Does the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark civil rights act protecting an individual with a physical or mental impairment, require leveling the playing field to permit the disabled athlete to compete fairly?
Will sports fans see two bounces in tennis at Wimbledon, four strikes at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, enlarging the basketball rim during March Madness or a head start for track and field athletes during the Olympics?
Did Casey Martin, a professional golfer with Klippel-Trenaunay- Weber Syndrome, a degenerative circulatory condition affecting blood flow, who was allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court to use a golf cart to take him from one shot to the next while his competitors were required to walk, forever change the rules of games in sports?
Did the mandate to level the playing field in sports undermine the essence of athletic competition?
As far as can be seen, Casey Martin demonstrated the power of the human spirit. Gifted disabled athletes are now competing in sports, thanks to the heroic efforts of Casey Martin, who opened the door to demonstrating what is possible with reasonable accommodations to the rules of the game.
The athlete who is deaf poses challenges in sports where the whistle is utilized to begin and end play. For example, a high school athlete who is deaf competing in football may be entitled to an interpreter positioned on the field to notify the deaf athlete when the play has ended.
In swimming, the start of a race is usually indicated orally. A voice-activated visual light signal controlled by the starter's voice could be utilized to indicate the start of the race.
Over time, disabled athletes have completed at the highest level of sports. Jim Abbott, a professional pitcher with the California Angels who was born without a right arm, was permitted to spin the baseball in his left hand, a conflict with the motionless rule, to avoid the batter identifying the pitch.
Tom Dempsey, a professional football player born with a partially formed right foot was permitted to wear a special kicking shoe approved by the NFL. Pete Gray, a Major League baseball player lost his right arm in a childhood accident, went on to play 77 games with the St. Louis Browns in 1945, batting .218. Gray was a right-handed player but learned to use his left hand. His glove was modified by removing the padding to allow him to hold the glove in his fingertips, thereby allowing him to discard the glove quickly to field a softly hit ball.
The floodgates have not been opened as the PGA, who were the defendants in the Casey Martin case, may have feared. Yes, several more disabled high school athletes have participated in the games of pleasant diversion, such as a learning disabled student competing in track and field, the football player with HIV, the baseball player with a mental disorder, the wrestler with cerebral palsy and the blind gymnast.
Casey Martin has continued to compete in professional golf since the Supreme Court declared that the use of a golf cart would not fundamentally alter the nature of golf. His tournament success has been less than he had hoped for; in 2004 he made the cut just twice in eight nationwide tour events. His best 2004 finish was 12th at the Oregon Classic. He appeared in two PGA Tour tournaments in 2004, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and Chrysler Classic of Tucson and twice finished 69th.
In 2003, Martin made the cut in 11 of 22 starts on the Nationwide Tour. His 2005 competitions involve the Spanos Tour in early May, sponsored by Alex Spanos, the owner of the San Diego Chargers, with a first prize award of only $19,000.
Martin may not have found great success on the links as of late, but the success he established in the court of public opinion is resounding. Doors have begun to open wide enough to permit the disabled athlete an opportunity to compete on a level playing field with the non-disabled athlete. For this, we as sports fans should be forever grateful.
Martin continues to hit shots and keeps coming back, at least for the next year or so and then expects to move on and do something else. I expect you will see him in Nike ads as a champion and ambassador for the game of golf.
Donald Stone, the associate dean in the University of Baltimore's office of academic affairs, wrote this column for The Daily Record. The opinions expressed are his and not necessarily those of The Daily Record.
Copyright 2005 Dolan Media Newswires
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