Vitale rips Illini fans for rushing the court

BleedGopher

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The Illini students rushed the court after knocking off Michigan State (sans Lucas). Vitale immediately said that Illinois should be above this as they've had too much success to rush the court after beating a top team without their best player.

Go Gophers!!
 

That's just downright embarrassing. You should never rush the court against a team you're legitimately (kind of) fighting for the conference championship. And without their best player.
 


Terrible

Obama needs to do something about this kind of thing. He should assign Joe Biden to put a blue ribbon panel together to study it and make a recommendation. Outrageous.
 



It was worse when Michigan fans rushed the court after beating UCONN...Indiana fans also rushed the court after beating us :) Ridiculous.
 

It was worse when Michigan fans rushed the court after beating UCONN...Indiana fans also rushed the court after beating us :) Ridiculous.
It was not quite as bad as when IU rushed against you guys ;) No offense, heh.
 





Iowa football is a little bit different than "rushing the court." The fans go on the field after the game as more of a tradition to celebrate Iowa football and a win. Nobody "rushed the field" when they beat Arkansas state, for example. Its a tradition.

Why shouldn't Illinois have celebrated the win on the court? Vitale was saying "they've had too much success here" - and as he was saying that a graphic pops up saying it was the first win against a top 5 team in 9 years - apparently it doesn't happen that often, Mr. Vitale.

I think we have some sour grapes about rushing the court since 1) security guads don't allow it - and 2) we don't beat top teams at home.

Indiana rushing the court after beating us - ridiculous.
Illinois rushing the court after the win yesterday - totally appropriate.
 

Is Vitale even relevent anymore?
Biggest hypocrite in the history of sports media.
 

1997 - Rushing at The Barn

I was a freshman at the U during the 1997 season...we must have rushed the court 3 or 4 times that season...loved it!! (Although those court rushings have officially been wiped from the record books).

Anyone else rush the court that year with me?
 

I agree with Dukie V on this one. Illinois fans storming the court is ridiculous. Too much success and tradition in that program to storm the court for a win over a Michigan State team that was only a 2-point favorite, sans Kalin Lucas to boot.

Illini fans should be embarrassed. ... but not as embarrassed as Indiana fans who stormed the court after beating a middlin' Gopher team. Now that's downright pathetic.
 



I only storm the court when the keg is set up and working good. The last time I did that, guess who was in line right in front of me talking about Duke BB? You're right...Dick Vitale. :)
 

When we beat Purdue I'll be disappointed if the students don't rush the court.
 

I respectfully disagree.

I'm a firm believer in "act like you've done it before," even if we (the Gophers) rarely do.
 

If you beat Purdue, I wouldn't be surprised if the students rush the court. And I wouldn't have a huge problem in that scenario, personally. It's probably not totally justified, but students are there to have fun. The Gophers don't have the same history as Illinois, nor are they fighting them for the conference championship.
 


This may have been asked elsewhere, but does anyone remember the last time we rushed the court? I was expecting it when we beat Wisconsin last year, didn't happen. There was mumblings about it when we were up late against Michigan State, obviously that never came to fruition. Continuing the theme of late of the Barn/student section being neutered by marketing/security, they seem to bring in a small army every time we get close to beating someone substantial. I almost hope Wisconsin wins the next couple games they have until we face them so they sneak into the Top 10, and if we beat them, we DAMN well better rush the court.

I agree though, if we beat Purdue here, we better also.
 


Continuing the theme of late of the Barn/student section being neutered by marketing/security, they seem to bring in a small army every time we get close to beating someone substantial.

With a win as substantial as Purdue or even Wisconsin ( gulp ) they gotta do it.
 

I respectfully disagree.

I'm a firm believer in "act like you've done it before," even if we (the Gophers) rarely do.

I don't know, that's be such a huge win for the program (speaking if we take care of business beforehand to make this win actually relevant, I wouldn't be opposed to a storming.
 

I'd have to give rushing the court a thumbs up. After everything that's gone on this year to get a big win like that - hell yes.
 

I could care less what Dickie V says. He is probably the most annoying person in sports. Over the years, he has belittled or slighted the Gophers on several occasions. Lay off the drugs, Dickie.
 

rush the court

I only remember doing it once, against Ohio St in '72 (I believe) and the game wasn't even over although it ended for a couple players
 

What's more annoying? Storming the court? Or the complaints about it?

Who cares? What is the big deal? So some kids are excited they won an important game. Yeah, Indiana doing it after beating us was ridiculous, but so what? Isn't it just another form of celebration/cheering? If you're supposed to act like you've been there before, does that mean fans shouldn't even cheer at the end of a game? Are they just supposed to provide a polite applause?

Big deal.
 

WAG

What's more annoying? Storming the court? Or the complaints about it?

Who cares? What is the big deal? So some kids are excited they won an important game. Yeah, Indiana doing it after beating us was ridiculous, but so what? Isn't it just another form of celebration/cheering? If you're supposed to act like you've been there before, does that mean fans shouldn't even cheer at the end of a game? Are they just supposed to provide a polite applause?

Big deal.

I can't disagree but the "storming" is slowly approaching the spontaneous excitement level of pouring Gatorade over the winning football coach.
 

"What's more annoying? Storming the court? Or the complaints about it?"

My vote goes with storming the court. A tired cliche, just like the Gatorade bath (as Section201 pointed out) and the Wave, which are both about 20 years past their prime. Storming the court is the latest fad fast approaching that "tired" status.

But I'd love to see it later this season vs. Bucky or Purdue. ... at least I'd know the Gophers had won a truly relevant game at The Barn that could go a long way in helping them land a NCAA bid.
 

Storming the court should be reserved to only unranked teams that beat the #1 ranked team at the time and it should be a well controlled event by the host school's security staff.

All other occurances should be fined. Since the SEC implemented a fine associated with rushing the court, it has nearly gone by the wayside. The idea of allowing potentially drunk, obnoxious, and emotional students access to the opposing players and coaches immediately after the game ends is a recipe for disaster. I've met enough stupid people in my time that give them some booze (you know many of the students at the game are drunk so don't argue this point), an emotional game, and the ability to do something stupid and they will take the opportunity and run with it.
 

I can't resist... Isn't it ironic that, after all of G4L's complaining this summer, the raised floor feature may actually be responsible for preventing more injuries than it creates? The Vitale's of the world criticize court storming for the injury risk it poses, but the raised floor at The Barn makes this increadibly difficult to accomplish. Throw in that recruiting advantage the floor provides and I think the floor debate can be officially be put to rest.
 




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