Let me start by saying this: I am a student at CU Boulder, and us Buffs indisputably have the highest court storming/rushing the field percentage in the nation. There was not a single win throughout our last two seasons (5 total, not to flex or anything) where we didn’t rush the field.
That being said, I agree with Jay Bilas.
There is no place whatsoever for court storming in collegiate sports. It’s barbaric, for Pete’s sake, and rather dangerous too. Jay is damn right that court stormers should be charged as what they are: Felons.
Just look at Kyle Filipowsky. If not for court storming, he’d still have a left leg and wouldn’t have to use handicap ramps for the rest of his days. The NCAA isn’t a warzone, it’s a place for young athletes to grow into the future leaders of this nation. Students like Kyle shouldn’t be at risk of losing extremities for trying their hardest but barely falling short. Instead, they should be cheered and awarded (slightly) smaller trophies than the victors. Isn’t that a happier world?
Side note: I don’t know about you, reader, but I find it infuriating when someone stands in front of me at a live sporting event. Like, do they care for anybody but themselves? Do they find the need to stand and yell at their television when they’re watching a close game at home? Personally, I like to sit in utter silence. Hell, I’ll even turn the television off because I don’t want to hear morons like Al Michaels spew their uneducated insight of the game. The only announcer I can really connect with these days is Tony Romo. Now, that’s a guy who knows his stuff! Anyways, I’d much rather prefer football/basketball/hockey/baseball games if everybody were to sit quietly and soak in a game, much like a tennis match (minus the primitive cheering after each point, obviously).
You know what? Let’s keep this ball rolling. Why are there fans at games in the first place? All fans do is distract athletes from playing at their peak performance. The 2020 NBA Playoff bubble is a perfect example of what sports COULD be. In a year where there was no peanut gallery to intervene, far and above the best basketball player to ever grace the parquet, LeBron (King) James, was victorious in his quest for his fourth ring. Gosh, if we could only go back to that one, golden year.
Ok, I know that stopping ticket sales is a tall task, so if we continue to allow fans at games, can we at least do away with sports gambling? Gambling is a vice that cripples the weak minded, and though I don’t speak for myself, there are plenty of those in the sports world. Ever since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that struck down PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act), practically the birth of sports gambling, the world of sports (including athletes) has been too focused on “spreads” and “overs”, whatever those may mean. If we were to flash back to the nineties, do you think gambling was ever on the minds of greats like Michael Jordan?
Lastly, let’s ban celebratory acts once and for all. It blows my mind that for as far as we’ve come as a species and a society, we still allow mockery of our opponents. Have we forgotten what a “good sport” is in the first place? Smiles are one thing, but teammates high fiving over defeated adversaries is where I draw the line. It’s utterly disgusting behavior, and I surely won’t be raising my children to make such fools of themselves once they eventually make it to the big leagues.
In short, with a few small changes, professional athletics can be a much better place. A place we can be proud of, and a place where we can all lift eachother up, instead of constantly beating eachother down. That’s what sports are all about in the first place, right?
Phew! That does it for today. My blood really got boiling for a second there! Anyways, let me hear your support in the comments below, and check back in tomorrow for another article!