MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Erm Schmigget]

When its time for students to stop celebrating in a positive way, its time to stop having teams play in front of an audience.

Ibid!  Hua!  Ooo-rah!  How ever you want to say it!

[HopeConvert]

For anyone who has not been to a Hope home game recently, there is a great bond between the players and the fans.  first home game of the season the players came out of the locker room wearing the new DEW CREW t-shirts.  Also, after the starting lineups are announced the entire team circles up by the student section and many fans surround them.  It's actually pretty cool to see.

The only negative to crowds storming the court is the potential for someone to get hurt if things get too crazy.  I always reflect on the Arizona prep star (Mr. Basketball i think) who accidently got trampled and was paralized. Granted, it is an extreme case, but I would hate to see a knee or ankle injured on anyone.

When its time for students to stop celebrating in a positive way, its time to stop having teams play in front of an audience.

I couldn't agree more. Emphasis on the word "positive."

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Well since I opened this can of worms and once again managed to upset people I might as well throw myself back out there for some more karma whipping.

I am not opposed to fans storming the court but I think it should be on a limited basis. First, you can ask anyone at the DC party how crazy and excited I get about the game. That said, even I don't consider beating an 9-6 Calvin team an event worthy of storming the court. I think you storm the court when you are an underdog knocking off a Top 10 team. Not when you beat a team, even your biggest rival, in a regular season game you were favored to win. I think you take away some of the specialness that is storming the court if you do it all the time.

[flash96]

On Rushing the floor... Hope did rush the floor after the '96 victory over K-Zoo at the Dow.  I know I was there on the floor.  After Alma's victory over Hope in '98 some of the Scots rushed the floor, not many there though.  I do recall the '96 Hope victory at Calvin, we did rush the floor.  One of the Hope cheerleaders was waving the Hope flag while faceing the Hope bench.  One of the Calvin/knollcrest staff "helped" the Hope cheerleader off the floor.  They claimed he was messing up the floor, which is odd because he was on the floor during timeouts.  

I have no problem with rushing the floor as long as fans are not going to the opposing side and taunting them.

I was hoping to see some B-W shirts again in the Calvin crowd, but I suppose those are long gone and few outside of here would know the meaning.

[Erm Schmigget]

I appreciate hopester's comment about the intimacy between player and fan, and wanting to celebrate after a big win. That seems to me the best argument that can be made in favor of being on the court. Whether it's a sufficient reason is another question.

Also consider this:

A small number of years ago, a bunch of fans were bouncing up and down on the stands at a concert in Grand Rapids, and the structure holding up the stands gave way, resulting in several injuries.

Even more recently, at the Civic Center, Hope fans went bonkers over Peter Overbeek's nine dunks in one half...one of the planks they were jumping up and down on broke--fortunately without any injuries.

The stands pose a greater risk of injury.  The floor is a MUCH better place for celebration.

[hoopdreams]

could someone throw an assist to a barely functional computer user.  How does one highlight a previous post and paste it to your current one?

It didn't matter that Hope was "favored" to win, and it's irrelevant what the current records are, the H-C games are insane, tightly contested battles nearly every time they meet. I truthfully thought the few calvin students at the JV game would storm the floor as well. Maybe they did???Next season, when everyone picks Calvin to overwhelmingly win the conference and Hope starts 4 sophs and a senior against a very experienced Calvin team, regardless of the records, Hope will come to play.  And it will be intense and regardless of the final score, the winning students will celebrate most likely on the floor.

FWIW, I thought it was pretty cool to see the 4 frosh rush the court after the buzzer (wolfe and tanis embracing) even though they were bystanders during the contest.  Simply shows how special this game is/was and speaks volumes of their charcater. A lesser team player(s) may not have been so happy for their team and more concerned with their own status.

[Erm Schmigget]

could someone throw an assist to a barely functional computer user.  How does one highlight a previous post and paste it to your current one?

Click the "quote" button in the upper right corner of a post to which you want to reply.  Just make sure when you start typing your reply, your cursor is after the "[/qoute]" that will appear at the end of the post you are quoting.  And if you ever forget to do that...welcome to the club.   

[hopehoopfan]

could someone throw an assist to a barely functional computer user.  How does one highlight a previous post and paste it to your current one?

Click the "quote" button in the upper right corner of a post to which you want to reply.  Just make sure when you start typing your reply, your cursor is after the "[/qoute]" that will appear at the end of the post you are quoting.  And if you ever forget to do that...welcome to the club.   
Thanks, I just tried it for the first time, and will now see if I was successful!!

