I was watching the UNC vs. Clemson basketball game last night, and was completely shocked by a couple of things:
1) That Clemson completely dominated that game
2) That the Clemson students rushed the court after the victory
Here's my problem with Clemson students storming the court: They were ranked #19, and UNC was #13. The game was at Clemson. It's not that big of an upset. Now granted the Tigers hadn't defeated the Tar Heels since 2004, but even still, that's not long enough of a period that we can excuse the actions of the Clemson faithful.
So with that, I've decided to come up with some rules for storming the court/rushing the field. I think the NCAA should implement these immediately, and punish those schools that violate these rules.
You should NOT storm the court/rush the field if....
1) If you have a better ranking than the team you defeat (obviously)
2) You are in the top 25 because it is not that big of an upset (lone exception: a team ranked in the 20-25 range takes down the undefeated #1 team)
3) You win by more than 20 (you've had enough time to digest the fact that you are going to win. There is no outpouring of emotion when the buzzer sounds)
4) You are in the top 5 all-time in wins for your given sport. That means that UK, UNC, Kansas, Duke, and Syracuse never storm the court in basketball, while Michigan, Texas, Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Ohio State never rush the field in football. (Act like you've been there before, because you have).
5) You have 3 or more national titles in the last 25 years (again, act like you've been there before).
What about your thoughts? Do you agree with these? Any more rules you think should be added that I'm missing?
While the spirit of Clemson not charging the court is certainly there (based on your non charging rules) I would counter that the Tigers fans are within their "rights" in rushing the court following a rare win over North Carolina. For the average Clemson freshman (born in 1991) that was just the fifth time in their lifetime that Clemson would beat the Tar Heels.
ReplyDeleteWith last night's win by OP's bunch, Clemson is now 20-122 all time vs. UNC including an impressive 16 and 35 in Clemson. Pernell is now 2-11 vs. the Heels while at Clemson. UNC in 54-0 between Carmichael and the Dean Dome and 33-4 on neutral courts. Clemson has never beaten Carolina in three consecutive seasons and has only won games in back-to-back seasons just three times since 1978.
I'm going to play devil's advocate here, but I just can't get on board with the "it hasn't happened all that often" logic in this case.
ReplyDeleteFor one, five victories in the last 19 years isn't horrible, given the rich history of North Carolina. I'm sure there are a lot of schools that have never beaten UNC in three straight seasons. And again, I go back to the fact that the two schools were both ranked in the 13-19 range in one poll, AND CLEMSON WAS FAVORED TO WIN BY 4.5 POINTS (Not to mention that UNC was without one of their better players in Zeller).
In the most outlandish example I could possibly give, did you know that Duke has never beaten Eastern Michigan or St. Bonaventure? So would it be okay for the Cameron Crazies to storm the case if the Blue Devils beat the Bonnies by 20? Of course not.
Storm the court* Forgive the typo.
ReplyDeleteI say anyone that can run it up on UNC has reason enough to storm the court, have a parade, and take the day off. And let's throw UK and UCLA in there as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in school at Notre Dame, we came down on the field at least twice.
ReplyDeleteThe first was in a game against Michigan, where at halftime Michigan was blowing out ND and it looked like the game was far out of reach. ND came back big in the second half to pull out the win.
The second --- though a blowout against Rutgers --- was Lou Holtz's last game. Even within your rules, a special occasion like paying tribute to a coach like Lou ought to be an exception.
While ND had won a National Championship eight or ten years earlier, that happened when I was in middle school. Somebody had been there before, but it wasn't those of us who were in the student section those days.
When the chance presents itself, the entire student body coming down onto the field after a big win should not be passed up. It makes for a great memory. Even at a "big time" school.
The other rule is you don't storm the basketball court if you just beat Marquette. Not under any circumstances.
ReplyDelete