By now, readers of this site have already learned Ramy Brooks was disqualified from the 2007 Iditarod over the weekend in response to behaviors he exhibited at Golovin, a village on the Norton Sound coast less than 100 miles from the finish line in Nome. Brooks passed through Golovin nearly a week ago and was observed yelling at his dogs and swatting them with a piece of a trail marker.
You can hear directly from Race Marshal Mark Nordman in the attached audio and get a quick summary of the events surrounding a story that is quickly drowning out the historic victory of Lance Mackey.
One interesting but little-noted side effect of this ruling: all mushers arriving in Nome after Brooks can now move up one slot in the standings.
UPDATE: The ADN reports (registration required) that Brooks may have done more than swat his dogs with a piece of trail marker. One Golovin resident reported seeing considerably harsher treatment.
Dear Ramy Brooks,
Why did you treat your dogs so bad?=[ In school I was doing a report on your currint standings in the Iditarod.I was shocked to hear my teacher say that my guy was … ,so right now i’m doing a project
Jamie,
Unfortunately, in situations like this, there are a great many people who make a ‘rush to judgement’ without gathering all of the facts, and Ramy Brooks is not available to share his perspectives on what exactly took place, which, in the minds of many people, is proof enough of his guilt.
Never assume that a person is guilty - assume that there are going to be different views of the incident, and form your opinions based on all of the facts as they come to light.
I’ve only recently been aware of an update to the ramybrooks.com website. If you visit the website, you’ll see the press release.
What you’ll also see are the results of an independent veterinarian who performed a detailed examination of all of the dogs Ramy Brooks used in the race. Rather than give you a summary of the results, I’ll let you and other interested readers see for themselves.
Visit http://www.ramybrooks.com
I should add that even though it wasn’t necessary, Ramy Brooks paid for the examination out of his own pocket, and then chose to share those results to the public. Everyone has a right to their opinion - I’m not going to be able to sway people who are resolutely convinced he’s guilty. But if you’re looking for more details to have an informed opinion, I’d invite anyone interested to read it first.