I am absolutely flabbergasted
February 18th, 2010 by Thomas Schroeder
I just became a facebook fan of “Say no to Drafting” and eagerly made my way to the Wall in order to share with everyone my frustration with how other competitors complain about the enforcement of triathlon rules. Indeed, I was even surprised to see that there are fans of “Say no to Drafting” that have spoken out against rules enforcement to differing degrees.
I am absolutely flabbergasted that so many people can train for the sport and advocate either breaking the rules themselves or remain indifferent about others breaking the rules. I regularly hear the same types of defenses: “just worry about yourself, who cares if others cheat”, or “it’s just for fun, so why worry about it”.
Let me ask some follow-up questions. Who would join a bowling league “for fun” and accept that another team gives itself a “redo” for a bad frame? Who would join a softball league “for fun” and accept that the other team is allowed a base hit for a ball just barely foul? Who would play intramural football and argue that a touchdown should be allowed because “the runner only stepped a little bit out of bounds”.
Rules are rules. They all need to be supported, followed, and enforced or the “fun” is gone. It is unlikely that anyone participating in any of my examples above would continue to have fun under the stated conditions of unenforced rules.
Finally, I might add that complaints about rules bending/breaking extend beyond drafting. The culture of the sport seems to equally defend all types of rules infractions including cutting the course short, blocking, passing on the right, abandoned equipment, receiving aid, starting in the wrong wave, etc. The culture seems to be “if I enter in the proper age group, then everything else is my business (especially if I am not placing)”.
Again, I call ones attention to a football player stepping out of bounds and thereby ended the forward progress of the play. Too many self policing triathletes would continue the play with the attitude that “I was just a little bit out of bounds, so what’s the big deal?” Simply put; the triathlon rules culture too similarly mirrors that of a couple of buddies playing golf and that takes a great deal of the “fun” out of the sport.”