The Corner of Controversy and Criticism- 2/8/2015
Cheating in sports. Is it right or is it wrong? Does it require punishment or should it be overlooked? There has been a lot of talk ever since the alleged deflate gate was brought to the forefront of the NFL. Jerry Rice admitted he used an illegal substance called stickum. He said everyone cheated in his era and no one ever got caught. You can add this to the list of spygate and the bounty scandal. The problem is the NFL gets away with it because the NFL is protected by the government. The reason they are is because the NFL gives the largest donations to political organizations and it also employs a lot of people. It also brings in a lot of money and people would be lost without football. Why do you think the federal government stepped in when the NFL referees were on strike. The message that it’s sending is that you if you cheat in football you can get away with it. If you cheat in any sport you will be punished. Look at those who have cheated in baseball. They have been severely punished. Cheating needs to be viewed equally across the board in every sport. To those people saying everyone does or what’s the big deal, what kind of message is that sending your children? Do you want your children to think cheating is okay and live a life of being dishonest? In the working world if you try cheat or shortcut your job you get fired. It should be the same exact way in sports
The other big problem I have been having is that the amount of drug use going in the UFC. You first had Jon Jones testing positive for cocaine a month before his fight. Then Anderson Silva tested positive for steroids pre-fight, and Nick Diaz tested positive for marijuana post-fight. Punishment needs to be across the board on this. I am sure Diaz will be the scapegoat again and Silva will get off easy like Jones. Eventually if this keeps up the UFC is going to end up in front of congress like baseball was. Dana White, key executives of UFC, past and present fighters will be called to testify which won’t be pretty. I am pretty passionate about not cheating, equality, and fairness in all things especially sports. Sports is an outlet that people look to so they can be distracted in life. People love sports because it’s competitive and gives them something to cheer for. How can it be competitive when athletes are cheating. That’s not competition, it’s trying to get ahead. Athletes do it in every sport whether it be the NFL, NHL, NBA or in the MLB.
Hopefully next week we will go a week without hearing about cheating. It gets old hearing about it after awhile and it tarnishes the sports where it takes place. If you want to lie, cheat or steal get into to politics and not sports. Until then, be strong, be safe and believe in yourself. Controversy Doesn’t Come Without Criticism!
