as a cow interrupted play by running on the field, unimpeded, for several moments.