Storming the Court

[preppyak]

I just read a NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/sports/ncaabasketball/27storming.html) about this, and it raised a few interesting points.

The issue has become so contentious that the National Collegiate Athletic Association will hold a conference concerning crowd control in April in Savannah, Ga. Conferences, universities and sociologists will participate.

I remember when only in tourney upsets and huge rivalries people stormed the courts or brought down the goalposts (I know, I sound 50), but now, it seems like each night a team storms the court.

WVU beating Pitt on senior night isn't worthy of that, maybe if it went into 3 OT's or something, but even then.

It just seems to bastardize the whole event. I'm just waiting for teams to start cutting down the nets after mediocre regular season wins.

[FondestMemory]

same with the gatorade dump.

all that shit's lost it's meaning from being overdone.

[Yankees' #1 Fan]

it's fun, why does it need to have meaning attached to it?

[aminorthreat55]

Yeah I've always wanted to do that but never had a reason to. Maybe if our basketball team wins the conference tourney before I graduate, then I will (we suck, it would be nuts).

[preppyak]

it's fun, why does it need to have meaning attached to it?
well, imagine if Duke storms the court after they beat UNC this weekend, and in the process, someone runs over JJ Reddick. Is it fun then?

I mean, the tearing down the goalposts thing was made a deal because goal posts started getting expensive...storming the court is about to get expensive too ($5000 to $50,000 in the SEC)

It just used to be one of those things that put the stamp on an incredible game, like seeing Jim Valvano run around with no clue as people were running around after they won the NCAA championship. Now it's just a trite occurence. I liked it better when it had meaning.

[preppyak]

same with the gatorade dump.

all that shit's lost it's meaning from being overdone.
yeah, thats probably the worst of them all...

[fire on my lips]

It's dangerous for the players, and to the fans if a losing player gets pissed off enough, or somebody gets mauled. I wish I had a reason to do it though.

[wessa]

storming the court is getting to be really stupid, any team in the top 15 should never storm, YOU ARE ONE OF THE BEST TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY, it shouldn't be that big of a suprise to you when you win, i do not care if it is a rival, it should only happen if there is a huge upset. If it is possible, i think security should hold back the crowd for like 15 seconds to allow the opposing team to rush off the court and then let the crowd go, i mean we have crazy (and probably drunk) college students rushing on to the court, who is to say that they don't sucker punch some guy from the opposing team.

that being said, one of my greatest moments was storming the court, haha, but we had good reason, i went to loyola college (MD) and we had a 31 game losing streak, the record was 33 and we were coming very close, there was a rumor that jay leno asked for press passes to our game (i guess to make some funny skit about us), anyway we beat marist at home, it was really funny because we were up 5 with our guy at the line with seconds left and everyone on the team was hugging, haha, anyway, we stormed the court, i turn on espn later and we are number 7 on the top 10, i am watching the footage and there is a camerman on the court recording the fans storming the court, all of a sudden i see myself and my roomate come onto the screen, the guy was probably like 5 feet from us, i had one finger up, not for us being number one, but for our victory total that season

[fire on my lips]

storming the court is getting to be really stupid, any team in the top 15 should never storm, YOU ARE ONE OF THE BEST TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY, it shouldn't be that big of a suprise to you when you win, i do not care if it is a rival, it should only happen if there is a huge upset. If it is possible, i think security should hold back the crowd for like 15 seconds to allow the opposing team to rush off the court and then let the crowd go, i mean we have crazy (and probably drunk) college students rushing on to the court, who is to say that they don't sucker punch some guy from the opposing team.

that being said, one of my greatest moments was storming the court, haha, but we had good reason, i went to loyola college (MD) and we had a 31 game losing streak, the record was 33 and we were coming very close, there was a rumor that jay leno asked for press passes to our game (i guess to make some funny skit about us), anyway we beat marist at home, it was really funny because we were up 5 with our guy at the line with seconds left and everyone on the team was hugging, haha, anyway, we stormed the court, i turn on espn later and we are number 7 on the top 10, i am watching the footage and there is a camerman on the court recording the fans storming the court, all of a sudden i see myself and my roomate come onto the screen, the guy was probably like 5 feet from us, i had one finger up, not for us being number one, but for our victory total that season

that's awesome, i have some friends that want to go to Loyola. I hear its a huge drinking school.

