ANOTHER Uniform Violation Costs Team Championship

[leopard88]

Yet another story of a team losing a championship because of a uniform violation. To me, this is noteworthy because I can't see how anyone was placed at competitive advantage or disadvantage as a result of the violation. I also don't see a particular reason for the rule, though I am open to being educated about the purpose behind it.

Baltimore Sun

The Hereford runner who initially finished fourth in the boys race was cited for wearing black compression shorts underneath his uniform pants that had visible white stitching. That violates Rule 9, Section 6, Article 1b of the National Federation of High Schools rule book, which states: "Items displaying seams stitched on the outside of the garment in a visible contrasting color to the undergarment will be illegal beginning with the 2009-10 school year."

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

Yet another story of a team losing a championship because of a uniform violation. To me, this is noteworthy because I can't see how anyone was placed at competitive advantage or disadvantage as a result of the violation. I also don't see a particular reason for the rule, though I am open to being educated about the purpose behind it.

Baltimore Sun

The Hereford runner who initially finished fourth in the boys race was cited for wearing black compression shorts underneath his uniform pants that had visible white stitching. That violates Rule 9, Section 6, Article 1b of the National Federation of High Schools rule book, which states: "Items displaying seams stitched on the outside of the garment in a visible contrasting color to the undergarment will be illegal beginning with the 2009-10 school year."

the white stitching made him 0.00008% faster than the runners,thus having a .00008% advantage over the other runners. thus the dq.

[Davidson]

no good ever comes from concerning yourself with the undergarments of young boys.

[BrySmalls]

no good ever comes from concerning yourself with the undergarments of young boys.

Quoted for truth.

[njmeadowlanders]

Ludicrious.

[CDixonDesign]

Wow, yeah, this could use some insight, this is completely an aesthetic rule, and i'm willing to bet the young man didn't even know...

[Yac12]

As a high school varsity coach, the NFHS rulebook is full of rules like this. To make matters worse, officials are more interested in looking for uniform violations than having good machanics and calling a good game.

[leopard88]

One question left unanswered for me is whether the violation was, or should have been, noticed before the race began. If that was the case, the reasonable approach would seem to have been to point out the violation and give the kid a chance to remove the offending garment.

[DustDevil61]

What a joke. Imagine what that kid's going to say when he's older: "I didn't win a cross-country championship because my stitches were the wrong color." Sometimes rules just go too far, especially in the high school ranks.

[JayJaxon]

That's too bad. That rule makes no sense to me.

[BallWonk]

Absurd, rules go too far, the concern with boys underpants is kind of pervy. Agreed.

But what about some accountability for the boy's coaches here? The rules are the rules, and as much as it's an athlete's obligation to know and follow the rules, even the silly ones that are completely arbitrary and make no logical sense, such as almost every rule of football, it's even more incumbent on a coach to know the rules well enough to guide his players in upholding and obeying them. If there's a rule that says "no contrast stitching on your underpants," then it's a coach's job to see to it that his players follow that rule. (This is especially true for community and high school sports, where in most cases it's the coaches who adopt and amend the rules in the first place.)

[gueman]

One question left unanswered for me is whether the violation was, or should have been, noticed before the race began. If that was the case, the reasonable approach would seem to have been to point out the violation and give the kid a chance to remove the offending garment.

Well 20+ years ago I was a shotputter and I was in just a regular meet. After my second throw, my score was posted, and it was in the middle. Then a few moments later was informed I had a "uniform violation" and DQ'ed. My transgression... I left my baseball hat on while I made my throws. Not even my coach noticed, was it a violation, yea. But I think the "rational" is it is not a violation until after the fact. I was kinda pissed, but I remember what a prick you have to be to be that anal to make a big deal about something so petty. To paraphrase Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam..."You really need a joe blob" if you enjoy pointing that stuff out.

On a side note the Sun really dropped the ball by not going to the National Federation and asking why this rule was adopted?

[crashcarson15]

The biggest issue I have with these is that they only are enforced on the top level and not in your average meet.

[The_Admiral]

what a prick you have to be to be that anal

lol at excretory mixed metaphors

[rams80]

The biggest issue I have with these is that they only are enforced on the top level and not in your average meet.

That's because the top level can actually afford refs who know all the rules. Or coaches only feel like bringing it up then.

---------------------------------

That said, having run high school cross country, this rule is virtually unenforceable this late in the year given the plethora of undergarments, that most runners wear in order to keep the muscles warm and the body safe from hypothermia (at least until that first mile is run, and your internal body heat heats up.) Oh Lordy, those last few races each year were cold. Anyway, back when I ran, I was under the impression that the only uniform requirements were that you wear your team uniform tops and shorts. Anything under that was ok. And that was only six years.

Also manufacturers never pay attention to these regulations. At all.

Actually, when I first started reading the article, I thought the very act of wearing the compression shorts was the violation. Not some ticky-tack issue with the design that was instituted this year.

/I also hoped that Elmhurst York was busted. Wrong state sadly.

[Billy B]

This is really unfortunate because it doesn't seem like this rule could possibly have an effect on the performance on the runner wearing the compression shorts or any of the other runners. You can say that the coach should have known about it, but this seems like one of the most obscure rules. Unlike North Lawndale in the IHSA basketball playoffs last year, I doubt that this kid was ever warned beforehand that the shorts were illegal.

/I also hoped that Elmhurst York was busted. Wrong state sadly.

I'd have no problem at all it was York getting DQ'd in cross crountry either.

[leopard88]

A follow up article. Interestingly, there apparently were violations spotted beforehand, in which instances the runners were given the chance to remove the offending garments. Also, as BallWonk suggested, the coach of the disqualified team accepted responsibility.

"Ultimately, the burden [of the disqualification] comes down on us as coaches," Bowman said. "Usually, we're extremely militant, but [on race day] there's a thousand things going through coaches' minds, and this was just one of those unfortunate circumstances."

It won't happen again, said Bowman, who vowed to "revisit the rules."

Before regionals Friday, the Hereford coach said, "We'll have all the kids bring in everything they are wearing two days before the race and thoroughly check it. Then we'll check it again at the line."

Baltimore Sun -- Officials Defend Cross Country Uniform Rule

[paynomind]

There should be an ammendment to the rule that required a pre-race inspection.

Anyone rememebr playing soccer, and the ref had the team line up to whack you int he shin to make sure you had guards on, and to look at the bottom of your shoe for metal spikes?

Do that before the race, and if not caught, too bad. Can't let someone run an entire race, then DQ for something that definatively didnt give them competitive advantage.

[Bmac]

On the one hand, you break the rules, you get in trouble. On the other hand, that is a stupid rule. And as mentioned above, why did it take until the tournament for this to happen? It was allowed during the regular season? I don't understand.

[leopard88]

There should be an ammendment to the rule that required a pre-race inspection.

Anyone rememebr playing soccer, and the ref had the team line up to whack you int he shin to make sure you had guards on, and to look at the bottom of your shoe for metal spikes?

Do that before the race, and if not caught, too bad. Can't let someone run an entire race, then DQ for something that definatively didnt give them competitive advantage.

Excellent idea. And, yes, I remember the shin guard checks.