Reporter Who Broke Leg During Iowa State Court Storming Says He Wasn't Trampled

Randy Peterson, the Des Moines Register columnist who suffered a broken leg when Iowa State fans stormed the court after beating Iowa, relayed this message today:

Only having a broken leg isn’t the greatest consolation prize in the world, but at least this wasn’t the worst-case scenario that many of us envisioned when the news first broke.

This incident turned into one of those several-times-a-year referendums on storming the court. I can see both sides of this — the practice has become diluted, it’s dangerous, and it’s not impossible to envision somebody getting killed in a stampede — but I wonder if there’s a way it could become permitted.

I randomly attended the game in 2004 where Maryland beat no. 5 Florida State, and my recollection of it is that security just opened up the gates and let everybody onto the field. It was really fun! So too was dancing all over Camp Randall’s turf when the Badgers upset the Buckeyes in 2010.

Football fields are less confined than basketball courts, but if the PA announcer encouraged orderly court stormings, and security were instructed to maximize safety, a happy medium could be reached. Yes, this would remove some of the spontaneity. And, nothing strips the rush out of a caper when you’re young quite like having it sanctioned. But there has to be a way to make it work.