Posted on 05/13/2005 11:16:27 AM PDT by fso301
I remember a couple of olympics back when this runner from south africa (iirc) bumped into another runner in some women's race. Budd and Decker, IIRC.
should they have rerun the race?
should thye rerun the indy500 if the favorite gets engine trouble?
being favored doesn't mean that you should run. mistakes occur and the unforseen happens. part of this race is the passing of the baton, and the risk involved.
no one should throw a race. it's dishonest.
Agreed. Real life does not give do-overs. The gesture should be appreciated, but not accepted. Because they stumbled once does not take away everything else they did to that point. Perhaps they will try harder next time.
Not necessarily, advancement by forfeiture happens all the time. My high school football team was credited with winning a district championship game we actually lost on the playing field because our opponent had a player who was irrelevant to the outcome yet turned out to have been ineligible. Because of that forfeiture, we advanced while someone else more deserving didn't.
In the midst of a bronze-medal match - and on the verge of claiming the first-ever medal in team fencing for the United States - Lee's Russian opponent raised his hand. He was asking for time.
In a split second, the lunging Lee had to make a gentleman's decision: either continue the attack and score the point or honor the request. Earlier in the day, one of Lee's teammates had similarly asked for time when his fencing mask fell in front of his eyes. His French opponent had responded by smacking the American over the head, winning the point - and eventually the semifinal match by that one point.
For Lee, though, there was no choice to be made. He stopped mid-swing. Minutes later, the American saber team lost the historic bronze - and a chance to bring the sport precious national recognition - again by that one point. There was not a moment's regret.
"I suppose I could have won the point," says Lee. "But the most important thing to me is how I fence."
if you're gonna give the race to the favored, why run at all? it is unethical for an athelete NOT to do their very best - and to reap the reward that they have earned.
it is also unethical for a team to accept a prize that they did not earn fair and square.
As I said, no one on the losing team asked for special consideration or a "do over". Other less competitive teams, stood aside to allow a team with a real chance of winning to participate. It was a noble gesture on their part, to refuse would be an insult.
Yeah sure, call again when the coaches are sued by the students. This is BS!
I hope the falsely elevated team drops the batton again, if for nothing else but to teach them the importance of race day.
BTW, they didn't throw the race. They just removed themselves from the standings to allow the team favored to win the chance to participate. And if all the Indy drivers agree to a do over, then they can have a do over.
baloney! to refuse would have shown class.
you're predicating your position on the fact that the favored team was destined to win. it was not. the other teams were not "less competittive", they were the real champs. If the favored are to win, why have the race at all? because someone might drop the baton and another team could have won. that's what makes sports so interesting - the uncertainty.
to waive winner's rights was a nice feel-good thing to do, but to accept a prize that was not fairly won is insuklting to sports in general. both actions are unsportsmanlike.
they did throw the race - after the fact. they honestly won the race and this precedent implies that if the favored don't win then someone had an unfairadvantage, like NOT dropping their baton.
upsets happen all the time. this precedent will make the winners feel that they ought to cede victory to the favorties - or the popular.
it was wrong for the uconn women to give that player with the hurt foot a free basket, and this is just as wrong.
Well, heck. If they were favored, why have the competition at all? Just give them the victory.
To quote ESPN's Chris Berman, "it's why they play the game".
In related news, the New York Mets have given their 1986 World Series Championship to the Boston Red Sox, citing that it was unfortunate that Bill Buckner let that ground ball go through his legs and that absent that mistake, the Sox should have won that game.
There's a similar code in bicycle racing in Europe, best seen a couple of years ago in the Tour de France when Lance Armstrong's main rival, Jan Ullrich, went off the road. Rather than attack, Lance slowed and got everyone else in the lead group to do the same while they waited to see if Ullrich was alright. Ullrich climbed out of the ditch, got back on his bike, and the race restarted, with Lance winning the stage. The point there was that winning under those circumstances is tainted. Everyone will always say, "sure, you won, but only because..." It's better to win on your own ability than because of your opponent's misfortune.
Sure it is. That's optimal. But not always possible in the world of sports. In many cases, an opponent's misfortune is just as much a part of sports as your own ability.
And it's ironic you would use Lance Armstrong as an example of fairness & sportsmanship given the steroids allegations constantly swirling around him.
I agree but the sportsmanship offered by the three forfeiting teams should not go unrecognized.
Similar to a basketball player for a girls HS team who broke her foot and was 1 point shy of the school record and the other team let her hobble downcourt for an uncontested layup.
Socialist sports. Everyone wins. Where's the fun in that?
I'm sure they all got to sit by a campfire later roasting marshmellows and singing kumbiya too.
It is unearned, and therefore meaningless. You feel much better having won the trophy because through determination and willpower, you won because you were better than everyone else at the time. An accomplishment worked hard for.
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