In my last blog, I wrote about a difficult issue in our sport, fatalities. This topic is not as all severe but very important: sportsmanship. Earlier this summer I read an exchange between a member and our staff over a two minute penalty assessed at his last race. Instead of engaging in a respectful dialog to see what he did wrong, to see if the Official might have made a mistake and to explore potential remedies, this individual went on the attack.
This individual, who happens to be General Counsel of a publicly traded corporation, condemned our Officials, condemned our rules, condemned USAT and provided a list of demands that must be met within a given timeframe or he would file a massive lawsuit against us. It was akin to a pitcher filing a lawsuit against Major League Baseball because an umpire called a balk which forced in the winning run.
Had he read our rulebook, had he followed race protocol, had he simply taken responsibility for his own actions, I would not be writing this. But this one incident is simply symptomatic of a growing trend in all sports. An increasing number of athletes are refusing to take responsibility for their actions and insistent that their mistakes are the fault of others.
In the many disciplines of multisport, the common thread is that they all are tests of individual endurance and as much as the athletes are competing against others, ultimately they are competing against themselves. And if we all were to take that ethic to heart in our individual training for races and then at the actual competitions, the multisport lifestyle will continue to be one of the safest, fairest and most rewarding tests of individual athletic competence.
–Skip
When I was a kid, if I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, the first thing I did was get up and look around to see if anybody saw me fall down. If they had, I would have been really embarassed.
Now, the first thing a person does is file a claim against the city and possibly the homeowner because they tripped over a crack they have been walking over for years.
This is for the simple reason as stated in your blog that people do not want to take responsibility for themselves and their own actions. There may be true incidents of negligence where action is required, but otherwise “stupid is as stupid does.” This competitor, when the rule was explained and shown to him should have responded “you’re right, I’ll never do that again.”
Hopefully this competitor will re-think his extortion attempt and drop the whole issue and read the rule book. Every person, especially those competing in various sports must take responsibility for themselves at ALL times. C’mon people, let’s get a reality check!
By: Steve Rautus on September 27, 2008
at 5:57 pm
I completely empathize with Skip. I am appalled at the unsportsmanlike conduct of some athletes. Luckily the majority of us (and I consider myself in this group) are out here just to have fun (regardless of our capabilities, rankings, etc). I’ve talked with a bunch of race directors about how to deal with the few who’s behavior is simply unacceptable.
My recommendation is to empower race officials and any authorized volunteer to disqualify an athlete who exhibits poor sportsmanship.
I also would encourage all athletes to get involved and speak with fellow athletes who display poor sportsmanship.
We should not let a few poor sports (acting worse than my 9 year old) to harass the wonderful the volunteers and race organizer who make these races possible.
Skip, you are welcome to send me this guys name (along with more details of the incident) and I would be delighted to contact management at his company. I am sure they would be interested in hearing about this incident.
By: josh kahan on September 27, 2008
at 10:16 pm
Skip
I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a part of the USAT Officials program for some time. I have personally experienced very similar encounters as well as other unpleasant conflicts with penalized athletes over the years. I am happy to report that they make up a small percentage, based upon my experience.
But a larger percentage of ‘post race dialogues’ involved a lack of knowledge or awareness, on the penalized athletes’ part. Be it an inadequate understanding of what the particular rule meant, how the rule was enforced, or the procedure for questioning or ‘challenging’ a penalty, some athletes do not demonstrate a basic understanding of the rules. Of these, there is a percentage that will not take personal responsiblity for their actions, and seek to blame others for their misfortune. A few of these will remind me of your experience.
My point is that a lot of the ill will as a result of a penalty could be reduced or eliminated by an education of our athletes. Athletes would not put themselves in a position where they could be penalized if they knew better. For those who didn’t know better, I use it as a learning experience for educating them. For those who are better than the rest of us, I make it a practice to remind them of 3.3 & 3.4b of the USAT Competitive Rules.
Regards,
William (Big Willie) Alexander
By: Willie Alexander on September 28, 2008
at 2:48 am
This person needs to be shown as the fool he is. Simply post the letter, in its entirety, with his name attached.
By: Pete on September 28, 2008
at 5:46 pm
Seems this person would be perfect to become an official, and see what it is like to sit on the back of a motorcycle, and make these tough calls on others.
Law Suit, let him bring it on. Amazing, this is just a hobby, not a life or death sport.
Dave
By: Dave Campbell on September 29, 2008
at 4:44 pm
Maybe things have changed. But over the years ,once you get a penalty, say for drafting, that even if you protest, the penalty will stand. I do not know of a case were a penalty was removed. Maybe some of you know of some cases.
By: Anonymous on November 5, 2008
at 9:53 pm
Wow, I thought I was alone on the premise of being more strict with those that exhibit “unsportsman like” behaviour. I have been competing in triathlons for two years and I have seen people break rules all the time. I have never really cared until the past August when grabbed me and pushed me underneath the water during the swim portion of a sprint race. I wound up facing backwards and was accidently hit in the face by someone who was behind me in the race. The wave I was in was only women and the person who pushed me was a man in the next wave and it was 2/3 into the race. I had two issues with what happened. One was that this person should have been racing in the elite category because the waves were 3 minutes apart and usually finish the swim anywhere from 16.5 and 17.5 minutes which means I keep up with my age group. The other issue was that it takes less than 5 seconds to swim around someone and so the maneover was completely unecessary. I doubt there is that much of a time difference in the end because you have to break momentum to push someone straight down under the water. I race organizers to tell the announcer to reinforce the rules at the start of the swim to remind people not to touch other competitors. I was told that what I should do is just start in the last wave so that there is noone behind me and that it is something I should get used to. “Rough-housing” is just the sport of triathlon! I didn’t know how to respond to that. In my first race I started in the last wave because I was told that that is what I should do. But that was soon not option because not only did I have to pass alot of people, at risk at being kicked in the face, but then on the bike I had to pass a lot of people which is much dangerous because cars are allowed to drive on the street in the bike portion of the race. I found that racing in the wave designated for my age group was much safer and easier in the end. I personally think that people who are that competitive that they feel they must grab people during the swim portion should be in the first wave (usually for the elite athletes). Of course you can’t make them do that so officials should at least remind people that they shouldn’t be holding onto other athletes during the swim portion. I watched the triathlon events during the olympics and I never saw any swimmer as much as even touch another athlete. Since the races I participate in are just “recreational” events, it doesn’t make sense why someone would take it that seriously. Is there a solution?
By: Anonymous on April 4, 2009
at 3:28 pm