Teter riders gain respect

Little 500 teams without storied traditions often complain about not receiving respect from the established giants of the men's field.\nThese are the same teams that get pushed around during afternoon practices and spend the sessions riding on the outside by themselves.\nTeter, which finished second Saturday, used to be one of those teams. \nBefore Saturday, Teter's best performance was in 1990 when the team came in 10th. Teter's next-best finish was 18th in 1988. Six times in the 1990s, the residence hall didn't even compete in the race.\nDespite qualifying 10th for this year's race and finishing eighth in Team Pursuits, it's doubtful many of the giants such as Phi Gamma Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Delta Chi, Phi Delta Theta, Cutters and Chi Phi viewed Teter as a threat. \nThat all changed during about Lap 162 of Saturday's race when the team broke away and opened a more than 100-meter lap lead on the rest of the field. Teter didn't have the firepower eventual-winner Phi Delta Theta had, but it still recorded a second-place finish. \n"Maybe we didn't win today, but we made a lot of teams hurt in the process," senior David Eaton said, "which made our race easier."\nWhen Eaton arrived at IU four years ago, Teter didn't have a team. Saturday his team was leading \nthe race with 10 laps to go.\nEaton called controlling the race "unbelievable" and said it was not something he thought of before Saturday.\nTeter controlling the men's Little 500 was not an idea too many people outside the team thought was possible a week ago. \nTeter proved Saturday what a group of dedicated and smart riders can accomplish in a race that's controlled by the same giants almost every year.\nIt's easy to be gracious and talkative in victory. It's not always easy in defeat.\nThe Cutters proved this shortly after recording a seventh-place finish. \nThe team had little reservation blaming its troubles on the officials. Apparently, it was the officials' fault the Cutters were out of contention with more than 150 laps remaining.\nSometimes it seems like the Cutters are so geared toward winning they forget what the race is about -- fun. \nBefore the race, multiple riders from almost every team paraded around the track during pre-race introductions. Most of the teams had their entire team participate in the introductions, except for their lead riders, who were warming up on rollers. \nSeconds after the Cutters were announced, they ducked under the infield ropes and cut across the infield to their north side pit. \nThe Cutters are known for having their own way of doing things, and representing themselves to the fans during their last few minutes as defending champions during introductions must not be the "Cutter way."\nThe most courageous rider of the race was Chi Phi junior Rick Darlington. \nDarlington was involved in a wreck on Lap 172, which knocked the team out of contention.\nDarlington came off the track with his face so bloody it looked as if he had been thrown through a windshield. Cinder was imbedded in both of his knees, but less than 20 laps later, Darlington hopped back on the bike to complete another set.\nIt would have been easy for anyone in Darlington's shoes to not get back on the bike after the emotional disappointment and physical beating he received from the crash. But not during this race on this day.\nFootball coach Cam Cameron was one of the guests introduced before the men's race. As he was riding around the track in a car with his three sons, Cameron received some "boos" from the crowd. \nWhere are all these boos during football games? Cameron probably deserves criticism for leading the football team to only 14 wins in four years, including three in 2000, as head coach.\nIt seems kind of odd that many of the same fans at Saturday's race don't boo Cameron during fall afternoons at Memorial Stadium. Could alcohol consumption have had anything do with the crowd's reaction toward Cameron? \nCameron probably had no idea he was going to receive such a cold greeting. At least he showed up, which is more than we can say for some of IU's top administrators.\nDuring Phi Delta Theta's victory celebration, one of the fraternity's members was in tears hugging the team's riders and proclaiming Saturday as the "Greatest Day of his Life."\nThe student didn't ride in the race and probably won't remember much of Saturday besides what his friends tell him in the following days, weeks, months and years. But aren't fans like this and the hundreds of dedicated riders what the Little 500 is all about?