Irishfan2191's Blog - CBSSports.com Message Boards, Blogs and Groups

It seems to be a tradition when a top ranked school goes on the road and plays a team that does not have a single vote in any poll and loses to that unranked school, that the home fans, usually just the students, rush the court in celebration. I notice in the one article about the Memphis and UAB game, that they mentioned I believe Vandy rushed the court after beating Florida last year at Vandy, but then Vandy was fined with unsportsmanlike conduct.

( BTW: I know I am a bit late with this, I was planning on doing this earlier but other things came in the way.)

I never saw rushing the court after an upset as unsportsmanlike, I see it as a celebration, is there any other way to celebrate right after the final buzzer? It seems like any action at a game is unsportsmanlike these days, yelling, cheering, people sitting behind the basket, waving their hands when the opposing team is shooting a basket. Keep this up, and soon basketball will be like tennis or golf, where the crowd has to be quiet, and I can never stand quiet games.

Rushing the court unsportsmanlike?

i dont think its unsportmanlike...for some of these kids(most of them are 18-20 years old) it will be the highlight of their year...for a fan of a mid level team its as big as winning a national championship....the kids at vandy or wake forest cant think realisticly think their teams will ever win a national championship but for one night they have the thrill of watching their team beat a top five team....i was actually invovled in "storming the field" about ten years ago at an iowa vs. wisconsin football game when wisconsin was undefeated and ron dayne was chasing the hiesmann...we got like fifth row seats in the student section(traded four students a 1/2 barrel of miller lite and a 1.75 liter of vodka for their tickets plus they invited us back to the party after the game...gotta love that deal) iowa pulled the huge upset and as the game ended we looked up to see about 5000 students running down the stadium steps and bleachers to rush the field so there really wasnt an option...i honestly think its more of a safety issue for both players and fans than an unsportsman like act and im sure thats the main reason vandy was fined