Rushing the court has jumped the shark
I understand that when your team wins a big game that your fans will get very excited. As it is though, the situation where students and other fans rush the court has gotten out of hand.
#25 Indiana beat #2 Wisconsin last night at home, 71-66, last night. Indiana hit a lot of big shots down the stretch and deserved to win the game.
After the game, their fans stormed the court and celebrated as if it was one of the biggest wins in their programs history. As I was sitting in my car listening to the game, I actually started to laugh out loud. Here are just a few statistics that I tracked down to help you understand why I thought it was so comical that Indiana fans thought it was necessary to run onto the court after such a win.
1. National Championships:
Indiana - 5
Wisconsin - 1
Can you picture Duke or North Carolina fans rushing the court if they beat a highly ranked Wake Forest team? I just can’t see it.
2. History:
Do you know how many times Wisconsin has beaten Indiana, at Indiana, since 1972? Twice… and those both happened in the last 5 years. Wisconsin didn’t beat Indiana, period, from 1980 to 1997. As far as the all time records go, Indiana has a 93 - 55 record against Wisconsin. So, it’s not like Indiana hasn’t had success against the behemoth that is the UW basketball program.
3. Record:
Indiana is now 12-0 at home. How is this a monumental win for your team this year?
I’m not just trying to single out Indiana on this. It seems like you can’t go a day or two where you don’t see a clip on Sportscenter where fans are rushing the court to celebrate a win at home over a top 25 team.
I don’t want to seem like one of those crotchety old men that say things like, ‘Rushing the court used to mean something,’ but I can’t help but think that after watching the game last night.
I’ll stand by my facts. Rushing the court has jumped the shark.
February 1st, 2007 at 10:50 am
Yeah but how old are the people doing it? 18, 20? These aren’t 30+ year olds who remember Keith Smart’s game winner against Syracuse. They’re college kids whose team just beat the Big10 leader and gave the new coach (who I hate, btw) his first signature win. Kids having fun man. It’s what it’s all about.
I thought I was the resident fogey around here.
February 1st, 2007 at 10:51 am
Sheesh, they’ve had a few down years AND they just beat the #2 team in the country. Sounds like a perfect reason to storm the court to me!
February 1st, 2007 at 11:08 am
Personally, I love the fact that all of a sudden beating Wisconsin has become a signature win.
I think we have officially entered bizzaro world.
February 1st, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I smell sour grapes! Rushing the court is no big deal…
February 1st, 2007 at 1:53 pm
I’m an IU grad and when I saw that I thought wow how the mighty have fallen!
When I was there we were expected to beat the #2 team at home. Hell, nevermind we were the #2 team. BTW, Bill I hate Sampson too. He’s a cheat and IU slumped to new lows when they hired that slime ball!
February 1st, 2007 at 2:12 pm
pb, you said it brother. Love or hate The General, a cheat he was not.
February 1st, 2007 at 2:57 pm
PB sees it the way I do. Indiana used to be a team that people expected to beat good teams when playing at home.
This is the first time that Wisconsin has ever been ranked this high, so sour grapes doesn’t even remotely come into effect.
Not a single person in the state of Wisconsin thought this team wouldn’t lose a few more games before the year is done.
It was just so comical to me that anyone was rushing the court after beating Wisconsin.
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:44 am
Rushing the court is also dangerous. How much sour grape accusation would you feel if someone was seriouly injured or killed from trampling?