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The somewhat risky tradition of rushing the field after a big win took a strange twist in college football on Saturday when Iowa State fans in Ames, Iowa took over Jack Trice Stadium after their 24-21 win over eighth ranked Oklahoma State. The reason why this was a little strange was because the hosting Cyclones were a 7.5-point favorite over the Cowboys in this Big 12 Conference game, despite Iowa State being unranked. So, does this game prove that fans should not always rush the field after a win, or that rushing the field is a bad idea under any circumstances?
Iowa State hands No. 8 Oklahoma State its first loss of the season
pic.twitter.com/MnO6gVhFBS— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 23, 2021
Let’s be honest here, it looks really silly when your college football team is favored by over a touchdown, they win, and your student section still rushes the field after the game. This was pointed out in many places on social media Saturday afternoon after the eighth ranked Cowboys from Oklahoma State fell by just three points on the road to Iowa State.
Ex-CY-tment!
Iowa State fans storm the field after they took down No. 8 Oklahoma State at home. https://t.co/ZgUnajNufk pic.twitter.com/RkHkPW6ciH— KCCI News (@KCCINews) October 23, 2021
#IowaState beats #OklahomaState and the fans break into the field
pic.twitter.com/3Z6DQRv09G
— Sportskeeda Pro Football (@SKProFootball) October 23, 2021
Yes, it was a hard-fought conference game with a last-minute defensive stand to secure the win for the Cyclones, but weren’t fans going to the game that day expecting to win as they were favored to? Or was the Cowboys’ lofty national ranking such an important obstacle to overcome in Ames, Iowa that the victory was deemed worthy of rushing the field even if it wasn’t a surprise to a lot of people in the sport? I am willing to chalk this up to just bad form on Iowa State fans and cite their lack of experience in winning a lot of games against ranked teams and give them a semi-pass in this case.
Overall, I would say that even if you put Covid-19 to the side for a moment, the dangers of letting college students rush a football field or basketball court should come to an end. This type of activity is unnecessary and unwarranted, and places the safety of hundreds of people on both teams involved in the game at risk. It can also be a breeding ground for dangerous actions to be taken against those on the field, and those activities can lead to violent and sexual crimes that can often go unreported by schools. Universities should be required to spend the millions of dollars they make each time they open their stadium gates on security to keep those on the field and in the stands safe while also making sure those two groups of people don’t have the ability to interact.
We are not talking about an interaction between a gate or over a railing between a handful a fans and the opposing team as they get off their bus and enter the stadium. We are talking about having thousands of people on the field, some of which might be running on “alcoholic courage fuel,” and being exposed to visitors from another school, who in their minds are an “enemy,” to do what they will after a big win.
It is okay to prevent something bad from happening rather than react to that one really bad moment before choosing to put safety rules in place. And if the rules of when students will rush the field is now going to include when their team wins as a favorite, then the frequency of how often fans rush the field will only increase, as too will the opportunities for injuries.
So the simple question remains: What’s the point of rushing the field? And without a good answer to that question, the practice of doing so should come to an end.
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The post Should College Fans Rush The Field After Wins? appeared first on TOOATHLETIC TAKES.
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By: Rafael Thomas
Title: Should College Fans Rush The Field After Wins?
Sourced From: tooathletic.com/should-college-fans-rush-the-field-after-wins/
Published Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 15:46:23 +0000
