Storming the court

Since moving to Uganda in 2010 I haven't been able to watch much sports as I was accustomed to growing up nor as much as I would've liked.  So when I do have the opportunity to watch sports when I am back in the States for a short 3 months, I enjoy it thoroughly, even if it is the opening games of the NHL season after a long lock-out.  I am an avid college basketball fan and enjoy this time of year when conference games are in full swing and teams are pushing for the "journey to the Tourney" as it is frequently called.  It is this time of year that I wish that I had ESPN so that I could watch all of the mayhem unfold.  I am currently in the States so I have had my fill of watching sports, in particular, college basketball.

The past few weeks or so I have been quite annoyed at the number of games that I have watched where upon winning the game the home crowd, namely the students, rush the court.  This has become quite frequent in recent games that I've had the opportunity to watch and I just don't understand it.  It seems to me like storming the court should happen once every decade or even once in a school's history.  It should be a big event that hardly ever happens but now it seems that if a home team beats a ranked opponent, that is reason for storming the court.  Last night I watched the final minutes of the Butler/Gonzaga game.  The pregame, which I was also able to catch, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps and Co. talked up how Indiana knows it's basketball and there is no greater place to play with knowledgable basketball fans than at Hinkle Fieldhouse.  So with that build up and with Butler's recent success (back-to-back National Championship appearances) I was appalled at how the fans rushed the court.  Granted, the game ended in dramatic fashion with a steal and then a buzzer beater but still, rushing the court?  They beat another mid-major team who just so happened to be ranked #8 on their home court.  Butler was ranked #12 themselves so it's not like it was a historic upset.  I just don't get it.  The same thing happened two Saturdays ago when N.C. State handed the Duke Blue Devils their first defeat of the season.  If I'm not mistaken, N.C. State was picked to win the ACC yet they storm the court against one of their biggest rivals.  Jee wiz. Act like you belong with the Dukies Wolfpack.  The fact that you stormed the court just proves that you are nowhere close to the level of Duke.  With all this being said, I was pleasantly satisfied the day after the N.C. State win when the Ohio State Buckeyes knocked off Michigan.  It was a huge win and the Buckeyes played great throughout.  But the fans cheered, screamed wildly, and remained in their seats like they knew that it was a big win in a conference game.  Thank you Buckeye fans for somehow saving the dignity of what is "storming the court".

All you others, you are just pretenders in my mind and make a mockery of what should happen after a historic win.