# Jon Drummond - An American Embarassment? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 27, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873 "2003-08-27T01:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/41 "2003-08-27T15:21:17Z")
Drummond is a certifiable asshole, but so are the football players (American) who dance in the endzone after every touchdown, and the ones (soccer) who rip their shirts off and play to the crowd after every goal, as well as those who react to every nudge and inadvertant trip as if their leg has been caught in a bear trap. Having said that, Drummond was right to protest this clearly wrong decision. To say he should just take his medicine and go home lets the situation remain unfixed. I fully supported the Canadian figure skaters when they got robbed in the last Olympics, as well as Roy Jones (US boxer) in Seoul in 1998. While going quietly is sometimes the dignified thing to do, fighting injustice is often the right thing to do, even if it makes you look like an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Halfpint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f0a364/32.png) [@Halfpint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Halfpint)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/42 "2003-08-27T16:17:30Z")
International athletics seems to suffer from a lack of either thinking, or clear cut procedures for a range of issues. Look at Saif Saeed Shaheen, who won the steeplechase as a Qatari, yet a month ago he was a Kenyan called Stephen Cherono. Qatar bought themselves a medal winner for about $1,000 a month. Then again, a few months ago, a story was doing the rounds that a medal-winning athlete at the Sydney Olympics had tested positive for steroids and allowed to run. Today there was a story - in the L.A. Times, I believe - that that athlete was Jerome Young, who has just won the men’s 400 metres. It appears his first test was positive, and his second cleared him. He ran in Sydney after being cleared in an internal appeal. The Olympic Association and the World Anti-Doping Agency believe that they should have been notified of the process. The IAAF support USA Track and Field, who say they didn’t need to notify anyone. Everyone now appears to be sulking and firing off press releases. International athletics appears to have a large number of chiefs, but very few step-by-step rules to tell people what they can and should do in cases like these or Jon Drummond’s. I love athletics, but is hard to defend it, and equally hard, these days, to support it. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/43 "2003-08-27T16:59:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Martiju \* > \*\*And this is the point I think. ‘Bad’ decisions happen in every sport. The absolute way NOT to change things is to behave like a spoilt child or assume that the sport cannot take place without certain ‘stars’ being involved. The way to change things is to encourage reasonable debate appropriately after the event. > > Drummond was never going to get himself reinstated in the race - full stop. Rules is rules. The fact it is an unfair rule augmented for the sake of TV is a different issue and needs to be taken up elsewhere. I think, unfortunately, that Drummond has helped too many Europeans reinforce their stereotype of American behaviour - and in Paris no less! \*\* Oh fuck you. If the “europeans” have had their stereotypes of Americans reinforced by ONE fucking American sprinter then they’re not really worth trying to convince otherwise because they’re too testy a people-and most likely NOT to change their minds no matter what. That’s like all Americans judging “Europeans” by TOny Blair, or Ringo Starr or some other ridiculous public figure. I fart in your general direction. Sam ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/44 "2003-08-27T18:07:05Z")
**Lamar** , good point. When we were watching the coverage yesterday we likened the hooting, hand pumping and general ego tripping to similar personalities in football and basketball. That’s why I think it’s a US cultural thing among athletes - not necessarily unique to sprinters. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/45 "2003-08-27T18:43:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scout1222 \* > \*\*That’s why I think it’s a US cultural thing among athletes - not necessarily unique to sprinters. \*\* I agree. There is a sense of entitlement that American athletes seem to have. They feel that no matter what, they should be able to compete and win. When things don’t work out in the dreamed of fashion, they resort to other means. It is why the US mens hockey team trashed their rooms after they sucked themselves out of the Olympics in Nagano. It is why athletes banned for positive drug tests will get, or try to get, a court order to allow them to complete. The media is, IMO, responsible for much of this. I remember watching the winter Olympics, 1994 maybe, and an American was in the finals of some speed-skating event. The guy ended up with the silver medal and the commentator made the remark that the guy had lost. No, he didn’t lose, he came in 2nd and that is still a great accomplishment. If a silver medal equals loser, what goes through the mind of a guy like Drummond who gets a DNF or a DQ? Its like the loser label is a bigger stigma than actually acting like a loser. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/46 "2003-08-27T21:52:13Z")
I dunno - I watched it (again and again and again) and I thouht that Drummond had a point. And I’m Canadian. The ruling was unfair, IMHO. However, I was more distracted by Ato Bolden’s rather, um, prominant, uh, package. Please tell me I’m not the only person who noticed this? ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/47 "2003-08-27T22:06:14Z")
