It really seems like you can’t watch a college basketball game anymore without the fans rushing the court if the home team wins. It just doesn’t mean anything anymore. Beat a Top 25 team, storm the court. Beat a conference rival, storm the court. Win on ESPN, storm the court. Dick Vitale calls one of your players a PTP’er, storm the court. Cheerleader executes a back handspring, storm the court.
Listen… the players do not want to hang out with you. When Dee Brown hits a big shot and wins a close game, he is not thinking, “Man, I wish that guy in the third row with the wispy beard would come down here and jump around with me. He seems nice. It’s important I share this moment with him.”
There’s no problem if the situation is truly warranted. If you knock off the #1 team, if you pull some huge upset, fine… go buck wild. But if it’s something pretty pedestrian, keep your ass in your seat. You can jump up and down and scream there. My problem with it isn’t that it’s a safety issue (though it probably is), it’s just that the celebration has been cheapened, probably beyond repair. And most of the time, it’s not genuine fan enthusiasm, it’s people thinking it’s their opportunity to get on TV, to be cool, to do what they’re supposed to do. It’s mostly bullshit.
epp Says:
February 27th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
couldn’t agree more…i know wvu stormed the court tonight after they beat bit and all i could say is why? same went for last monday when syracuse beat wvu…it really didn’t make sense there when the orange were a team that had beat wvu soo many times in the past few years…it was sad really…like you said beat a number one team or pull off some crazy ass upset then sure its totally cool to storm and go crazy
The Big Picture Says:
February 28th, 2006 at 1:10 am
same thing goes for camping out a few nights before the so-called big game. two years back here at the u. of washington, we camped out for then top-ranked and previously unbeaten Stanford. Great, I thought.
But with the emergence of the Huskies as true basketball team, people now fucking camp out for the likes of Cal. C’mon, they’re 17-8, unranked, and frankly, not very good.
camping and storming the court are almost a courtesy to the other team, telling them they’re a great team. the more you do it, the less it means.
Insomniac Says:
February 28th, 2006 at 1:46 am
Great minds think alike. Next, we can work together to eliminate the misguided “Over-Rated” chant at the end of upset victories.
To the Big Picture, having to camp out before every game is part of the package that comes with being an elite college basketball program. My advice is to buy a small camping grill, cook up some burgers and make some cash the night before big games.
djej1 Says:
February 28th, 2006 at 9:17 am
I agree that rushing the court is done way to often these days. I think unless you pull a big upset you should not rush the floor. I don’t think that you necessarily have to beat the top team in the country to rush the court. If your program has sucked for a long time and you get a big win over a top 15 team I think you should rush the court if you want.
The Big Picture,
I disagree with you about camping. If there are students crazy enough to do it then they should do it if it will ensure that they will get the best seats. I would camp out if there were other people camping out, but I doubt that will ever be an issue at my school, while I am here.
Unsilent Majority Says:
February 28th, 2006 at 9:35 am
WVU fans have their heads up the ass of the senior class.
GO BACK TO THE MOUNTAINS!
wvucouchburner Says:
February 28th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
WVU students rushed the court to celebrate the final game with the seniors…not necessarily because of the win. It’s not like they burned the nets or anything…
unc_samurai Says:
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:10 am
So we’ve established that a huge upset is a cause for storming the court. Okay, let’s say you’re an FSU student. Your team is fighting tooth and nail to finish above .500 in the ACC. You’re not breaking the top 25 anytime soon. You manage to hang with and beat a top three team in Duke. It’s likely to be the only conference loss and only the second of the Devil’s season. (And keep in mind this is the biggest Tar Heel homer saying this) Does this not qualify as sufficient cause to storm the court?
My qualifier here of course is AFTER THE FRICKING GAME!! We may have lost to Duke a few weeks ago, but at least we could count. When the clock says “0:00:00″, THEN YOU celebrate, and not a tenth of a second more. I would have pooped myself laughing if Duke had won because of the crowd foul.
Andy Says:
March 2nd, 2006 at 7:20 am
During my D-III college’s football rivalry game one year, a guy behind me in the stands told my friend Nick and I to move fast when the game ends because the crowd was going to rush the field. My reply was, “Dude, it’s been 35-7 for the past 2 hours. I think the time for spontaneous celebration has passed.”
Rushing the court or field should be reserved for last second, game clinching plays, such as the year before, when we won 27-21 on a last second, hail mary tipped pass.
Rhondda Nunes Says:
July 31st, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Agreed.So if the University of the Pacific Tigers had pulled off the upset of Boston College in round 1 of the NCAA tournie that woulda been a cause for some stormin’ norman action.
But I was glad to see the cadets storm the court after Maggie Dixon’s last win. Looks bittersweet after her untimely death. What a shame that was.