Dakota Bikers vs. Montana Howlers
February 19, 2000
"Beer Nights"
have a long and storied history of not going well. The FBA had technically banned them for that very reason, but this didn't stop the Dakota Bikers from holding a "50¢ Beer Night"
anyway. The only way things could get any worse is if they'd be playing their Number 1 rivals in on-court roughness and in-stand rowdiness, the Montana Howlers.
Naturally enough, their opponents were none other.
If the trouble began with the initial idea, it exploded in the second quarter. Howlers/Bikers games usually read like an exhaustive list of fouls, and this game was no different. About half-way through the second quarter, a foul led to a fight between Julio Onca of the Howlers and Doug Bentham of the Bikers. As the game had been very aggressive, this quickly erupted into a bench-clearing brawl. This was nothing new, and the fans would usually cheer on their respective teams.
But tonight was different — as mentioned before, it was "50¢ Beer Night"
and by this time, most of the fans were plastered. Instead of just cheering, fans hurled insults and drink cups at opposing players and fans, which sparked a stands-wide brawl which quickly spilled onto the floor, merging with the melée between the teams.
To make matters worse, the Sturgis police thought it was just another brawl between the basketball teams, and it took some time before they realized that the fight was far more extensive than they first believed. After the police finally arrived and restored order, several fans and players had to be taken into the hospital, and officials called a halt to the game.
The FBA was not pleased. The game set a record for suspensions (24, the most possible), most time left on the clock when a game was called (28 minutes, over half the game), and the highest total fines in FBA history (over 3 million dollars, the first time fines from a single game hit 7 digits).
The humiliation did not stop there. Both teams were in the unusual position of having no players left. They were forced to sign rookies and free agents to fill in until their regular players came back, resulting in makeshift teams of untested and inexperienced ballers that destroyed any hope either team had of making the playoffs.
It remains the worst FBA brawl of all time.
Written for Buck Hopper