Nope, Alice. Those track suits lend themselves to a little meat gazing. I didn’t specifically note his, though. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/48 "2003-08-28T08:14:26Z")
I did. And I’m not even that way inclined. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/49 "2003-08-28T10:53:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boo Boo Foo \* > \*\*Here’s a solution! Albeit a slightly crazy one… every runner in a sprint race should have a locked tether strapped to their mid-riff and the tether is then locked to a computer driven device behind the runner - say about 3 feet away. > > Each runner would then be able to assume their starting position and on the call of ready then assume a strained position against the tether. When the gun fires the tether could be released and every runner in the field would burst out of the blocks at exactly the same time. In the rare event that a runner’s tether failed to release, a restart could be held. > > I know it sounds fanciful, but lovers of cycling will be familiar with the bike locking device which cyclists use on the velodrome at the start of time trials and persuits. I’m thinking of a similar concept here, if you will. \*\* Now, see, I like the tether idea, but you have it backwards. Tether the sprinters to the blocks. Give them about 5 feet of rope. Then, with the little sensor things in the starting blocks, determine whether the sprinter has false-started when the gun sounds. If he/she has, do **not** release the tether, otherwise do. This way, you can tell immediately who’s been naughty by the way they hit the end of the rope and get snapped back, while the good boys and girls run free. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/50 "2003-08-28T10:56:06Z")
I put the blame squarely on Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin’s suits. ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/51 "2003-08-28T11:12:16Z")
**Gorsnak**? 😃 You looney! The only thing that your idea would accomplish is immense laughter and snide remarks. Sadly, as delicious as your version of the “release tether” might be, it wouldn’t fix the grey area about using computer sensor pads to determine who false started and the controversies would continue unabated I’d wager. At least with my idea - every runner is already champing at the bit - waiting for the release. In theory, no one could ever false start ever again. Not quite as entertaining as your version though **Gorsnak** - I must concede that. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/52 "2003-08-28T11:21:56Z")
Pfft! Are you trying to tell me that entertainment isn’t the prime consideration here? The athletes should all be in favour. It will boost ratings, and hence the value of endorsements. In fact, I should think they’d be falling all over themselves to get such a system into place! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/53 "2003-08-28T11:28:48Z")
Well alright then - if you really wanted to spice it up - you could introduce random steeples for each runner down the length of the straight - little pop up jiggers like you see on shooting ranges. And throw in some random land mines along the track as well. Lets see how skimpy they want their skinsuits to be AFTER THAT, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/54 "2003-08-28T11:35:20Z")
No no, not random…there needs to be some tenuous link to fairness, or it doesn’t seem like a sport anymore. 😉 See, questionable methods for determining false starts might not be completely fair, but it’s a fixed sorta deal - everyone knows going in that if they flinch in the blocks, they’ll end up looking like a dog hitting the end of a leash. Random steeples turns the whole thing into a crapshoot. Now, if you could rig the steeples to pop up randomly only in the lanes of the runners who’ve been using steroids or otherwise cheating, then you’d have something. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/55 "2003-08-28T11:38:17Z")
I’m guessing that US track athletes are tired of toiling in relative obscurity in the US. They go to Europe, get some attention, and start acting like prima donnas. Or, it’s just garden variety childish behavior. The US has no monopoly on that. We’ve tried to corner the market, but world supply is too great. Most of the best athletes in the US are not noted for disrupting events with childish tantrums. Baseball managers, OTOH… The occasional figure skating knee beating, sure. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873/56 "2003-08-28T11:42:39Z")
Yes, but see, **Beagle** , baseball managers throwing tantrums is a time honored tradition. And the ones who throw the best ones get remembered fondly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-drummond-an-american-embarassment/197873.md?page=2)