This week I am embarrassed to be a former Heps runner. As someone said, there is the spirit of the law, and the letter of the law. This is a case of the Ivy League putting up this antiquated front that the conference is on a superior level of sportsmanship than other conferences. Give it up and get with the times. Oh my, someone with a personality won the race! He bowed! "Gee, let's put a stop to behavior like that, so people don't act like themselves and races are emotionless. Let's keep these races exactly like they were in 1927."
This is all a matter of jealousy. People jealous of the best team's best runner. When I was at Heps, people hated Princeton and Penn because they were the best. Now people hate Cornell. That said, I have never seen a runner booed. That's the most pathetic part about this whole debacle. I would never, in a thousand years, boo a fellow competitor. The fact that it came from other participants in the meet is shameful. Root for your team; don't root for the demise of a competitor.
Wyner ran a great, tough race and now his name will never be listed as HEPS 1500m champion. I know that that must hurt him deep down. It's sad on the part of the officials to DQ him for a type of celebration that has occurred many times before. How would you react if people booed you? The bow was hilarious and fitting; he could have come up with a much worse impromptu response than that.
I could be wrong, but it appears that the DQ is mostly the fault of the Princeton coach. Where is the sportsmanship in that? I would be embarrassed if he was my coach. I bet Maag doesn't consider himself the victor, but now history is re-written by a few guys caught up in the moment of a screaming coach and a spiritless crowd. Also, who uses an athlete as a rabbit in a Heps 1500 final? What are you teaching that runner? The kid sacrifices a chance to score himself, so he can increase his teammate's chance to win (and in the process almost trips up another runner)? LAME.
I at least hope Wyner finds solace in the fact that this is getting so much notoriety, and that most (i.e. rational) people are on his side. I will never agree with those who think this DQ is merited. If you do, then I feel sorry for your uptight philosophy on spirited competition.