[Scott Weber]

this is bullshit, what is wrong with storming the court? my most amazing moments in sports (on the team or at the game) are when the crowd storms the court/field. it's exhilarating for the crowd and pumps everyone up. pure adreneline.

[FondestMemory]

this is bullshit, what is wrong with storming the court? my most amazing moments in sports (on the team or at the game) are when the crowd storms the court/field. it's exhilarating for the crowd and pumps everyone up. pure adreneline.

but if it happens every game, or even just after average games, it's not as exhilarating.

it's the greatest thing in sports at times. but it's just unneccesary at others.

[wessa]

that's awesome, i have some friends that want to go to Loyola. I hear its a huge drinking school.

haha, im a non-drinker, wrong person to ask i guess, but there is drinking both at bars and at the dorms, but isnt every school nowadays a huge drinking school, well except for BYU

[fire on my lips]

haha, im a non-drinker, wrong person to ask i guess, but there is drinking both at bars and at the dorms, but isnt every school nowadays a huge drinking school, well except for BYU
true ... and Bob Jones

[Scott Weber]

but if it happens every game, or even just after average games, it's not as exhilarating.

it's the greatest thing in sports at times. but it's just unneccesary at others.
who does it after every game? I still think it's awesome to storm the court after a triple OT win over a ranked opponent. NO school does it after every game...come on.

[preppyak]

this is bullshit, what is wrong with storming the court? my most amazing moments in sports (on the team or at the game) are when the crowd storms the court/field. it's exhilarating for the crowd and pumps everyone up. pure adreneline.
Maybe I'm missing something, but that is what I said. Some of the best memories are storming the court

But, when you compare a national championship game against some run of the mill conference game, where no rivalry exists, and the game is decided by free throws in the end, how can you possibly tell me that it is "pure adrenaline" that drives them onto the court? It just minimizes the entire event that is storming the court...even the announcers said drably "and the fans are storming the court", it just makes the next time a WVU crowd storms the court, maybe when they win the Big East title, that much less interesting.

In 88 Big 10 conference games, officials expected the crowd to storm the court about 8-9 times

Thats every 10th game, or at least once possibly twice a week. And that's just one conference. Saying it happens every game may be exaggerating it, but saying it happens 2-3 times a week is probably an underestimate...and their are hardly ever 2-3 games a week that will be remembered next month, let alone next year

[Scott Weber]

Maybe I'm missing something, but that is what I said. Some of the best memories are storming the court

But, when you compare a national championship game against some run of the mill conference game, where no rivalry exists, and the game is decided by free throws in the end, how can you possibly tell me that it is "pure adrenaline" that drives them onto the court? It just minimizes the entire event that is storming the court...even the announcers said drably "and the fans are storming the court", it just makes the next time a WVU crowd storms the court, maybe when they win the Big East title, that much less interesting.
what teams are storming the court in non-exciting games? i certainly haven't been seeing it. and I don't think that rushing the court then is going to discount how awesome it is in a title game, it's determined by fan adreneline, not what you think in front of your TV. grumble and complain all you want, but if I'm a fan attending the games, I'm down to rush during any big wins that were tough, down to the wire, exciting wins in a big game.

[rcrook]

that's awesome, i have some friends that want to go to Loyola. I hear its a huge drinking school.

i think all of the loyolas are drinking schools...i go to loyola marymount and drinking comes second nature to us....on the fact of storming the court i think it is a fun thing to do. if we had beaten gonzaga we would have done it but that didn't happen.

[FondestMemory]

i was involved in one football game where our crowd stormed the field.

and one basketball game where the opposing crowd stormed the court.

my two most memorable games ever. there were plenty others that were worthy of it, but i'm glad they didn't.

don't get me wrong, i love it. i think it's amazing. like the autistic kid the other night. that was fucking great. i can see what the article is getting at about it being overdone sometimes though.

[preppyak]

don't get me wrong, i love it. i think it's amazing. like the autistic kid the other night. that was fucking great. i can see what the article is getting at about it being overdone sometimes though.
yeah, see I saw that court storm followed by the WVU one tonight, and the gap was so huge. I mean, that kid did something that happens almost never, going from manager to high scorer in one day. WVU beating Pitt by 5 with free throws at the end was weak, even when not compared to that kid's story.

