When I was in high school, teachers would normally sit us in rows of chairs alphabetically.\u00a0 That is why in chemistry and physics class, Laubach (me) was seated next to Miles (not me).\u00a0 I bring this up because I never really comprehended the personal value of chemistry or physics.\u00a0 I did not anticipate mixing strange ingredients nor did I concern myself with laws of physics (those things are going to happen anyway).\u00a0 I just wanted to keep my grades up.\u00a0 So, since my blog this week is going to be about cheating because it was so prevalent in the world of sports the past seven days, I felt I would be hypocritical if I did not initially confess my own sins.<\/p>\n
My classmate, Miles, is now Dr. Miles, MD (in other words, very smart) and you know what I am.\u00a0 It would be an understatement to say he got me through chemistry and physics.\u00a0 He sat next to me and, during tests, I may have glanced at an answer or two or three or ten (whatever).\u00a0 So I guess you could say I cheated.\u00a0 I feel comfortable saying this now because my Physics teacher has passed away and I\u2019m fairly certain my Chemistry teacher is not reading this stuff.<\/p>\n
And I, also, must confess that I often get inspiration for my blogs from the headlines and articles written about the news of the week.\u00a0 Even though I was going to write about this topic since the \u201cdeflategate\u201d report came out, AP writer Paul Newberry beat me to it.\u00a0 I would like to say he copied my thoughts, but he wrote his article<\/a> first.\u00a0 So, suffice it to say, I am not copying here, but adding my thoughts.\u00a0 Just saying\u2026<\/p>\n And Paul Newberry did not even write about this event.\u00a0 Two Saturdays ago, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao earned over $300 million for fighting in what was billed as the \u201cFight of the Century\u201d.\u00a0 It turns out that Pacquiao basically fought with just one arm as an undeclared shoulder injury<\/a> kept him from waging a very competitive fight.\u00a0 So the fans who put down untold dollars to see the fight LIVE or $89.99 for pay-per-view and, particularly, those fans who legally wagered on the fight were cheated.\u00a0 Either Pacquiao reveals his injury and gets the fight delayed or he makes everyone aware of his injury and they then decide where their money goes.\u00a0 He did neither.\u00a0 But he did get paid!\u00a0 By cheating us of the information, he, ironically, may have been the only one NOT cheated.<\/p>\n The \u201cdeflategate\u201d report<\/a>\u00a0 was issued this week, all 243 pages.\u00a0 The conclusion of the report is that the balls were definitely deflated by an employee of the Patriots prior to the AFC championship game.\u00a0 And, it appears that Tom Brady had knowledge that this was being done.\u00a0 The balls were easier to throw and probably easier to catch.\u00a0 Based on the rules of the NFL, this was cheating.\u00a0 Brady needs to be suspended and, due to guilt by association, the Patriots need to be fined.\u00a0 Tom Brady is one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks to play the game, but the image is now tarnished and rightfully so.<\/p>\n This leads me to A-Rod, Alex Rodriquez.\u00a0 This week, he hit his 661st<\/sup> home run, passing my childhood hero, Willie Mays, and moving A-Rod into third place all-time in home run totals.\u00a0 But, he cheated to accomplish that feat.\u00a0 A-Rod used performance-enhancing drugs for at least four or five years and during that time hit over 200 home runs.\u00a0 Barry Bonds is ahead of him in home run numbers.\u00a0 He, also, cheated.\u00a0 Let those two have a \u201ccheaters\u201d list of their own and keep the records of players like Mays, Babe Ruth, and Hank Aaron separated.<\/p>\n Isn\u2019t it time that all pro athletes act like pro golfers?\u00a0 Professional golfers call mistakes upon themselves and are immediately penalized for those mistakes.\u00a0 Often (ex: a ball moved while addressing it), the infraction is not their fault.\u00a0 But rules are rules and they abide by them.\u00a0 There are lessons here for Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Roger Clemens, etc.<\/p>\n If athletes confessed their cheating immediately upon being caught, we might even forgive them.\u00a0 C\u2019mon, Tom, be honest with us.\u00a0 Manny, tell us you should not have gotten into the ring.\u00a0 A-Rod, don\u2019t accept the accolades that come from passing Willie Mays. Look at me. I am glad I confessed my high school cheating right up front.\u00a0 Besides, the Statute of Limitations has passed (I hope).<\/p>\n ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When I was in high school, teachers would normally sit us in rows of chairs alphabetically.\u00a0 That is why in chemistry and physics class, Laubach (me) was seated next to Miles (not me).\u00a0 I bring this up because I never really comprehended the personal value of chemistry or physics.\u00a0 I did not anticipate mixing strange…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[578,577,576,324],"class_list":["post-76753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports","tag-alex-rodriquez","tag-delfategate","tag-floyd-mayweather-jr","tag-manny-pacquiao"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n