When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the boundaries of fandom and storm a basketball court to celebrate a win, certain rules must be followed.

Syracuse’s upset of No. 14 West Virginia on Monday night at the Carrier Dome was irrational and served much the opposite purpose. It proved that Syracuse students are impulsive, immature and unfamiliar with winning big games.

For your benefit, I have taken a trip back in time to visit The Daily Orange archives circa 2003 (a time when Syracuse fans were familiar with winning big games but still stormed James Arthur Boeheim Court) to offer you the laws of Operation Prevent Court Storming. Then-Daily Orange sports columnist Chris Snow outlined the guidelines of when and only when it is appropriate for students to rush the court after a win. Please review:

First and foremost, students are allowed one and only one storming per season. To ensure that protocol is met, one person will be designated to give the signal to rush. Ideally, a team walk-on will perform this function. All aspects of the following formula must be met for the conductor to give the green light.

Students may rush the court only …

– Vs. teams ranked in the AP Poll Top 10, unless the win snaps a 10-game losing streak against the opponent.

– Vs. teams with a top 25 RPI.

– After games decided by 10 points or less.

– Vs. teams with five losses or fewer, including the defeat just incurred.

– Vs. any conference opponent except Rutgers, Virginia Tech and West Virginia, for obvious reasons

Monday’s win against the West Virginia Mountaineers meets two of these criteria. While one could argue point No. 5 is null because of WVU’s improvement in the last two seasons, history proves otherwise.

Syracuse has now won eight straight matchups with West Virginia. It has taken 18 of 21 games at home and leads the all-time series against the Mountaineers, 29-15. West Virginia has lost four of its last five games and fallen five spots in the AP rankings, out of the top 10.

So Syracuse fans, you have to ask yourselves: Were you really that proud of the win? From an outsider’s perspective, it’s been a tough season, and this was certainly the type of game that can begin to turn a season, but come on, act like you’ve been there before.

After Gerry McNamara grabbed the rebound of his final missed free throw and heaved it the length of the court, the only thing that could’ve given the Mountaineers some solace was the flattering act of the SU student section storming the court.

The Mountaineers were only favored by 1.5 points, and judging by Sean McDonough’s stories of how Jim Boeheim helped WVU head John Beilein rise through the coaching ranks, it’s doubtful that Boeheim is going to keep this game ball.

If a court-storming opportunity arises next season (remember, you’ve already wasted it this season), maybe I can give you some pointers on how to organize. Monday’s was delayed and hesitant, and it seemed like minutes before you really had your mind made up.

But I guess that’s the annoying life of an SU sports fan. Take the victories whenever you can get them and cherish them because the next one is never guaranteed.

Timothy Gorman is a design editor for The Daily Orange, where his columns are never guaranteed. E-mail him at tpgorman@gmail.com.

Published on February 21, 2006 at 12:00 pm