Court-storming debate heats up after journalist is hurt following Iowa State victory
Following No. 4 Iowa State’s 83-82 win over instate rival Iowa on Thursday night set off a debate almost immediately after the game ended.
Cyclones fans charged the court at Hilton Coliseum following the win and in the ensuing chaos, Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register fell and broke his leg.
Here is @jwcyclonestv final call of the comeback win over Iowa! Wow!!!!! https://t.co/vjGeqC6Fd2
— Cyclones.tv (@CyclonesTV) December 11, 2015Here is what Peterson tweeted:
Ouch
— Randy Peterson (@RandyPete) December 11, 2015Just to be clear, I was not trampled by the crowd, I locked legs with someone,,,,, I think.
— Randy Peterson (@RandyPete) December 11, 2015Someone slowed down the video and showed when Peterson was knocked to the court (warning: there is dumb commentary in the audio):
To all you hawk fans he tripped himself he wasn't TRAMPLED. Please know what you are talking about first. pic.twitter.com/EE2eqOLAm3
— McKane Wells (@KaneMckane) December 11, 2015Nevertheless, court storming has been a hot topic on Friday. However, the issue is not new to the Big 12.
In February, fans charged the court at Bramlage Coliseum after Kansas State beat Kansas. KU coach Bill Self and K-State coach Bruce Weber were pinned against the scorer’s table and a fan bumped Jamari Traylor.
After meeting with the Big 12’s athletic directors in March, league commissioner Bob Bowlsby talked about court storming.
“We are going to put a committee together that is going to work on it and come back to us with some recommendations,” Bowlsby said at the time. “We didn’t take the step where we are going to implement a fine structure or have a hard-and-fast policy or if we are going to leave it that schools have the responsibility to get teams and officials off the court.”
Just a guess here, but the issue will be revisited again.
The debate about whether or not it was OK for students to storm the court has continued. Here are some of the people who were fine with it:
Being down by 20 in the second half and coming back to beat your in-state rival permits storming the court. https://t.co/xjQ3ssRxDx
— Sage Rosenfels (@SageRosenfels18) December 11, 2015College students storming the court? In other news.. pic.twitter.com/2ddBq8WNYm
— LateIowaSportsTweets (@LateFballStory) December 11, 2015@MikeAndMike we haven't outlawed Black Friday "doorbusters" so why outlaw court storming? At least the latter is fueled by enthusiasm
— Tyler Crowder (@crowderz4l) December 11, 2015Court storming is just the ultimate experience there's nothing like running onto the court celebrating a huge win with a bunch of other fans
— Nick Ouellette (@n_c_ouellette) December 11, 2015We all feel bad for Randy Pete, but this kind of isolated incident shouldn't change court storming. It happens. Don't be stupid.
— Brian Spaen (@Spaeniard) December 11, 2015Here were some thoughts against court storming, particularly considering the Cyclones were the only ranked team playing in the game:
Why is the number 4 team in the country storming the court after beating a non ranked opponent jw
— Hayley Thompson (@haythomp) December 11, 2015@JimmyTraina Never understood why court storming doesn't fall under student discipline. Storm court & subject to discipline. End of story.
— Keith Levin (@keith_levin) December 11, 2015Court storming is a dangerous thing. For real. https://t.co/XC3BJHgDKl
— John Morgan (@johninkingwood) December 11, 2015@SethF17 Nothing to do with allegiances and yet you keeping bringing that up. I repeat, all court storming is stupid, not just in Ames.
— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) December 11, 2015You really want to get serious about fans storming the court/field. Forfeiture of victory. Anything else is just lip service
— Lee Cruse (@leecruse) December 11, 2015Here is the most spot-on analysis I found of the issue:
Court storming wouldn't be nearly as widespread today if it weren't glorified on ESPN for the past 25+ years. Reap what you sow.
— Mattox (@Mattox) December 11, 2015So, what are your thoughts on this? Vote in the poll below and feel free to leave a comment as well.
Pete Grathoff: 816-234-4330, @pgrathoff
This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 8:44 AM.