MAC Meet Results

Congrats to the Rocket women on their back-to-back titles. Shook looked awesome and could be a top-10 at the NCAA's. Good luck to the team at regional and the ncaa's.

Fact 1. Boaz was told to turn left which was wrong by the Miami official. Fact 2. Gavin was not close enough to tell him that he was going the wrong way. Fact 3. Miami's official then hesitated to send Gavin the right way. Fact 4. Miami was seriously talking trash about boaz after the race.

By no means is this school worth a dime for a championship meet site to be held at again.

I think it would have been great if Boaz had talked to his coach QUIETLY about the problem, without the yelling. It's the coach's job to protest.

In H.S., our team was 'screwed' out of the League Championship by an atrocious ruling (long story). After 1 minute of feeling sorry for ourselves, we congratulated and shook hands with the other team (as an entire group) after they ran their victory lap. Then we took the bus home knowing we did the best we could.

Any athlete yelling at his teammates and coaches in front of everyone is never the way to go....and not doing it makes a person and team look/feel more classy, even in defeat.

I agree with you that that would be the best way to handle things. However isn't it refreshing to see a foreign athlete care enough to bust a cork. We always hear about a kenyan athlete coming over to take advantage of our college system at the expense of the americans. We always hear that they are in it for themselves and not the team. It obviously sounds like the teams success was important to Boaz. I hate the way athletes and coaches are always asked to be politically correct. I think it is great when we can see and hear how someone really feels.

Now the real issue. What kind of dumb ass knows he should win the race and doesn't know the course. That is inexcusable. It is also poor coaching. To blame anyone other than the athlete and his coach is avoiding the problem.

I definitely think we found out that Boaz isn't as old as we all thought. Or he is just an immature old man. Because he acted like a 13 year old after the race. To run across the line after being outkicked for the win in 16th place with a number 1 on both hands saying "I am the best runner" is plain stupid and immature. We all know he is the fastest runner in the country for that matter but he screwed up. Plain and simple. Eastern can point the finger all they want but Boaz should have known the course and his coach should have made sure the rest of the team did as well. It just sounds like bad preparation. Suck it up and get your shit together for the Regional. Thats all that can be done now.

He must not have taken that class where you learn to read and follow maps yet.

To be realistic, if the course was not marked properly on the turn and Boaz was sent the wrong way, then it would be hard to fault him for following the direction of the official.

However, I still stand by my previous post regarding his behavior. A 40 year old shouldn't be acting that way.

Scroll through the first 25 places of the meet. Notice how many CMU runners were 1 place ahead of an EMU runner. There were at least 4 of them. But for EMU, the reverse was true only once.

For me, personally, that speaks volumes: CMU had some major desire in that race...even if EMU may have had a more talented team.

If Boaz ran across the line with #1 on both hands and acted the way he did then that was extreamly immature and I hope Torres shows him a thing or two at nationals.And This prooves that without the foriegners EMU is not as great as they say.

I'm the original "witness" and my name is Jay Dolmage. My original posting was to another forum, as a specific answer to a specific question. Someone named "SI" seemed to feel as though it was okay to remove the post from its context and paste it wherever he saw fit.

In any case, I feel as though I have to reply to what has followed.

After the race yesterday, when Boaz was voicing his displeasure, walking around shirtless and upset, a very large crowd gathered around him--over a hundred people. One young woman with a camera, with a telephoto lens, was right in his face--I thought she'd poke his eye out. There was a strange mob mentality there, and what the crowd got was a spectacle. What the crowd wanted was a spectacle. Consider, if hundreds of people were fascinated by your failure, how you might react?

This negative fascination, admit it, is the reason why you're reading this posting, right now. I'll admit that as a runner myself, a Chevy Nova to Boaz' Ferrari, I was momentarily relieved to recognize his mortality. In recognizing his mortality, though, I want to try and see him as a human responding in a human way. I don't want to tear him down.

It is this same recognition of his humanity that a lot of other people are overlooking. He wanted to win and when he didn't, he felt upset. He may have felt as though someone was working against him--and why wouldn't he feel that way when there were a hundred people around him, all perversely happy that he'd lost?

This brings me to the next point: the perverse preoccupation with his failure may be the product of a fine tension between fascination and racism. How does Boaz' intelligence enter into this matter, except as a racist association made by somebody who wasn't even present? How does his right to compete in this country enter the discussion, if it isn't planted by a xenophobe with an inferiority complex?

Boaz was scholar-athlete of the week this week.

As a student with a VISA, Boaz has the RIGHT to compete for his school and, I would say, the right to immunity from discrimination based upon his ethnic heritage.

I am willing to accept that my reaction to what happened yesterday was not right. I feel sheepish about my original posting and I wish it could have its original context back. But I also won't shy away from asking an important question, a question I am asking myself. That is, how much does your fear of difference and your sense of your own inadequacy fuel your interest in this matter? How racist is your fascination?

Finally, the editors of Letsrun.com: in putting this on your main page, what were your motivations?

nobody has mentioned the fact that if you step 3 1/2 yards of the white line you are disqualified. So i guess in all reality EMU is lucky they only lost by one point.

