Daily gives Milano's side of the Kampfer/Milano incident
The Daily came out this morning with a long-form feature giving Mike Milano's perspective on the fight between him and Steve Kampfer that landed the Kampfer in the hospital and got Milano booted off the football team.
Hadn't heard much about this since Kampfer graduated, and it's well worth the read. Kudos to the Daily for digging to get Milano.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
Numbing to read this article. What a sobering way to consider how important it is not to jump to conclusions. Thanks for posting this . . . would never have seen it otherwise.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
I ran into Mike Milano in the Cleveland area a couple of years ago. He essentially told a quick version of his story. Seemed like a nice, honest guy.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
Good to see Milano get some redemption, that it seems was long-overdue. It's sad that he was kicked off the football team. I remember always really liking Kampfer after this incident, but in reality it seems they were both just acting like normal drunk college students and either one of them could've been in the wrong. It's just unfortunate that Kampfer's injuries were extensive, otherwise this may well have blown over as it probably should have.
This article paints Rich Rod to be in the wrong here. Sure, RR was in a media firestorm at the time, but kicking Milano off the team just seems like it was a cop-out. Milano deserved more than that.
Also, glad to see that Lloyd Carr stuck up for the guy and cared enough to testify on his behalf.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^
I'm glad to see Milano get time to say his side. His decision to tackle Kampfer on pavement was a bad one, likely influenced by alcohol. Same with pretty much everything else that led up to it. Too much testorene and booze and that never ends well.
Honestly I feel like Red jumped the trigger on this. It is understandable since his guy is in the hospital with serious injuries, but I still feel like Red owes Milano an apology given what multiple witnesses say about Kampfer assaulting a girl.
At the end of the day though Milano tackled Kampfer on pavement though and has to deal with that. If he'd punched him, if he'd tackled him on the grass, kicked him in the nuts, or anything else odds are we wouldn't have his conversation. Instead Milano and Kampfer would have likely both ended up bruised and kept their mouths shut (because if the coaches find out you're involved in drunken brawls with other athletes, you run a lot of laps). I feel bad for Milano in that out of the dozens of bad decisions made that night, he only made one, but he made the only decision of the night that put someone in the hospital. If it's true about Kampfer assaulting the woman though, I'm rather unhappy Kampfer ever made it back into a Michigan jersey.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
Rich said he didn't have a choice - like he was directed to kick Milano off the team.
The Daily stories are all so good. This one, while one sided, does a service by presenting a point of view contrary to most people's perception.
As others have said, seems like a typical altercation that gets out of hand, and unfortunately in Milano's case, his self defense instinct (from wrestling) put Kamfer's head on the pavement hard.
December 12th, 2011 at 3:54 PM ^
It isn't clear from the article when the prosecutor charged him with a felony. It's possible that RR didn't have any choice after that. There may be a University, Athletic Department or personal (to RR) policy that dictated the suspension.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:14 PM ^
I'm not willing to discount the possibility that he was told a limited, if not biased account of the story and was just sticking up for his guy, but it's a little sobering to see Red come out as a bad guy in this piece.
And in light of 3&O, it seems this was yet another example of the pretty iffy ability of Athletics at the time to deal with public relations and issues within its programs.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
The thing is - nobody is reporting exactly what happened the night of the fight. As a former nightclub GM I have never heard an accurate depiction of what has happened in a fight. Granted, this is in a less crowded area that a full bar. However, if there are 8 witnesses, then there are 8 different accounts of what happened. Regardless of the context of this situation, alcohol does some stupid things to otherwise intelligent people.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
I tried out (unsuccesfully) for the wrestling team when Milano was a starter, and he was one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever met. I always had the feeling that he was not 100% culpable for the incident.
Not suggesting he is 100% innocent but the guy is definately not a bad guy.
December 12th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^
Mike's a good guy. He deserves good things. A true Michigan Man.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^
Sad lesson here is that it is very difficult to control the outcome of a physical altercation.
It's a bad situation, and it's depressing how something that could have been small escalated to something so big. It also sounds like people who should have stepped up with a more complete picture of the night (like Kampfer, Kampfer's buddies, or his on-again, off-again girlfriend) may not have.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
It would appear Mike Milano did the right thing by stepping in. Too bad they didn't take separate paths home after the intial argument.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:11 PM ^
There was this then the Conboy/Tropp incident all in the same season. Good to see he made it through alright.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:16 PM ^
and nothing was done to him apart from his injury. The comments in the Daily following the article make it seem like a lot of folks still think Milano is primarily to blame. From the article, it seems as if Kampfer was a bully who was happy to beat up women, both the one he attacked outside the bar and her friends, whereas Milano stood up to defend a woman who was being mistreated. Should he have taken a different way home? Maybe. Then maybe Kampfer would have gone to the woman's apartment and finished the fight he had started. Once Kampfer started mistreating a young woman, it is hard for me to have any sympathy for him. If he threw the first punch, he should have been charged with assault, even if he was injured when Milano acted to defend himself. If Milano reacted to that first punch, he should have been acquitted of both charges, just as the judge indicated.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:38 PM ^
I don't think the Kampfer issue is a clear-cut as you put it. Nowhere does it say that he was punching the girl. I don't think he was having a cordial disagreement, but I don't think he was actually hitting her or her friends on a regular basis, that's the kind of stuff that gets reported to the cops really fast
December 12th, 2011 at 2:53 PM ^
she was on the ground with him holding both wrists and demonstrably upset. It says that as soon as she was able to get away, she ran. How much more do you want? To me, that sort of behavior is never acceptable.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
Neil Patel is the one that everyone s/b pissed at.