It was that WVU game rush combined with the article i read today that made me think of this...maybe Senior Night made them think it was somehow a better game. I enjoyed watching it, but it's a throwaway game come this weekend, where there are 3 more just like it.

[Scott Weber]

yeah, see I saw that court storm followed by the WVU one tonight, and the gap was so huge. I mean, that kid did something that happens almost never, going from manager to high scorer in one day. WVU beating Pitt by 5 with free throws at the end was weak, even when not compared to that kid's story.

It was that WVU game rush combined with the article i read today that made me think of this...maybe Senior Night made them think it was somehow a better game. I enjoyed watching it, but it's a throwaway game come this weekend, where there are 3 more just like it.
do you understand what it's like at senior night? not only did they beat a great, ranked opponent in Pitt, but it was their seniors last game at home...it was also all of the student senior's last game at the arena. some of those seniors surely held season tickets for all 4 years, it's emotional for them as well. I don't see why that was so wrong to rush.

[NetNerdsRevenge]

My Senior year of high school our guard hit a 3 pointer at the final seconds to win the game vs our cross-town rival. We stormed the court and partied all night.

however, I agree that it is getting out of hand. example: BC students storming the court last year after they beat Syracuse.

one of the best ones i've seen was Ohio State students after they beat Illinois last season.

[LeftWideOpen]

do you understand what it's like at senior night? not only did they beat a great, ranked opponent in Pitt, but it was their seniors last game at home...it was also all of the student senior's last game at the arena. some of those seniors surely held season tickets for all 4 years, it's emotional for them as well. I don't see why that was so wrong to rush.

this is something that i didnt think of ...good point.

but i agree with preppy that there is way too many occasions where this is happening. football is far more dangerous considering theres goalposts in play, but it's getting old in basketball too. You hit a buzzer-beater, you storm the court and I understand because its adrenaline. Pre-meditated stormings though = lame.

[weezer182]

i remember watching a stanford game a couple years ago and tiger woods was sitting courtside. they won and the students starting rushing the court and tiger didnt know what to do so he did as well haha

[Yankees' #1 Fan]

tonight the WVU fans stormed the court.

it was senior night, it was an upset over a higher ranked team, and it got them a bye in the first round of the big east tourney.

what is wrong with that?

[preppyak]

tonight the WVU fans stormed the court.

it was senior night, it was an upset over a higher ranked team, and it got them a bye in the first round of the big east tourney.

what is wrong with that?
I misplaced Senior Night perhaps...but the game wasn't really intense down to the end, I mean, it was decided with 40 seconds left when Herbert got the easy layup.

The OU vs Okie State game (known as the "Bedlam" series) came down to a free throw with .6 seconds left and they didn't storm the court, because it was a win they were supposed to get.

I just took the WVU game as an example, because it seemed out of place to me, but in a night where two games were decided on last shots (Gonzaga and OU) and they didn't storm the court, the WVU game seemed a mild ending, especially for a home win that they should have anyway in conference.

I mean, G-town beating Duke, Ohio State beating Illinois, those are huge undefeated team wins over #1 teams in the nation, not a win for 3rd place in the conference. That's where I stand, I see it as something that happens 5-6 times a year, not per conference.

As much as I hate the phrase "act like you've been there before" seems fitting. A team like WVU who went deep in the tourney last year shouldn't be overly suprised by a home win with an equal conference opponent

[looksthatkillbn]

I've only ever stormed once, and that was at a high school football game after we hit a 37 yard field goal to win a game. We decided if this kid could be down a point, be 37 yards out, a sophomore in high school, and hit a game winning field goal early in the season, he deserved to be mobbed.

[preppyak]

i remember watching a stanford game a couple years ago and tiger woods was sitting courtside. they won and the students starting rushing the court and tiger didnt know what to do so he did as well haha
did they beat Arizona in that game...I know it was a big upset when they stormed, because I know they showed Tiger like 3-4 times during the game, and I just wondered what he would do in that situation.

[weezer182]

did they beat Arizona in that game...I know it was a big upset when they stormed, because I know they showed Tiger like 3-4 times during the game, and I just wondered what he would do in that situation.haha yea they played arizona that game

[Yankees' #1 Fan]

did OU and Gonzaga beat higher ranked opponents tonight?

[weezer182]

did OU and Gonzaga beat higher ranked opponents tonight?Gonzaga beat San Francisco tonight

[Yankees' #1 Fan]

just making sure