When I was a young military policeman one of my sergeants told me that the military is a direct reflection of the society it serves/protects. The vast majority of people are fine and upstanding citizens but many either by nature or by perceived opportunity choose the wrong path. As we look at the professional sports cheaters at the highest levels being exposed on a regular basis it becomes pretty obvious that sports is no different.

Many Americans held out hope that decency and honor reigned in sports. As an athlete I learned so many positive lessons from sports like how to deal with both defeat and victory. I also learned that most things worth doing are going to require time, patience, dedication and sacrifice. Although I was not a baseball fan growing up I remember people like Cal Ripken Sr that talked about doing things the Oriole way which meant you put forth the time and energy to perfect your craft and that their was no fast way to get the results you want.

It is truly unfortunate that so many people and institutions we thought of as pure have turned out to be anything but. The latest commissioner in denial is David Stern. He is saying all of the things he needs to in a sad attempt to protect his institution but anyone with common sense knows that the NBA likely has more than one cheating referee. They also happen to notice the fact that star NBA players never seem to foul out of games. Personally I would love to see games refereed fairly because some star players may not be stars at all if they do not receive preferential treatment.

The situation has become so acceptable that now we see entire fan bases either trying to justify or minimize the impact of cheaters. Look no further than (some) within the New England Patriots fan base. If you are a parent and your kid asks you about what Bill Belichek did what do you say? Well little Johnny/Jane, Belichek cheated but it didn’t help New England win. Really? The fact is the Patriots invested a lot of time and money into taping signals of opponents over many seasons so obviously they thought it gave them some kind of edge otherwise they would not have wasted time and resources doing it. How stupid do they think we are?

Some New England fans are in such deep denial that they mistake the outcry of football fans nation wide as jealousy and hatred of their Patriots. For the record I do not hate the Patriots and I certainly have no reason to be jealous as my team has three super bowl trophies at Redskin Park that no one ever questions. If anything, I feel sorry for the Patriots because as a journalist I know that history will not be kind to the NE franchise regardless of their note worthy accomplishments. Journalists like myself will determine the fate of Bill Belichek and Tom Brady when these men are up for hall of fame consideration. Legitimate questions will be raised about Tom Brady and was he really that good or did he benefit from an unfair advantage since we know his coach cheated? Will Belichek get into the hall of fame knowing that he cheated the game of football more than once?


General George Patton Said “All Glory is Fleeting” and people will not remember the championships and all of the wonderful achievements of the Patriots. Until another team comes along and does something worse the media will always bring up Bill Belichek and by association the Patriots as a the organization that cheated to get what they have. For those outside of the New England fan base that is the sad reality.

The bottom line is sports is a reflection of the society it serves. We deal with the effects of cheaters everyday in our own lives so we should not expect sports to be any different. We should also expect denial and minimization from the fans/supporters of the cheaters. If David Stern cares about the long term survival of his sport then he should welcome FBI investigations and do what is necessary to clean things up. Baseball, Football and the rest should use this period of exposure to clean up their acts as well. For those of us that do the right thing and put forth the necessary sacrifice and dedication to achieve great things in an honest fashion we should neither find cheating acceptable nor minimize its effects. No matter how much I love my Redskins, Capitals, Wizards or Nationals if they cheat I will never defend it or try to minimize it.

Contrary to popular opinion honor, hard work, sacrifice, discipline and a commitment to excellence never went out of style. Unfortunately too few of us are holding people/organizations to those standards and the results are pretty obvious.