A Confession (6)

Ok, so it's been a few months since my last confession...
I have to confess this past week in sports has me concerned about the moral compass of our society. I am an avid watcher of all things sports related. Baseball (Cubs), Football (Bears and Colts), Basketball (Purdue), Hockey (Blackhawks), Soccer (D.C. United), NASCAR (Tony Stewart) and much more - it's all a sporting smorgasbord for which I have a ferocious appetite. And then there was this bit of news...the New England Patriots were accused of cheating.

Now although I am miffed at the idea that the three time world champs were caught with their proverbial pants down, this is not what had me spitting nails. The bit that has gotten my ire is that the world seems to be perfectly fine with the cheating so long as the cheater is not caught. What?! Show after show, host after host, caller after caller on sports radio, TV, and the news seem to think it perfectly reasonable for anyone to cheat provided they don’t get caught. One after another expressed what seems to be the social commentary of our society, if you can get away with it, fine, but if you get caught shame on you.

What has happened to the good and decent play of the masses? Where are the Dudley Do Rights of the world? To be honest, most have vanished from the fields of play, the board rooms of our companies and eventually from the play grounds of our neighborhoods. The Patriots cheated. So what? So does every other team in the NFL, or so say some. So we are left with the Martha Stewarts of the world who thumb their noses at the rules and begin to play a game of “catch me if you can.” So long as one isn’t caught! That is the damning factor, not that it is morally and ethically wrong to cheat, but that one might get caught. In other words you didn’t cheat well enough!

So instead of teaching our kids how to play the game,instead of teaching them how to hit the ball, throw a good curve, play cover two defense, or make a good slap shot, instead of all this, parents, please teach your kids how to hit with a corked bat, throw a spit ball, make illegal films of teams, and throw a good left hook after you’ve pulled the player's jersey over his head. And above all teach your youngsters how to hide these cheating ways, for it is in this that society places the most weight. Did you get away with it son? Good.

The Friar