As a USATF Master official, the object to officiating is not to crush individual rights to music, but to administer a compitition in accordance with the rules of compititon as determined by the athority of the compitition, i.e.: USATF. NCAA, etc. This is not done to accomidate the insurance coverage. In my 15 years of officiating, never once has there been a ruling because of the insurance requirements. The origin of the Ipod ban is not a result of the music or insurance regs, but of a time delay in the rules in relationship to the advancements in electronics. There are procedures to change and modify the rules of competition. This is not the officials' domaine, they are enforcers of the associations' regulations, not the creators.

The ban on electronics in competition is to create a level playing field, no advantage to any particular athlete because of an electronic devise, video recorder, communications device, or Ipod.