Iowa State Cyclones

Reporter's leg broken in crowd-storming -- time to end the madness?

Published Dec. 10, 2015 10:56 p.m. ET

foxsports

Fans typically storm the court after their team knocks off a highly ranked opponent or when their team wins a conference championship.

Typically, they don’t break a reporter’s leg when they do it.

Clearly they do things differently in Ames, Iowa.

In what could very well go down as the lamest court storming of the season (or all time), Iowa State fans stormed the floor at Hilton Coliseum after their team’s 83-82 win over Iowa. Yes, the Hawkeyes are an in-state rival. And yes, Iowa State did trail by 20 before winning the game on a basket with nine seconds left.

But Iowa State entered the game unbeaten and ranked No. 4 in the nation. Iowa had a pair of losses and was unranked.

To make matters worse, the scrum engulfed a local reporter who reportedly went down in the crowd and suffered a broken leg.

Shortly after the game, the Des Moines Register confirmed that columnist Randy Peterson suffered “an apparent broken leg” during the court-storming.

Always been fan of court storms. Tonight may change that. Reporter/friend @RandyPete trampled, leg in air cast, taken out on stretcher.
— Reid Forgrave (@ReidForgrave) December 11, 2015

Possible broken leg for @RandyPete, per @CoachProhm. Caused by Iowa State court-storming.
— Reid Forgrave (@ReidForgrave) December 11, 2015

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard told the Register that he believes Peterson suffered a compound leg fracture.

Former Register reporter Rick Brown, whom the paper reported was with Peterson at a Des Moines hospital, said Peterson's tibia and fibula were fractured. The Register said Peterson will have surgery Friday.

The incident has already reignited the argument over the safety and necessity of court-storming, as evidenced by the video above. But Peterson to his credit kept a good spirit about things.

"In fairness, we still do not know exactly what happened. However, at this point our thoughts our focused on Randy and his wife Patty, who is battling cancer," Pollard said in a statement. "Coach (Steve) Prohm and I have both personally spoken with Randy and have assured him that we can do whatever we can to help them both through what they are dealing with."

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report