Preventative medicine: An apple a day, something, something, something.
In a world gone nuts, it makes perfect sense the dangerously illogical — an act of excessive audience participation that has no upside — is now regularly debated among the media, as if stupid is a legitimate, populist position.
There recently have been several more court-stormings by joyous home team college basketball spectators, stampedes in large part driven by what participants have witnessed then heard defended on TV, thus these revelers likely felt encouraged, if not obligated, to perform.
Such court-crashings have become more ritual than spontaneous, more fad than function. Heck, fans line the sidelines, five and six-deep, impatient for the final buzzer to serve as the starter’s pistol.
One of those recent stormings led to the inevitable: Violence, chaos.
New Mexico State players, in no mood to be suddenly swallowed by celebrants of their overtime loss, threw punches at Utah Valley supporters who had mobbed the court. The game had ended ugly, with a New Mexico State player angrily throwing the ball at a Utah Valley player.
That’s right, a just-lost visiting team was suddenly surrounded by demonstrative, joy-to-the-world, home team fans. What possible bad could come of that?
New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies told the New York Times what he was caught in was “an ugly situation that could have turned into a tragic situation.”
Still, this latest bad-idea-gone-bad doesn’t deter pandering, faux-hip TV guys — Digger Phelps, Doug Gottlieb, Jalen Rose — from supporting court-storming as a group-fun activity, a good way to display full-bodied, student body school spirit.
That the incidence of injuries from falls, trampling and folks just being caught in the crush continue to mount doesn’t prevent such wise men from ignoring such facts.
Heck, ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” produced a piece on those injured in court-stormings, including a kid headed for Stanford on an athletic scholarship until he was knocked down, and suffered a brain injury in one of these as-seen-on-TV fun runs.
So let’s try this again …
I don’t know if any of these hooray-for-court-storming geniuses have ever been caught in a human vise, arms pinned to their side, a surge from behind suddenly disabling them as helpless, but I have.
It was 1977; I was in L.A., covering the Cosmos, and I’d preceded Pele off the team bus. Elton John, who owned a piece of L.A.’s pro soccer team, was scheduled to be there to greet Pele.
As Pele appeared at the top of the bus’ steps, a sudden, as in instant, surge of excited people sealed me to those surrounding me. And just as suddenly, I’d lost control; my feet and arms were no longer my call. Same with those near me. We were lost to the surge: Left, right, back, forward.
Had a space opened, a heap of humans would have fallen and stacked; who knows after that. Terrifying. That I’ll never forget it is involuntary. I can’t forget it.
When my younger kid enrolled in a Big Ten school, I made her vow if she ever attended a game that carried the slightest scent of a storming, she’d move back and up, away from the court.
My suggestion to mirthful, let-kids-be-kids, court-storming advocates is they try this: Go to the beach. Have your arms tied to your sides, immobilized. Back into the ocean until you’re about shoulders-high. Then wait for a wave, even a small one.
New Mexico State coach Menzies can now distinguish the perception of court-storming from the reality:
“Looking at it on TV it looks like, great, they’re celebrating. It’s all good. [But] I’m telling you it was scary. My personal feeling is fans belong in the stands and players on the court.”
Imagine that.
As for those high-profile media adults who remain advocates or even indulgent of court-storming, let’s make a deal: You guys privately encourage the kids in your lives to participate, but leave ours alone.
Turns out Boeheim charging ref wasn’t so Smart
Reader Frank Catroppa can’t figure it out, either:
Marcus Smart, 19-year-old Oklahoma State star, was suspended three games for shoving a mouthy fan. Many of TV’s basketball experts agreed the punishment fit, as per “the kid lacks maturity.”
Soon after, 69-year-old Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, paid millions to recruit and coach kids in their late teens, was ejected after charging on the court to go after a ref.
“Of course,” wrote Catroppa, “on TV, the same guys just laughed and cut Boeheim slack. Some even suggested that a questionable call justified his behavior.”
Fair point regarding MLB replay
Expanded MLB TV replay? Great idea, right? You know the chant: “As long as the technology is in place to get it right, why not get it right?”
OK, so a replay challenge shows the shot hit down the line that wa first ruled foul, actually was fair. Now what?
How baseball survived this long without replay is a mystery!
Right way isn’t wrong
Despite the fact Kevin Burkhardt is hard-working, modest, pleasant, works without pre-fab gimmicks and doesn’t holler at every chance, FOX keeps promoting him, anyway. Go figure.
While Carmelo Anthony considers himself special, we wonder if he realizes his specialty has become stunting the growth of his teams. Then again, minimalist-minded coaches and impressionable, money-to-burn, basketball-ignorant team owners have a way of enabling that.
That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing, Mrs. Cleaver: Boomer Esiason’s a latter day Eddie Haskell. On his weekday WFAN/CBSSN show he now regularly and effortlessly speaks gratuitous crudities, yet Sundays on CBS’ NFL studio show, he’s a perfect gentleman.
One of the great characters of broadcasting, Pete Weber, first and only Voice of the Nashville Predators, is recovering from a heart attack. Naturally, his hockey and media buddies seized the opportunity to bust his chops, even delivering a huge, “It’s A Girl!” balloon to his hospital room.
Brendon de Jonge was three-over after four holes Thursday, and hadn’t yet been seen when NBC’s Golf Channel suddenly focused on him just before he hit a long approach to 3 feet. Still, we were supposed to think we were watching live TV.
Seth Everett, Syracuse University and Jersey guy, will be the new “Ed Coleman” — Mets’ wraparound host on WOR Radio.
News-side colleagues Andy Soltis and Marcy Cohen Soltis have packed it in. Together, they totaled a mere 84 years and nine months at The Post. Couple of quitters.