Rush the court? Always.

It's time for me to put in my two cents on this developing debate on when rushing the court is appropriate. I am going to come out in an extremist position and say that rushing the court is OK whenever it occurs. That's right. When the students want to rush, I say rush the court and mob it like crazy.

Here's why. There is something unique about the college game, irregardless of sports. Unlike professional sport clubs who represent the people of a certain city/region who share certain characteristics and common life experiences, college sports represent a university comprised of students of all diverse backgrounds. Despite the diversity, students have one thing in common to offer the college game - their youth and energy. College sports can be at times far more emotionally invested than professional sports, as it is not only your team but for four wonderful years, it's represents your life. As a student, your campus is your world for four years. You eat, sleep, go to class, make friends, and transition into full adulthood among the buildings and quads of your campus. There are so many things that happen to you at college that there is no doubt that most students feel strong emotional ties to their campus. If not the campus or university itself, then at least strong emotional ties to the period in life that college encompasses.

Athletics offers an opportunity for your school to be represented on national television, carrying your personal emotions on some level to the field. We trust in our athletes to represent us in the best way they can and hope that they can prove on the field just how great the school is. I am not saying there aren't emotional victories in professional sports - there are. I just feel that the emotional uprisings created by professional sports are not the same uprisings felt at the college game. The emotion that students unleash is youthful, hopeful, and unbridled.

We at UCLA don't get to rush the field at the Rosebowl. That is one of the most unfortunate things about UCLA. I was fortunate enough to be in marching band on 13-9 (Dec 2, 2006). I was allowed to storm the field after upsetting the giant across town. The students were held back with tear gas and riot squad gear (I was also teargassed, even though I was allowed to be on the field, a story for another time). I can't describe the rush I got, being able to run on America's most celebrated sporting arena after upsetting USC. The only thing I regret is that the thousands of students behind me weren't able to join me. I would have wanted nothing more to make Sportcenter's Top 10 list, and top it number one. Imagine how good that looks for UCLA. Not that we need any more reasons to convince students to come here.

You don't go to a Chargers game and storm the field after a victory. Hell, you can't storm the field even if your team wins the Superbowl. You can rush the field in college. You can storm the court. That in itself is a unique element of college sports, which is an embodiment of the experiences I tried to explain above. I don't feel that we should be storming the court regularly. But I don't think there should be rules as to when we should and shouldn't. I don't care if its a ranked opponent or not. I feel that the beauty of the college game is embodied in a spontaneous burst of emotion that compels one to storm the court. That energy should never be curtailed or held back.

-RJWI