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Two hurt in melee between drum corps, football players


Nathaniel Cooper, 16, of the Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps of Columbus, Ohio, stands on the sidelines with the help of crutches just before the corps' performance Friday night at Huskie Stadium. Cooper was injured Thursday during an incident involving members of the NIU football team. Chronicle photo/Holly Lundh

By Chris Rickert - Staff Writer

DeKALB - A Northern Illinois University football player and a team staffer face battery charges after a bizarre altercation between players and members of a drum and bugle corps from Columbus, Ohio, that sent two corps members to the hospital.

A dispute between strength and conditioning coordinator John Binkowski and one of the corps' directors degenerated into the players "running sprints through the performing musicians" Thursday night, said college spokeswoman Melanie Magara.

The drum and bugle corps, the Capital Regiment, was in town for the Drum Corps Midwest Championships, which have been held at Northern for the past 15 years. The contest started Friday night, and will continue all day today.

Junior NIU defensive tackle Anthony Falbo, 20, of River Grove, and Binkowski, 32, who has been with the university since 1999, face the battery charges.

David Pedrazik, 19, of Ellington, Conn., sustained a hairline fracture to his jaw, and Nathaniel Cooper, 16, of Owensboro, Ky., suffered a sprained ankle, according to Chris Ward, assistant director of the Capital Regiment.

The two baritone horn players were injured after being hit by NIU football players allegedly told by an angry Binkowski to run windsprints through the band as it practiced. About 10 other musicians also were knocked down, Ward said.

Pedrazik and Cooper were treated and released from Kishwaukee Community Hospital on Thursday night, Ward said.

Falbo and Binkowski have been suspended from the team, and Falbo will face an internal university review. Magara said all football operations have been suspended through this weekend.

The drum and bugle corps contest includes 25 corps from eight states, Canada and Chi-na, according to DCMC.

The Thursday altercation apparently took root the day before, when about 20 NIU players arrived at the stadium for a voluntary conditioning session, Magara said, only to find the field occupied by the band.

At that point, both groups agreed to share the field for the night and on Thursday morning worked out a schedule for using the field on Thursday night, she continued.

But there reportedly was a misunderstanding on the details of the agreement, and when the football players arrived Thursday to practice, a verbal dispute between Bin-kowski and one of the corps' directors degenerated into the players "running sprints through the performing musicians," Magara said.

Although NIU officials are still not sure what spurred the players to begin running, Sean Kern, a father of one of the musicians, said his son Daniel described the incident to him.

"The coach ordered the football players to run onto the field, knocking over or injuring a lot of the players (musicians)," the elder Kern said.

Ward agreed, calling Binkowski "extremely unreasonable and very agitated."

"(Binkowski) said, "If you're not off our field, we're going to run through you,'" Ward re-counted.

Magara vowed the university would get to the bottom of the incident and would not rule out that more players could be charged.

"They are all being interviewed and investigated" by university police, Magara said, "and they could all face sanctions."

Magara said NIU police have an amateur videotape of the incident that they are reviewing.

Ward volunteered that he was pleased with the way NIU had handled the situation to this point, saying the altercation has not changed his positive impression of the university.

The Capital Regiment was scheduled to play at 8:17 tonight. Cooper's injury would keep him from participating in the contest, Ward said, but Pedrazik would still march without playing his instrument.

Binkowski and Falbo did not immediately return phone messages left by the Chronicle on Friday.

NIU officials expressed regret regarding the situation.

"I am deeply disturbed by this incident and want to personally apologize to members of the corps and their families," NIU President John Peters said. "There is no excuse for what happened, and I want to assure all involved that extremely serious measures have and will be taken to ensure that those responsible are appropriately restrained and disciplined."

NIU football coach Joe Novak echoed Peters' statements, saying he was "extremely disappointed in the individuals involved."

The incident received widespread media attention. Reports appeared on Rockford and Chicago television, and on some all-sports channels.

The Associated Press filed a story that was sent to newspapers throughout the Midwest.

The AP story's lead was quoted on CBS radio. Echoing Don McLean's "American Pie," the wire service said of the incident: "The players tried to take the field; the marching band refused to yield."



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