Here we go again.

Thoughts?

after the smart/NMSU incidents......

nope

There are a very narrow set of circumstances, in my view, in which fans should be allowed to storm the court. Beating a conference opponent during the regular season is not among them.

If you are a fan of a basketball blue-blood (yes, I'm looking at you UNC) you never have a reason to storm the court.

Absolutely. I'll be a freshman next year and would love to storm the court/rush the field.

It shouldn't be allowed anymore. The mix of over-enthusiastic students and players from the opposing team, seconds after the game is over, is too volatile. It's just asking for trouble. Each player has to keep himself in check, and just as much or more, each school has the responsibility to ensure crowd control at its home games.

If a school fails to control its own crowd and a bad incident happens, the remedy should be the same as occasionally used in soccer leagues in Europe: The home team's next home game or two should be played with no fans allowed to attend. Guaranteed, after that remedy is used once or twice, you'd never again see a situation where a home team refuses to control the crowd in its building.

Yes

USC fans stormed the Court after beating UK tonight.

I am saying this as a current college student but I think anybody should.

Clemson fans go out on the field after every home football game, win or lose, and there has never been an incident.

I would hate to lose that tradition because some other schools can't control their fans.

pretty hard to regulate. but two standards need to be implemented.

1. the opposing team must be escorted off the floor immediately w/ ample security. If a player doesn't even have enough time to walk to his own bench before the fans are on the floor ==> that's a huge problem

2. fans should not be permitted to climb onto the baskets. the baskets should be immediately lowered like football goal posts are. It is a liability waiting to happen when you have a fan standing just on the hoop and 3-4 other kids on other parts of the arm/backboard.

As Kaplony noted, a ban would punish fans that behaved properly. I think a complete ban is way too heavy handed at this point. There are intermediate steps that could be taken.

Use video to identify the fan that was fighting with the player. Ban them from the games or expel them from school if appropriate.

Reduce the number of student tickets. 1st offense, maybe cut the tickets by 1/3 for 5 games. 2nd cut 1/2 tickets for 10 games.

Security for the visiting team should be the priority.

I don't see a problem with it as long as it's sparingly.

Theres already a total ban in the SEC which is enforced pretty well at football games (I've never seen South Carolina do it since they implemented the ban) but in a sport like basketball it's hard to stop. We did it in 2010 and then again yesterday obviously.

(03-02-2014 09:34 AM)Gamecock Wrote:  I don't see a problem with it as long as it's sparingly.

Theres already a total ban in the SEC which is enforced pretty well at football games (I've never seen South Carolina do it since they implemented the ban) but in a sport like basketball it's hard to stop. We did it in 2010 and then again yesterday obviously.

Yesterday was Well earned. You had an extra large fan base well beyond South Carolina. LOL

I'm fine with storming the court with 1 restriction: it has to be the home team (visitors should NOT rub it in at someone else's place - that is just TRYING to start a fight, IMO).

Serious question: when you look at old videos (70s and earlier) you never see security there to prevent rushing the field/court. Heck, you barely see any security there at all.

Did people rush the field less often back then? Or did the school just not think it was worth the expense to have legions of security personnel on hand?

This used to be self-regulated, because it would only happen for those "once in a generation" wins. But now any garden variety big win has become an excuse for glorified vandalism.

So it needs to end.

I have to say no. Yes, I realize it's a curmudgeonly attitude, but I really don't think that the price of admission gives the bearer the right to storm the court or field. It in no way diminishes the thrill of a big win to not run out there and jump up and down. Once the other team has cleared the court, teams will often hang around and celebrate with fans in the stands without it turning into a free-for-all.

I do think it's inevitable that soon someone will get hurt badly doing it. I also think it'll most likely be some kid who (prior to being hurt) would be among the loudest in proclaiming how preventing court-storming would be "old-fashioned" or some such drivel, but who won't hesitate for a second to engage a lawyer to try to get the most from a school that didn't do enough to "protect" him from....well, himself, even though he'd derided any possible attempt by the school to do so up until then.

And since the reference to blue-bloods was made above, I'll share an arrogant KU fan perspective. I don't recall the specifics, but a few years ago after we won a home game a very small group of our fans rushed the court - and were promptly loudly and enthusiastically booed by everyone else who stayed in the stands. To use the cliché stodgy old coot phrase "Act like you've been there before" (even if you haven't - or not for a long time)

Build arenas which make it impossible to storm the court, and this debate would be irrelevant.

(03-01-2014 04:37 PM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  There are a very narrow set of circumstances, in my view, in which fans should be allowed to storm the court. Beating a conference opponent during the regular season is not among them.

If you are a fan of a basketball blue-blood (yes, I'm looking at you UNC) you never have a reason to storm the court.

You are absolutely correct.
It was an embarrassment when Carolina students stormed the court after beating Dook........heck, we beat them all of the time. I'm all for getting excited, but really.......act like we've been there before...because we have!