I've always felt that court storming was weird. And that field storming was even weirder. I don't understand why either still exists in college athletics.
The professional ranks got rid of it. If you go back 40 years or so, you can find rare times when fans would rush the court in an NBA game, or ran onto a field in baseball or football. But we've all come together as a sports society and realized that that's inappropriate and unsafe. Yet it still exists in college athletics because the relationship between fans and athletes and their "teams" are a bit different.
See, the student section of the fans are the peers of the athletes on the field. You go to school with those guys. You have classes with them and may see them on campus. While their status is certainly different, you have a bond unlike most fan-player relationships. So when an extraordinary win happens on your floor, you want to celebrate with your fellow students.
Let's just keep it off the floor.
It can be done. No one rushes the floor during the NCAA tournament, right? Not anymore. We don't have court storming when you solidify a trip to the Final Four or once you win the national championship. Michigan fans didn't get to storm the court after beating Washington for the College Football Playoff title. Don't tell me that "well, that's not on a home court" because there's plenty of people there who would love to celebrate that level of win, no matter where it is.
Some conferences have fines for storming the field or court. Some ... like the ACC ... don't.
Maybe you think I'm just some older guy that has grown out of touch from the excitement of the moment. Sure. Being older also means I remember a time when we didn't have to worry about some of the security issues that we have now. When I was in college, it was pre-9/11. Hell, it was pre-internet, really. There wasn't the connection regular folk had to famous folk like there is now. A player couldn't chit-chat with their fans on X or Instagram or whatever back then. And the vitriol of fans to opposing players is at a high level. I grew up with Morgana The Kissing Bandit running on the field and smooching players. That's all gone in the world we live in now.
So it is weird that court/field storming still exists. It's weird that's it is still allowed.
And this old guy has always felt like this. I used to have a soft spot in my heart and felt that, yeah, these are kids and this is their school and no matter how much tradition and status a school has that this is their moment in time and who are we to stop this completely. Well, with fans body-checking players and player safety seemingly on edge (that doesn't even mention the safety of anyone who is on the court), this is probably the best time to reevaluate this.
Again, I'd love it if they just ended it completely. Anyone who isn't supposed to be on the court should be punished for doing so. If I went to an NBA game and got on the court, I would be soundly removed. We all seem to be able to follow that line of thinking in professional games so it can be done at the collegiate level. Some places have a sort of designated place on campus, outside the arena/stadium or wherever for students and fans to celebrate together. When North Carolina beats Duke, they rush Franklin Street in Chapel Hill to celebrate. Several NBA teams have a certain area outside the arena for fan gatherings (think the Toronto Raptors' "Jurassic Park", for example). Get out of the area of play and have fun there. Sure, there are new challenges to deal with there, but it sets up a sort of reverse tail-gaiting situation and not an influx of people in an area that wasn't designed for them to be there.
And if my soft spot still lives, then let's at least do this about court/field storming: let's wait before doing it.
As I said, we are able as a society to understand rules and norms. So why not just make it where you allow court storming once the game is over, players (especially opposing ones) and officials or whatever are off the court before you allow fans to get on the court. This seems to be a reasonable compromise for everyone.
Obviously the incident between Duke at Wake Forest is the catalyst for this discussion today. First off, why are Wake's students rushing the court to begin with? I mean, this is the second straight time the Demon Deacons have beaten Duke at home. And this is a matchup between the "Big Four" schools -- the four North Carolina schools in the ACC. No one should rush the court after beating one of the others. It's tacky.
Having said that, what if the game ended and security, the arena and the university made clear that fans could rush the court once they were given the okay to do so. That okay comes after the handshakes are made and the opposing team and officials are off the court and heading back to their locker rooms. Can't that be something we can accomplish? Fans wait to get inside the arena for the game. Fans spend the entire game not running on the court. Fans don't mingle on the court during halftime. We can do this! Make an announcement that no fans are allowed on the court until after the opposing team and officials are removed from the court and have the event staff make sure that's the case. If the fans don't follow these directions, then the school (or league) can then ban that arena from allowing court storming any further.
Or just dump it all together.
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