Iditarod officials decide to reconsider blind musher's petition (What's next?)

Anchorage Daily News ^ | July 30, 2003 | ZAZ HOLLANDER

[AlaskaErik]

WASILLA -- After putting off a decision in June, Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officials will reconsider special accommodations for a legally blind Oregon teenager bent on competing next year.

Iditarod Board president Rick Koch has scheduled a special meeting for Sept. 19 with an agenda focused on two questions, Koch said Tuesday.

[AlaskaErik]

Once again ADA is abused in order to fulfill personal ambitions. What's next...blind Indy race car drivers? When will the madness stop?

[ClearCase_guy]

Obviously, the course should be paved, and have ramps installed at all the tough spots. Gotta be fair, you know.

[Rebelbase]

Isn't the race a reinactment of an historical event?

[laweeks]

I'm still surprised that the NBA hasn't had to install ramps around the baskets to help shorter people slam dunk. I'm sure it's coming. Of course, a separate lower "handicap only" basket should suffice, doncha' think?

[bedolido]

Will the first dog have to be painted white with a red head?

[garyhope]

Let her go with no snowmobiles, no radios. Let her get lost and suffer the consequences. Shame to waste all of those good dogs though.

[JoeFromCA]

I want to compete in Olympic ice skating but I don't know how to ice skate. How do I go about applying for an exception, so two people can hold me up on the ice?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

If the person is blind, then how is it they are actually guiding the sled? What ability have they proven? This doesn't seem to make any sense.

[bedolido]

Why don't they just teller her she's in the race and let her go off into the forest... keep tabs on her and give her a medal when you think she's gone far enough.

[spoiler2]

"Race organizers are allowing her to use visual interpreters on snowmachines."

I assume the interpreters would be using wireless radio to communicate with her. This would be somewhat like 'spotters' during automotive race events.

If she's allowed, then ALL other competitors should have the same advantage of using spotters. It's only fair!...right?

[ClearCase_guy]

I believe it is a commemoration, or re-enactment of the dog sled run to deliver Diptheria medicine to Nome Alaska in the mid-1920's. The lead dog of one leg of the "race" was Balto. He has a statue to Central Park, NYC and was represented in an animated Disney movie.

There were in fact multiple teams, and while Balto got the glory, there were many other heroes.

[Mr. Bird]

I sadly acknowledged as a teenager that I'd never be a Major League baseball player. I'm now dealing with the fact that it is highly unlikely that I will ever be able to play golf for a living. Both circumstances are a result of my physical inability to compete fairly with those who do.

If I were to petition MLB to require pitchers to lob the ball in, or the PGA to give me strokes, I'd be laughed out of the building, and rightly so. But, if I chop off my leg, gouge out my eye, or maybe even acquire a disease, I may strengthen my case. This makes a tremendous amount of sense, does it not?

[ClearCase_guy]

If she's allowed, then ALL other competitors should have the same advantage of using spotters. It's only fair!...right?

A good point. The idea of the spotters would be to tell her "You're off the trail, coming to a cliff, better turn around before you kill yourself." But imagine a sighted sledder, with no spotters, in a blizzard -- they'd be in danger of getting lost, right? or going over the cliff, right? I guess it's tough luck to you if you have no handicapps.

[Mr. Bird]

"I can assure you that an exclusionary decision such as the one taken by the (Iditarod board) ... is exactly what we in Congress intended to prevent when we enacted the ADA," Harkin wrote.

Spokesmen for the Senate were to confirm that his presence was thanks to a "reasonable accommodation" of his idiocy.

[Rebelbase]

Next question: Were any of the original mushers blind?

[The Great RJ]

I think the NFL should be required to allow the use of motorized wheelchairs. For a few teams that might actually help.

[Iwo Jima]

If they allow this, they should just go ahead and change the name of the race to "Idiotrod."

And "mush" would describe what's in their head.

[anniegetyourgun]

The race officials will give in....with eyes wide shut.

[Iwo Jima]

If the person is blind, then how is it they are actually guiding the sled? What ability have they proven?

I believe that it is called "riding."

[hosepipe]

This is laughable..
Although the dogs are not blind, to allow this, someone surely is..
I live by the headquarters of the Iditarod.. These guys are idiots to even consider such a thibg. Obviously the sheer size of Alaska the varied kinds of terrain, weather during those months and difficulty for even a sigted person are unknown to these people. Maybe with another dog team following but that would defeat the purpose of the race. I say let the blind guy do something easier and safer like mountain climbing.