This is Mark Swanson, from Lakeland, Minn. He was involved in the big brawl outside Lambeau Field after the Packers beat the Vikings, but if you were there you probably don't recognize him from his mug shot. That's because, according to police, he was wearing a large purple sombrero and a Vikings poncho.
Swanson has been charged with battery and disorderly conduct, but it takes two to tango. Shawn Hrubesky, a Green Bay man, was also charged with disorderly conduct. According to witnesses, a group of Vikings fans and a group of Packers fans were arguing as they left the stadium. In the parking lot of a sports bar across the street, Swanson and Hrubesky exchanged blows. When Hrubesky's father, Paul Hrubesky, tried to step in to stop the fight, Swanson hit him, knocking him unconscious. Swanson then fled, but in his purple get-up was quickly tracked down and arrested behind the nearby K-Mart.
Packers-Vikings is serious business. According to the Press-Gazzette, the four arrests on Sunday (there were two drug-related pregame busts) were the fewest for a Vikings game since 1995. Some fascinating stats:
From 2005 to 2011, police reported averages of 10.3 arrests and 40 ejections when the Packers play the Vikings at home during the regular season, compared with 14 arrests and 33.7 ejections when the Bears visit. Police reported much lower averages of 5.1 arrests and 17.1 ejections for Lions games.
The Bears and Vikings numbers are much higher than the average of 5.5 arrests and 18.4 ejections police reported when the Packers played nondivisional opponents during regular-season home games from 2005 to 2011.
It's official, then—no one cares about the Lions.