Stefhon Hannah Loves His Chicken Wings

By now most college basketball fans have either heard or read about the altercation involving five Missouri basketball players, since it happened more than two weeks ago. The incident resulted in Jason Horton and Stefhon Hannah getting a date with the Boone County Prosecutor.

But what started this fiasco, what could rile the team's leading scorer to such a degree that he'd become enraged enough to risk his basketball career? This my friends is what happened according to a cook at Athena Nightclub in downtown Columbia, MO (he's a friend of my roommate in college, so I've spent many an evening in that establishment enjoying the fine dining afforded from their menu).

Right around bar closing time Mr. Hannah was rather hungry and wanted something to eat for free. Apparently he wasn't satisfied by the $200 free bar tab that he and his teammates get on a nightly basis, he just had to have some chicken wings. The cook that evening, sick of dealing with these free loading athletes on a nightly basis, threw a bag of frozen wings at Mr. Hannah and said "Cook them yourself, bar is closed." Apparently this upset old number three, for he didn't want to go to bed on an empty stomach. As he was being escorted out of the club he sucker punched the cook twice, then the second cook stepped in and in one punch ended the collegiate basketball career of Mr. Hannah.

When the story initially broke Stefhon told the cops he was an innocent bystander who had no idea how this fracas started. Well, not quite, Hannah took it upon himself to show the staff at Athena how little he cared for their service, which ultimately backfired as he went to bed with an empty stomach, since his jaw was wired shut.

Which begs the question, all this for a freaking chicken wing? This is the third such incident in the last eight months under Mike Anderson's watch, after this and this went down over the summer. Now, Mr. Hannah is being portrayed as just another Chicago kid who rose from poverty and fell just as fast.

I know these are college kids who want to go out and have fun, but this type of incident involving Hannah was a long time coming. The first two with Grimes and Carroll should have been a warning to the rest of the team that they're targets, they shouldn't put themselves in a possible situation where someone will be more than happy to fight them. Then, of course, they continue to violate team rules regarding curfew because the owner/manager of Athena Nightclub, Rashid, gives them a free $200 team tab and VIP access. At some point Anderson has to get through to his players that this type of behavior is a catalyst for trouble, and that his players need to exercise better judgment.

As far as those wings at Athena, I've had them many times and they're delicious...