Vermont Man Dies After Middle School Basketball Game Fan Fight

What are we doing, rural America?

A 60-year-old Vermont man is dead after a huge fight broke out at a middle-school basketball game Tuesday night at the Alburgh Community Education Center in Alburgh, Vermont (pop. 2,100), which is about an hour south of Montreal.

State police say Russell Giroux of Alburgh was involved in some capacity in the brawl, but he had left the school and was driving towards his home, according to WPTZ (Burlington, VT), when Giroux pulled over and called for help.

The Grand Isle Supervisory Union, which oversees the local school district, released a statement on the incident where it reminded the locals "to commit to the positive culture that our school community expects and deserves.

"We commend the coaches and players of both teams as well as the Alburgh and St. Albans City staff in attendance who supported the students," the statement continues.

As you can see in the video, the fight included parents and even kids joining in the fray. You can clearly see a child throwing bombs at the end of the video.

“In some respects, I’m at a loss for words. This should never happen,” Grand Isle State’s Attorney and local resident Doug Disabito told WCAX. “Very sad. And it’s because of adults and I’m sad for my community.”

OK, so will anyone be charged?

“When we get the video footage, I would say anybody engaged in that behavior is engaged in disorderly conduct, which is against the law,” Disabito added.

Let me repeat: 7th and 8th-grade basketball. Way the hell up in Vermont. We're talking 4 1/2 hours from the nearest NBA arena (Boston Gardens) and these were fighting like these kids were about to be lottery picks.

Meanwhile, Giroux's family has created a Go Fund Me to bury Russell.

"We have lost our glue," Giroux's daughter-in-law Paulina Tatro writes on the fundraiser. "A husband, a son, a father, a grandfather, and a friend. It was very unexpected, we were not prepared to lose him."

We're better than this, America.