My rules for Court Storming
2010 May 04
Last night's Duke Maryland game had a fantastic finish on senior night in College Park, where they honored the career of Greivis Vasquez who delivered another deus ex machina for the Terps in the closing seconds of the game. But rather than enjoying the end of the game I was left thinking, "Court storming has gotten out of hand".
As some one who has stormed a court or two in my day, I will admit it's a rush that hits the "smash authority" sweet-spot for me. Plus, I'm sure the alcohol is clouding the judgement of those leading the charge. But the fact is that it's losing its novelty. Mediocre Top 25 teams losing conference games on the road happens all too often for them to be punctuated by a usually all too weak rush to the floor. In an effort to curtail these feeble displays of enthusiasm, I propose the following rules.
You may only storm the court if:
- you win your conference tournament, in a one-bid conference, or
- the team you beat is in the top 5, and
- you are unranked, and
- it is non-conference game
Otherwise, it's pretty weak. Act like you've been there before.
❧
UPDATE: My cousin, Jack, astutely points out (as a Princeton Plasma Physicist always will) that Rick Riley published a similar piece mere hours before I did. I think Jack shares my angst because his Cornell Big Red were on the short end of possibly the weakest court-storming this year at the hands of the Penn Quakers on February 12 at the Palestra.