Rick Reilly is wrong.
For years, I worshipped the very paper Reilly wrote on. In fact, I used to tape his columns to my bedroom wall because Reilly is an eloquent, socially conscious, witty journalist - essentially everything I want to be. That does not mean he is infallible, though. I think he is wrong about rushing the field.
Last year, Reilly wrote a column criticizing college students for too frequently storming the court after basketball games. He bemoaned, "You people are treating it like it's your weekly Spanish lab." In response to us crazy college kids and our obsession with "[getting] on TV," Reilly introduced a set of "Ironclad and Unbreakable Rushing-the-Court Rules." Assuming his rules for rushing a basketball court apply to a football field, Reilly would reprimand me. Because after Virginia upset No. 22 Miami, I rushed the field.
The 'Hoo Crew and I broke Reilly's rules, and you know what? I loved it.
Reilly mandates: "You can NOT rush the court if ... the team you just beat is not in the top three." Oops, Miami was not even in the top 20.
He forbids court rushing if "you've beaten this same team in the past five years." We crushed Miami 48-0 in 2007.
Reilly lists a few exceptions to his court rushing rules, including if "they stole and painted your best physics professor, or ... they're going to end up making PILES more cash than you." I think Prof. Lou Bloomfield is safe, and I think it's equally safe to assume no Virginia student would concede making PILES less cash than Miami students. We are, after all, known for our arrogance.
According to his rules, Reilly would have absolutely prohibited students from rushing the field after the Miami win. He would have had us just stay in our seats.
If we had stayed seated, though, we would have missed a defining college experience. Rushing the field has been the most memorable moment of my time as a Virginia fan.
Cavalier football has not given me much to cheer about. Our only home win last year was against Indiana, and until beating Miami, Virginia had lost nine straight conference games. My very first experience at Scott Stadium was watching us lose to William & Mary.
None of that mattered, however, when I stood on the field. On Saturday, I did not care that my team was 4-4. I did not care about whether Marc Verica should be starting or whether we only won because the Hurricanes' starting quarterback was seeing stars. I did not even care that we gave up three touchdowns in about six minutes, and were on the verge of a collapse akin to Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot. All that mattered was being surrounded by fans on the field and singing the Good Ol' Song at the top of our lungs.
These are the kind of moments that you never forget. The way Virginia's been playing, it is the kind of moment I may never experience again.
Because once you graduate, you cannot rush the field anymore. If Reilly wants to institute an ironclad rule against alumni joining in the on-field revelry, I'll back him 100 percent. Rushing the field or court is an undergraduate experience. And it shouldn't be something rules should define for these undergraduates. When Virginia knocks off a top opponent, I cannot imagine going through a checklist to see if I should fling myself from my seat or not. I am just going to run.
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