"The Fight"

The Mascot Fight: Vic the Demon 1, Chief Brave Spirit 0

Few events in NSU history attracted as much attention as the Oct. 24, 1992, spontaneous scrap between Northwestern's mascot, Vic the Demon, and Northeast's Chief Brave Spirit. "The Tussle in Turpin" happened midway through the second quarter of the Homecoming game. KTBS-TV's Sam Schaecter made it his "Play of the Day" and the footage was picked up by ESPN -- who declared Vic the victor. Even Monroe's News-Star newspaper and KNOE-TV conceded the decision to Vic, who rallied after the Chief knocked off his head. Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "the fight of the year" and wrote, "Vic won a unanimous decision. It's been a long time since I've seen a fight where someone's head actually gets ripped off -- and yet he rallies to win!"

The footage made its way around the country, appearing on CNN Sports Tonight, ESPN College Gameday, NBC's Today Show, KNBC in Los Angeles, WUSA in Washington, D.C., and many other TV outlets. USA TODAY featured the mascot melee in its Oct. 28, 1992 issue. At year's end, the fight was named -- by viewer vote -- fourth on CNN's Plays of the Year" show. The frisky mascots met again, with plenty of fanfare but no altercation, when NLU visited for a Jan. 30, 1993 basketball game.

Shane Clabaugh, the senior social work major who served as Vic, explained: "After he tore my head off, that was it. That goes against the code of ethics for mascots." Clabaugh said he won: "I scored a takedown. I was mad because he knocked my head off. I wanted to take off his head -- his real one."