The first quarter of Wednesday’s women’s college basketball game between Drew University (N.J.) and Moravian College (Penn.) ended bizarrely when one of Moravian’s live greyhound mascots had a run-in with a Drew player. It’s hard to be more specific beyond a “run-in,” because it happened away from the camera, but thankfully, the commentary can narrow it down.
At the very first second of the clip, two dogs are visible at the top of the bleachers. This detail will be important for later. The one on the right wanders off as Drew’s Michaela Keegan hits a two-point shot before the quarter ends. The buzzer sounds, someone laughs, and seemingly everyone at the game reacts to a bad thing happening. You know this because the play-by-play announcer says, “A bad thing has happened, right now.”
The dog that had wandered off dashes back across the screen as a group of people tend to a fallen Drew player. An encounter between the greyhound and player has gone a bit awry. You know this because the play-by-play announcer says, “We have a downed player due to the dog going a bit awry.”
According to Drew’s athletics spokesperson, Erin Frederick was the player knocked over by the dog. She wasn’t bit or hurt, but needed a couple of minutes. Moravian’s spokesperson said the same thing:
We have two greyhound mascots, and at the end of the 1st Quarter one of them walked away from their handler in the bleachers. When he saw some open space (the court) he took off and knocked one of the Drew players over when he ran by.
Thankfully she wasn’t hurt and after a minute or so she walked over to the Drew bench, and then returned to the game.
Bad dog! Drew won, 81-79.