Sunday, February 25, 2024

Storm warning

 Duke big man Kyle Filipowski apparently dinged up a knee yesterday in a loss to Wake Forest, and even if you're a hater of Jerkwater Fan Base U. you had to feel bad for the kid, and perhaps appreciate the irony.

See, Filipowski got hurt after the game was over.

And it was a fan who hurt Jerkwater Fan Base U.'s center.

Filipowski was just trying to get off the floor when a tsunami of delirious Wake Forest fans swept the hardwood, spinning Filipowski around and nearly knocking him down. Had that happened, you really don't want to think about it, because none of the idiots storming the floor were slowing down and Filipowski likely would have been trampled.

And the consequences of that likely would have been more than just unfortunate.

Little wonder, then, that Duke coach Jon Scheyer was steaming in the postgame, and not because his Blue Devils lost. He wanted court storming banned, and like right now. Pretty much echoed what Purdue coach Matt Painter said earlier this season.

The abridged version: It's out of control, it's dangerous and someone -- player or fan, doesn't matter -- is going to get seriously hurt if whoever's in charge of security at college basketball games doesn't get a handle on it.

The Blob agrees, and not just because I'm old and cranky and all These Damn Kids Today and stuff.

See, I don't mind young people having fun. Never have. I just don't want to see them being as stupid and potentially tragic about it as I was.

Stupid is when you storm the court because you beat not No. 1 or No. 2,, but No. 8, which is where Duke was ranked. And when you beat No. 8 on a homecourt where you're unbeaten this season, as Wake is. And when you beat a No. 8 that only has three more wins than you have.

No, really. Duke is 21-6. Wake is 18-9. Was this really an occasion to storm the court as if, I don't know, you just beat one of John Wooden's UCLA teams? Or one of Coach K's true Duke juggernauts?

Nah. This was just a pretty good Duke team losing to a pretty good Wake team. Not only wasn't it a stunning upset, you couldn't really classify it as an upset, period.

Which suggests the bar for court storming has been lowered to the point of absurdity. 

 Time to rein it in. Surround the court with a SWAT team, issue mandatory expulsions for any court stormer who can be identified, whatever. But do it.

This is America, after all. Someone really gets hurt in one of these deals, you know the lawsuits will follow.

And no Whatsamatta U.'s got pockets deep enough for that.

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