As Brody Buffington anchored his team to the victory in the 4×200, he put his arms up in celebration. As expected with that celebration, he was disqualified, and thus, his team was disqualified.
Take a look at both sides and see which makes more sense
Should Buffington have been disqualified
Of course. He broke the rules.
NFHS 4-6-2 should cover the infraction. The officials enforced said rules.
Additionally, Buffington was disqualified earlier in the year, and sportsmanship was discussed at the coaches meeting prior to Thursday’s races. Following that, you know you have a Target on your back and the team title was at stake.
The rest of the meet continued without incident or controversial calls. Also, Maryland is lacking in officials, and Uncle Sam wants you to sign up and make those perfect calls.
Should Buffington have been disqualified
No, he should not have been disqualified. With anything, there is the letter and intent of the law. As this happened in real time, you had to make a call immediately. However, Buffington walked off the track following his celebration, and it’s not like he continued his celebration. There may have been unnecessary bravado and panache, but it was fleeting and it did not distract or inhibit in any way the result of the race nor the flow of the meet. Still, one knew the call was coming.
Track is a sport where excessive celebration is rarely a thing, so when something like this happens, it gets more press.
Chasing the Standard’s definition would be:Â An action that is demeaning or inhibits or distracts from the competition at hand.
Another viewpoint is:
1. Intent
2. Timing
3. Conduct
Buffington’s actions did not hinder another athlete’s performance, nor did he direct his celebration towards anyone.
This was a controversial call, and unfortunately a call like this is not going to get the benefit of the doubt. Especially (without data) 95% of these calls are made at the regional and state meet, when there seem to be few calls during the regular season.
Also, why is it that an athlete from Western Tech gets DQed for the entire meet for having electronics, but Buffington was only disqualified from one event. 4-6-1 and 4-6-2 don’t seem equally applied.
Maryland follows NFHS, and this rule is an NFHS rule. Maryland can’t amend the rulebook. But in reality, there is no reason to amend the rules here. Something like this rarely happens. But the officials should probably have let this go. Buffington is a celebrity, and would they have made the same call on someone else?
With that being said, I hate seeing kids celebrate pulling their jersey out when they win a race, but amazingly when they don’t win, they don’t do that. You are wearing the same jersey whether you win or don’t win. Also, if you point to the sky, you should be consistent. If you win, point to the sky. If you have the worst race of your life, you should still point to the sky. Just seems like the logical approach. Otherwise, it’s just arrogance.
Maryland HS alum getting disqualified at ACCs this year