Patel is the one who said that Milano jumped Kampfer from behind and slammed Kampfer to the ground, when in fact, Milano took on Kampfer head-on. It was Patel's account of what happened that created most of the outrage.
Patel s/b be held accountable for his fabricated description of what happened.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
You really s/b typing out full sentences.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^
I completely agree with you, but am pessimistic that anything happens with Patel.
December 12th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^
Not clear whether it was deliberately fabricated or he honestly believed that is what he saw. Eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable, even when the eyewitnesses have the best of (neutral) intentions. It's awful that Patel's mistake had such repercussions, but the accountability may truly lie with the police and media who put far, far too much weight on his account. Both of those parties deal with these kinds of issues on a regular basis, and should know how much caution and confirmation is required before you accept one person's account as truth.
December 12th, 2011 at 8:53 PM ^
If you've already put in the effort to type out grammatically correct, complete sentences, then why not just type out "should be?"
December 12th, 2011 at 1:24 PM ^
I took a class with Mike a few years back. He was a really nice guy, who seemed like a good kid who just made one poor decision in a bad situation.
December 12th, 2011 at 1:47 PM ^
was at the Ohio tailgate for old football players. Even though the athletic department may not make a statement, they have at least accepted him in some sense.
I'd like to hear the Kampfer's side as well, especially the part about him possibly throwing Tanjata (sp?) to the ground. I won't ever know exactly what went down, but from this perspective, albeit one-sided, it seems that Milano was in the right by stopping Kampfer.
December 12th, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
Agreed. But there is 0 upside for him to do that. The story is old and history shows him to be in the right. There will never be enough media attention to this story to cast him in a negative light. By Kampfer responding only negative publicity can follow.
December 12th, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^
but I think we are jumping on Kampfer a little hard for a onesided piece. The account of the girlfriend being harrassed was from Milano and his brother and friend and not from anyone else. I'm glad Milano stepped in if anything was happening, but the incident he got in trouble for did not happen then, it happened later on the walk home.
A lot of people are saying he's a nice guy, and he was drunk, well guess what, you are responsible for the things you do both sober and drunk. I have a friend who drove drunk and who is a nice guy, but deserved his time in jail. Milano made a mistake in not walking away afterwards and injuring someone who had to rehab for months. The fact that he can get a clean record seems like he made out fine and he got support from his coaches. But a tell all book about how he was wronged by not getting the privilege of playing football for Michigan does not seem like a Michigan Man type of thing.
A drunken brawl where you hospitalize someone else seems like a valid reason to be kicked off the team.
December 12th, 2011 at 3:14 PM ^
I find it hard to consider what Milano did as "self-defense" when he was obviously trailing Kampfer and talking shit to try and pick a fight (instead of finding his friend to make sure she was ok). I'm sure Milano knew the whole time exactly what he was going to do once Kampfer finally snapped and turned around to take a drunken swing at him.
Milano doesn't accept any responsibility for making poor decisions that night, nor does he express any remorse for Kampfer getting injured far beyond what he claims he intended to do. The fact that the lesson he gets out of coming close to killing/permanently crippling another human being is "always do what you think is right" instead of "maybe you shouldn't always do what you think is right when you're drunk and angry" indicates that he probably could have used some jail time to teach him that vigilante justice is not acceptable, and help him understand the severity of what his actions resulted in.
December 12th, 2011 at 4:29 PM ^
"obviously trailing Kampfer and talking shit to try and pick a fight"
Yes, it was so obvious the legal system decided to reduce the charges. Sounds to me like Milano acted out of defense for the gymnast and then in self-defense. Kampfer just hit his head, unfortunately, on the concrete.
I suppose if Milano had just taken the punch and gotten the concussion, he would've just gotten what he deserved and Kampfer would still be the hero.
Hey, Brawndo's got what plants crave.
December 12th, 2011 at 8:28 PM ^
You have to remember that the legal system is alwys stacked in favor of the defendant. In a fight where you have conflicting eyewitness reports, a jury will often throw up its arms because it can't decide who to believe. When that happens, a defendant gets acquitted. In fact in this case, he was still found guilty of the aggravated assault misdemeanor. The difference being that, the jury thought he tried to hurt Kampfer and didn't do it out of self-defense, but they don't think he tried to like, felony level mess him up.
We really don't know what happened, and can never know what happened. If I had to guess, I would bet that Milano was jawing at Kampfer the whole way back. Eventually he said something that drove Kampfer over the edge, and he turned around when he shouldn't have. I'd really chalk this up to drunk college kids are idiots, and everything probably ended up sorting itself out in the most fair way possible.
December 12th, 2011 at 3:56 PM ^
...but the bottom line is that he was drunk and fighting and someone got badly hurt and the timing of it all was really, really bad. Furthermore, the whole stick-up-for-a-female thing doesn't even hold water because she was apparently long gone from the scene at this point in time. Rough break for Milano but he didn't have to be in that situation.
December 12th, 2011 at 4:16 PM ^
That story was a great read. I can't believe people just jumped to conclusions so quickly from one witnesses statements and how they hadn't even gotten either of their friends stories.
December 12th, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^
Good to see Milano get some redemption. The legal system seemed to think Milano was justified. Seems like the hockey star/coach got what they wanted and the weak first-year coach folded.
Now Kampfer's playing for the Bruins and Milano's doing great things across the world. Good for both of them.
If Milano was a big-name starter, people may have looked further.But instead, the media gets to put up their eye-grabbing, misinformed headline as usual and a good person bites the dust because of it.
Kampfer can try to abuse (verbally or physically) innocent women, but for every Kampfer there's a good Mike Milano to put you in your place.
The comments at the Daily are status quo, with people putting blind "beliefs" in part of the story. Multiple accounts of PEOPLE WHO WERE THERE clearly distinguish this as a fair, face-to-face altercation with a case of verbal and/or physical abuse of Kampfer directed towards a female (which had been taking place for a while, as testified by the gymnast's friends).
Another reason to hate the Bruins? Check. Rootin for Helm or Abdelkader to give Kampfer a clean run (lol at Abdelkader-MSU irony).
*awaits downvotes from blind UM hockey fans*
December 12th, 2011 at 4:40 PM ^
Milano is not some hero. It sounds like he made the right call to step in when he did (if the Kampfer stuff is true, which in this article is only from Milano and his friends, not from Kampfer or the alleged victim).
The part where he continues the confrontation was stupid, and allowing himself to get into an altercation where he hospitalized someone was even dumber, which is the part that he got in trouble for. It sounds like he is a good kid, but he is responsible for his actions, and the athletic department was well within their rights to kick him off the team. If he had stuck around after concussing Kampfer and to speak with the police, then I would feel more sorry for him. Leaving the scene after slamming someone unconscious on the sidewalk does not sound like he thought what he did was right.
December 12th, 2011 at 4:53 PM ^
Did it say anywhere he was the one that continued the confrontation? They both had to walk back home the same way.
Kampfer was already verbally and physically being abusive .Kampfer made the stupid choice by getting drunk enough and verbally and possibly physically abusing a much smaller female. I give Milano props for not sticking Kampfer right there.
He also didn't know the extent of Kampfer's injuries, which I can believe. Being in a fight before, it's better to just leave so the violence doesn't continue. Why would he stick around with someone he just fought with? Ask him to dinner?
EDIT: Also, the gymnast's friends testified that Kampfer had been at least verbally abusive in the past. Sounds like a guy with issues to me. But believe whatever you want, it won't change anything. Milano's doing great things and Kampfer's got millions of dollars to pay off the lawyers next time he abuses a woman.
December 12th, 2011 at 5:04 PM ^
between physically abusive and verbally abusive (not that either is any good). I'm not painting Kampfer as some saint, but he never sent someone to the hospital in critical condition.Someone else did and Milano is responsible for his own actions. He is doing good things, but injuring someone that badly is something he had to answer for. We have a justice system for a reason. Someone who is drunk should not be judge and jury. No, when you fight with someone you usually don't have dinner with them, but when you injure someone the way he did, then you do have a responsibility to stick around. He had a chance to walk away before there was an incident. The fact is, he walked away after it.
I did state that the initial step in was probably a good idea (even though I have no idea what the truth is, which is probably somewhere in the middle, as the original Kampfer incident was remembered differently). The issue was not that initial stop. It was later. And I don't know why you are giving Kampfer a harder time for being drunk than Milano. Stupid situation for both, with stupid results for both, who both suffered greatly.
December 12th, 2011 at 5:22 PM ^
Kampfer sounds like a Dik with anger issues..Even the chicks roomates didnt like him, said he was abusive to her AND them...
Where was the girl in all this?...Did she testify as to what happened and if Kampfer was being abusive? Did she testify that Milano was trying to HELP HER? It would appear that she had a history of trying to make him jealous. Her being ...well..how do I say this? her playing games led to the incident..(trying to keep it clean here) she was using Milano to make Kempfer jealous add in tons of booze and ??Im guessing his acquittal was do to her testimony. the roomates who all talked about him being abusive..
Looked Like UM , BM and Red got it WRONG and jumped to conclusions and/or the university let Red be its spox and of course he was protecting HIS player..This is troubling to me..
Without publicly apologizing to Milano it appears they know the F'd him over and are trying to make ammends..
I feel bad that Milanos life was so alttered..If he was trying to help this chick out from a abusive angry drunk and this is what happens? what kind of message does that send?
DONT HELP thats what...