Penn students stormed the Palestra floor last night after the struggling men's basketball team defeated, uhh, Cornell. That's right. It's gotten so bad for the Quakers that it's acceptable to run onto the court for a win over a fellow Ivy League opponent. But is it really acceptable?
To be fair, Cornell entered last night's game with a 20-3 record and ranked 22nd in the nation. They're a good team that took powerhouse Kansas to the wire earlier this season, losing 71-66.
Penn, conversely, is headed toward its third straight losing season. The usual Ivy League front-runner has just four wins this season after yesterday's upset victory. For a program that's won 10 league titles since 1993, I found it odd that fans would give that kind of court-rushing respect to friggin Cornell. There must be some guidelines to follow that college b-ball fans should refer to before they step on the court to hug eachother and make asses out of themselves to get on TV. And, with that, we have a list. (I'm sure Bill Simmons has done this before but I don't have the energy to look for it.)
In order to rush the court, you must be a fan of a team that:
1. won some type of monumental game like a conference championship. However, this is tricky since most major conference tournament games and all NCAA tournament games take place at neutral courts. These games are usually played in bigger arenas with better security to stop fans from rushing. I think. But really I have no idea.
2. upset an established national powerhouse like Kansas. There's a gray area with this, though. The third rule explains.
3. upset an established national powerhouse but isn't also itself a national powerhouse. Confused? Me too after writing that. But what it means is North Carolina fans cannot rush the court after a win over Duke. UNC is too good(except this season they are absolutely awful) and its fans should act like they've been there before. "Oh we just beat top-ranked Duke. No big deal. We'll jump up and down wildly at our seats." However, there is one exception to this rule. Below.
4. hit a game-winning buzzer-beater to beat a major rival or nationally-ranked team. These moments are awesome and it's hard not to rip off your clothes in excitement when your team is on the winning end. I went to Rowan, though, so I wouldn't know. Go Profs.
5. won a game like the ones mentioned above, but only at home, not on the road. I don't know if a group of fans has ever rushed an opponent's home court and lived to tell about it. That would take balls. Brass balls. And I would love it.
I will say, though, it was nice to see the semi-crowded Palestra look and sound like its old self last night. The fans were loud. The game was great. And most importantly, Penn was the better team on the court.
That said, I'd put $1,000 on Columbia tonight.
Photo courtesy of my better half's iPhone.
Your clever tags are not lost on me.
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