Lots if pixels have been spilled over a young wrestler from New Jersey who had to chose between cutting his dreadlocks and forfeiting his match. Much of it is poorly informed, including calls to fire the trainer who cut his hair. That's just nuts, as she was following his directives. There's plenty of responsibility to go around.
The referee has a troubling history with racism, which removes much benefit of the doubt he should be given. It seems from secondary reporting that Andrew Johnson, the wrestler, did not have a legal head covering. This is not a racist rule. All wrestlers who have long hair must have it covered. However, it seems as if Johnson's cover was not legal.
There are two reasons why it wasn't legal and I have heard both apply. First, the head cover must by attached to his protective head gear, and perhaps it wasn't. Or he may have had too large a corporate logo on it. If the former, the referee was in his rights to prohibit the wrestler from competing, however, these issues should have been addressed before the meet. The rule says that any special equipment (and the head covering is special equipment) must be inspected when the referee arrives on site. Because the referee waited until Johnson approached the mat ready to wrestle, there was no time to make a reasoned decision. That's WHY these decisions should have been made before the meet. Once the referee started running injury time, Johnson and his coach had 90 seconds to make a decision and implement it. Adrenaline is pumping, competitive spirits are up, no one should be expected to make a good decision in that time frame. Again, that's why these rulings happen well before wrestling starts.
If the issue was the size of a corporate logo, then that's a brand new rule, and the referee should've issued a warning and told him to become compliant by next match. It's still early in the season, and a little understanding goes a long way. If it was an issue of the logo, the ref and the National Federation will have some awkward explaining to do. People have noted that he wrestled earlier in the season with his head covering. That doesn't mean he was in compliance, because some refs pay little attention to those things. The only previous matches were at tournaments, where those details often go unaddressed. Again, this is where the referee's judgment comes into play, and again where he failed.
The coach also bears more responsibility than I originally thought. He's responsible for having his wrestler properly equipped. If Johnson had been given a proper, legal head cover and lost it, that's one thing. But it sounds like the coach and school didn't provide a legal cover. Perhaps he should have forfeited the match. Again, the referee put him in a terrible position. Johnson's match was the second match of the meet, so the coach had no idea if that 6 points would've mattered. Again, that's why these issues should've been addressed before the meet.
When faced with the prospect of forfeiting or having his hair cut, Johnson chose to have his hair cut. He was put in an impossible position. The trainer simply had the scissors, and she was also operating under time constraints. It would've been even worse if she had taken her time, Johnson had his dreads cut off and the 90 seconds would've expired. The idea that she did something terrible is just something I can't understand. You might as well blame the scissors themselves.
Johnson was forced to make a decision because a referee applied a rule at the wrong time. The rule itself is proper and not racist or sexist. And yes, I've seen white boys have their hair cut. I once cut a boy's hair - at his request - so he could lose the .10 of a pound he needed to make weight. Any wrestler with long hair has to have a legal hair cover. It should be inspected before the meet.
Andrew Johnson was failed by the referee and his coach. But he didn't fail, and I applaud him for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment