Viral wrestling hair cutting incident

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Daniel Fox

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I would like to get the opinion regarding the hair cutting incident in New Jersey. I welcome everybody’s opinion, but I would especially like to get the opinions of active coaches, and former competitors. This story has gone viral, and every major news network has covered it. In case you have been living under a rock for the last 5 days here is a link to the story.


https://abc7news.com/society/nj-high-school-wrestler-forced-to-cut-locks-or-forfeit-match/4949073/


Here are some facts about the incident

1. The referee had been disciplined two years ago for using a racial slur (he did apologize for it).

2. There are grooming standards in wrestling, and part of the grooming standards has to do with hair length. Usually this is solved with an approved hair cover.

3. If the referee feels there is a violation, he usually lets the wrestler know during the weigh ins, apparently the referee showed up to the meet late, and gave the wrestler an ultimatum literally minutes before the match.


While I don’t think there is any argument over whether or not the referee is an asshole, he obviously is, the question is; Was it a racist act? The story is going viral, the family of the wrestler hired a lawyer, and the Attorney General of New Jersey is investigating whether the incident was a Civil Rights Violation. On one hand the kid was humiliated, but on the other hand the Referees name and picture has been plastered on every single News outlet in the United States and beyond. If the referee was just a stupid asshole, does he deserve to be branded a racist for the rest of his life?


I honestly do not know what to think, it is very possible that the Referee may have been a racist, and his decision to cut the kids hair may have been influenced by his racial bias, but in a country that is run by the due process of law can this be proven?


In summary was this a legitimate news story about racism in America, or is it political correctness run amok?


I am interested in a civil debate on this matter, and due to the sensitive material of the subject, I want our differences of opinions to argued respectfully.
 
What is the acceptable length for hair according to wrestling rules? That is not something that was mentioned in the article you linked.
 
I blame the coach. The coach should have told the ref to shove it where the sun dont shine
 
TheMood said:
What is the acceptable length for hair according to wrestling rules? That is not something that was mentioned in the article you linked.
Click to expand...

I believe the hair is not supposed to extend over the ears or past the collar of a normal shirt. According to a New Jersey wrestling forum, the kid was warned in a prior match that his hair covering was illegal. However in other matches he was allowed to wrestle without any hair covering. I guess there is no consistency in the enforcing of the rules. Most of the people on the forum are in agreement that the referee is a douche bag. Regarding, the racial slur incident, it was at a private party and the N word was said in an argument over home made wine. Maloney was slammed to the ground by the guy who he offended, and he did apologize to the guy.
 
The ref may, or may not be a bigot. The ref is indeed an asshole.

I blame both coaches and the athletic commission as much as a power hungry referee. Both coaches should have stopped the match and forfeited both sides. The commission should make the rules clear that this issue should be taken care of at weigh ins.
 
awful, I still remember the disdain with which the white woman cut the kids hair

bet shes a racist too
 
A few things that conveniently get left out of this story:

Kid had been warned 2x previously about the hair and not having the correct equipment by 2 different impartial refs

Kids hair was out of compliance, he did not have the correct equipment. I speedo style swim cap does not work, it has to be attached to the headgear. There is a very good reason for this. Swimcaps come out every 10 seconds, causing the match to be stopped. When you try to do this, you put the ref in an impossible position which stop a match 20 times, or dq a kid.

Female wrestlers figure this rule out every single weekend a thousand times a year. They get DQ'd if they dont cut their hair or wear the correct equipment. Are we now supposed to think that every ref in America is also sexist because they enforce the rule for females?

Training/competing with someone with dreadlocks is brutal. You get burned to fuck all. One of my current training partners has dreads. They look cool. They dont feel cool. It isnt a rule targeting blacks, just like long hair rules isnt targeting females, and having to wear a singlet or fight shorts isnt targeting poor people who cant afford them.

This is on the coaches. They know the rule. They were warned about the rule 2x prior. They decided to say fuck it, we arent going to spend $4.99 on the correct equipment, and we dont need to follow this dumb rule. Other refs didnt notice it, lets hope this guy doesnt either.

Being a racist asshole has nothing to do with enforcing equipment rules that are there for a good reason, just like being a racist has nothing to do with match points or locking hands.
 