I always understood that you can leave the course but must return to the course at the same spot that you left. I believe that Boaz did just that.

man you are racist! does that make you good? it shouldn't, you should feel horrible. let me guess............uhh CMU? go figure

How is that racist. Who ever said boaz was stupid because he was black. I think you're turning this into a racial thing because you have no other defence. I'm not a CMU fan and not an EMU basher, but CMU won fair and square it's not their fault EMU should have prepared better.

I think it is a racist thing, you haven't saw any other post about white foreigners all year, but yet every chance you get your bashing Boaz, Boaz the scholar, boaz the savage boaz this boaz that, its bullshit, I haven't heard one comment about Nate brannen, Alistair Cragg or any other foreigners just Boaz and it isn't fair. Its easy for you to say Boaz should have known where he was going, if your 200 meters in front with no lead cart without proper arrows u would go the wrong way too , so dont give me that bullshit about EMU preparing better. A lot of u EMU bashers should get out of this GOD COMPLEX thing, its not funny nor cute.

i totally sympathize with Boaz, in high school something like that happened to me in a race. i took a wrong turn being way in the lead and people just watched me go the wrong way, there was a coach right at the turn from the other team and he was just chilling and looking at me. i realized that the turn i had takened dead-ended and that it must of been the wrong way then so i turned around real quick and lost about 2minutes. i ran by the coach who directed his guys the right way and was like F-U. i ran extremely mad, i caught the leader and took the win. slowest time all year, i was a sub 15 3miler so running and catching league average dudes running 17-18:00 was not out of my reach. i was very mad still at the end of the race and the way home. but like other poeple pointed out, its a persons own fault, they made the turn themselves, no one forced him the wrong way. peoples morals are more at fault, some people are just immoral cunts that would cheat and use every situation to their advantage. if i saw boaz go off course would i have yelled "HEY, Hell!! come back and beat me!!".... i guess so since i know the feeling of not getting told.. it just goes to show how people cheat, i wouldnt say he cheated literally but he did do something immoral by watching his buddy and teammate run off course and not doing anything about it. is being a druggie different, using external means to improve your performance... chemicals, misdirection? its an exaggeration but i hope some got the point

its like legal issues, if a doctor off duty sees someone hurt, does he have to legally help them. no, its just crappy that he does not have too.

As I said before I am not an EMU basher and I don't think Allister Craigg, nick willis, or Gavin Thompson should be competting here. But as for Brannen he is ok because UofM didn't even have to fly to visit him. As long as you're North American it's Ok. (Mexican, US, or Canada) But this isn't about race or Boaz, it's about CMU winning and EMU crying about the loss. I'ts not CMU's fault so quit putting the blame on others.

sources; 1. a bunch of 4 eyed geeks 2. my own papers from college classes that i used it in

"10. There are no rational grounds for believing in natural group differences, which is why all discussion of racial differences inevitably become discussions about racism."

"31. Success, doesn't matter if it's due to heredity or environment, there are class differences between individuals, groups. Some minorities have wealthy members, and some don?t. " - athletic ability is the same, genetics

"11. No race or class has a monopoly on achievement"

money, women, athletics, its all about success and remember everyone can do it. the value, the merit of hard work and determination is not strained. --- only in educational systems where only %40 are valued on merit of grades and %60 are added in the name of diversity is such value lost. good or bad for society i still would not want a doctor who was affirmed into a college. cheating admissions standards is the same as cheating on a test. also, there 3-4 times more likely to lose their liscence for malpractice, or least be charged with malpractice

31. Success, doesn't matter if it's due to heredity or environment, there are class differences between individuals, groups. Some minorities have wealthy members, and some don?t. " - athletic ability is the same, genetics

CORRECTION

31. Success, doesn't matter if it's due to heredity or environment, there are class differences between individuals, groups.

i dont know how the former was attached, please disregard.

To call Boaz "dumb" or some such adjective is in itself foolish. The thing i hate about letsrun.com message boards and other stuff like it is the fact that so many people who have never been there before post things talking about the facts.

the facts, well lets think about this for a second. Boaz was way in the lead and their was a course marshall there (and ONLY a course marshall there) who either directed him the wrong way or didn't.

we can all agree that the facts here, are not known. However, I honestly do not think that Boaz' turning left instead of right proves that he is not intelligent. Have you ever tried making a rational decision while running hard? how about while racing. simple math becomes hard. I had a teammate who was running in the lead with another runner (a foreigner by the way) at Franklin Park years ago and was directed to go the wrong way and did. they both did. the funny part was, this was the same course that my teammate ran in HS. was he dumb? no. in fact he was a smart guy that knew the course well. Its tough to make the right decision when running that hard. everybody on here is quick to jump on Boaz for turning the wrong way but you all had the simple task of following the runner in front of you. Boaz did not. How many people on here have won a college XC meet?

the fact that Boaz is foreign should be of little importance to you people. The Ncaa has a history of being dominated by foreigners, yet when its a kenyan people hate it. Most of the people that hate boaz because he is Foreign would love to see Cragg beat him at Ncaas, yet he isn't american.

I don't come to the message boards anymore because most people ARE ignorant. Ignorant of the truth, the facts, and the simple fact that people are human. they make mistakes and are not allowed to live them down. Most of you would be the biggest Boaz supporters if only you knew him.

By the way, i clicked on a link from the front page believing it would bring me to an article about what happened at the Mac champs and thats how i ended up here.