Good Lord.
Good Lord is right. All three teams stepped aside? I'm guessing there are some upset athletes on those teams if the decisions weren't unanimous.
What's the problem here? Are we really to be upset that Penn Hills didn't "learn a lesson" about dropping the baton?
It's not as if any of the top 5 teams stepped aside. These were teams that finished 6th, 9th, and 10th, right? The coaches and runners on those teams made the decisions, not some officials.
It's not as if Penn Hills complained to get to continue. This was a purely one-sided gesture.
It's not as if the Penn Hills runners were at all outrun by their opponents. They were on their way to an easy win. That doesn't mean they deserve this gesture (nor do I get the impression they think that either) but if the other teams volunteer to make it, what is the problem?
If (maybe when) Penn Hills wins the state championships, I'd say they'll appreciate it a hell of a lot more.
The funny thing is that I keep hearing POSITIVE comments about this situation. After reading a positive letter to the editor about the situation in today's paper, one of my coworkers said to me this morning "See, there is more to sports than winning."
Unreal.
The people who really get screwed here are Cannon Mac and Laurel Highlands. While it is nice that Penn gets in to the race, if they end up beating C M or LM that totally sucks for those teams, who did their stuff right. If it wasn't a RELAY we would just add up the pr's of the 4 people involved and score it that way. Handoffs are more important to a 4x1 than anything and they get screwed up all the time.
Wow, This is really troubling, and those teams that stepped aside need to stop patting themselves on the back.
Same thing happened in California as well, except the team that dropped the Baton also was dq'd. The coaches voted them in as the winner.