Dirty Holt said:
A few things that conveniently get left out of this story:

Kid had been warned 2x previously about the hair and not having the correct equipment by 2 different impartial refs

Kids hair was out of compliance, he did not have the correct equipment. I speedo style swim cap does not work, it has to be attached to the headgear. There is a very good reason for this. Swimcaps come out every 10 seconds, causing the match to be stopped. When you try to do this, you put the ref in an impossible position which stop a match 20 times, or dq a kid.

Female wrestlers figure this rule out every single weekend a thousand times a year. They get DQ'd if they dont cut their hair or wear the correct equipment. Are we now supposed to think that every ref in America is also sexist because they enforce the rule for females?

Training/competing with someone with dreadlocks is brutal. You get burned to fuck all. One of my current training partners has dreads. They look cool. They dont feel cool. It isnt a rule targeting blacks, just like long hair rules isnt targeting females, and having to wear a singlet or fight shorts isnt targeting poor people who cant afford them.

This is on the coaches. They know the rule. They were warned about the rule 2x prior. They decided to say fuck it, we arent going to spend $4.99 on the correct equipment, and we dont need to follow this dumb rule. Other refs didnt notice it, lets hope this guy doesnt either.

Being a racist asshole has nothing to do with enforcing equipment rules that are there for a good reason, just like being a racist has nothing to do with match points or locking hands.
Click to expand...

I agree 100% One of my training partners had dreadlocks for a year, during that period of time I could not get a a good front headlock on him, the hair created space and effected the tightness of my head lock. I too agree that the rule is legitimate.
 
Another detail conveniently left out...

Apparently the ref picked up a few of the hacked off dreds from the ground, started twirling them from his head while doing a bad Jamaican accent and shouting, “Ya maaan!!! I’m a Jamaican maaaaan!!”

Totally racist.
 
bowened said:
Another detail conveniently left out...

Apparently the ref picked up a few of the hacked off dreds from the ground, started twirling them from his head while doing a bad Jamaican accent and shouting, “Ya maaan!!! I’m a Jamaican maaaaan!!”

Totally racist.
Click to expand...
Whether the ref is racist or not, this is blatantly untrue. Call it what it is, we dont need to start throwing out fake news to support an argument.
 
If I were the ref and saw that the kid was about to agree to have his hair cut off in order to wrestle, I probably would have sternly told the kid that this was absolutely the last time he was going to be allowed to wrestle with dreads, and then I would have told the coaches to get a clue and stop dicking around and get the kid the proper headwear. Especially when the ref himself was late and if he were on time like he should've been then all this could've been avoided. I just don't like that the kid wound up being publicly humiliated, and the coach, ref, or somebody shouldn't have let it happen.
 
bowened said:
Another detail conveniently left out...

Apparently the ref picked up a few of the hacked off dreds from the ground, started twirling them from his head while doing a bad Jamaican accent and shouting, “Ya maaan!!! I’m a Jamaican maaaaan!!”

Totally racist.
Click to expand...
Are you serious
 
Dirty Holt said:
A few things that conveniently get left out of this story:

Kid had been warned 2x previously about the hair and not having the correct equipment by 2 different impartial refs

Kids hair was out of compliance, he did not have the correct equipment. I speedo style swim cap does not work, it has to be attached to the headgear. There is a very good reason for this. Swimcaps come out every 10 seconds, causing the match to be stopped. When you try to do this, you put the ref in an impossible position which stop a match 20 times, or dq a kid.

Female wrestlers figure this rule out every single weekend a thousand times a year. They get DQ'd if they dont cut their hair or wear the correct equipment. Are we now supposed to think that every ref in America is also sexist because they enforce the rule for females?

Training/competing with someone with dreadlocks is brutal. You get burned to fuck all. One of my current training partners has dreads. They look cool. They dont feel cool. It isnt a rule targeting blacks, just like long hair rules isnt targeting females, and having to wear a singlet or fight shorts isnt targeting poor people who cant afford them.

This is on the coaches. They know the rule. They were warned about the rule 2x prior. They decided to say fuck it, we arent going to spend $4.99 on the correct equipment, and we dont need to follow this dumb rule. Other refs didnt notice it, lets hope this guy doesnt either.

Being a racist asshole has nothing to do with enforcing equipment rules that are there for a good reason, just like being a racist has nothing to do with match points or locking hands.
Click to expand...


This is the most succinct write up of the incident i have seen. Thank you.
 
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