[hopehoopfan]

could someone throw an assist to a barely functional computer user.  How does one highlight a previous post and paste it to your current one?

Click the "quote" button in the upper right corner of a post to which you want to reply.  Just make sure when you start typing your reply, your cursor is after the "[/qoute]" that will appear at the end of the post you are quoting.  And if you ever forget to do that...welcome to the club.   
Thanks, I just tried it for the first time, and will now see if I was successful!!

Let me try that again!

[hopehoopfan]

Thanks Erm Schmigget!!

The second time was the charm!

[Erm Schmigget]

Well since I opened this can of worms and once again managed to upset people I might as well throw myself back out there for some more karma whipping.

I am not opposed to fans storming the court but I think it should be on a limited basis. First, you can ask anyone at the DC party how crazy and excited I get about the game. That said, even I don't consider beating an 9-6 Calvin team an event worthy of storming the court. I think you storm the court when you are an underdog knocking off a Top 10 team. Not when you beat a team, even your biggest rival, in a regular season game you were favored to win. I think you take away some of the specialness that is storming the court if you do it all the time.

Are you new to this Rivalry?  Do you not know the history involved?

How many times is it said and agreed to that when Hope and Calvin meet, throw the season records out the window?  How many times has Calvin tied or beaten Hope with a last-second, buzzer-beating shot?  Did this game not end with another chance for them to do it again?  Were you not watching, and did you not realize that the excitement and intensity rose to its crescendo at the very last second of the game?

Sheesh....?

[Erm Schmigget]

Thanks Erm Schmigget!!

The second time was the charm!

[GoKnights68]

While storming the court has become quite commonplace, especially in upset or rivalry games, it is still not very classy.  As one who stormed the court, I admit that a sort of mob mentality ensued.  Once the first few went, all the rest followed.  However, I was surprised that the Hope players joined in with the celebration.  Also, when Calvin fans stormed our court last year, as unpleasant as it was, some part of me knew they deserved it after beating Hope at DeVos.

p.s. The "This is our house" chant" is completely out of place and doesn't make a shred of sense. 

I think storming a court is in no way poor sportsmanship but rather a celebration of a hard-fought victory....I think it is a compliment to the team that lost....can you see Hope fans storming the court after a victory over say.......Alma?  or Kzoo?  me either....

As an aside....what was up with the Calvin student section?  They seemed to be split between the people with the uniforms and the other students and didnt work together at all.  And what was up with pretending they were being introduced...shaking hands with some other student and a fake ref??  not funny at all and not a celebration of your team.

Give me a break.  Of all the things you can complain about, you complain some students having a fake line-up with a fake ref and a fake coach, and also students not wearing the same color shirts.  Please tell me how that makes you really feel...

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Not to be overlooked as a reason for the Hope fans to celebrate on the floor was the fact that their team had just survived a nearly mirror image to the finish of the game at Calvin 2 years ago.  Also, I don't think we've mentioned that a big part of rushing the floor is to congratulate your team.

And I appologize if my rant was over the top, but I can't help but think that we need to allow these kids to be kids.  This rivalry is a pretty special thing - and win or lose, I'm always awed by the fact that after this game, there are always Hope & Calvin folks (players, parents, students, fans) talking with one another.  You see more fans from one team congratulating the other teams players after this game then any other you'll see.  

[AndersDY]

I was getting ready to reply and agree with Erm about DCHopeNut's point. Rather than being surprising that a top 5 team would rush the floor against against a 9-6 opponent, I think that's a sign of just how much of a rivalry this game is. If Adrian or Olivet were 9-6 and Hope struggled in a tight game with them which came down to a missed 3 at the buzzer, we would all exhale very deeply and feel a sense of relief, likely not creating a wild celebration. In a game like that though, by the time you are to the point where we were all hoping that Caleb wouldn't strike in the same place twice, I don't think any of the Dew Crew was thinking of the fact that on paper it appeared Hope should win that game.

Having watched college football games in recent years with "flag planting" or people stomping on logos on the field, I was a little concerned that the celebrating mob ended up around mid-court. That was just the logical location with the Dew Crew and players coming from opposite ends, but was also where they have the Calvin logo on the floor. Fortunately no one appeared to be drawing attention to the logo or intentionally stomping on it, which would have been far more disrespectful than simply being out there to celebrate.