Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
June 13, 2003, Washington Post

You're Only Cheating Yourself

Last week, Chicago Cubs star slugger Sammy Sosa swung at a pitch and shattered his bat. When the umpire looked at the pieces of the broken bat, he threw Sosa out of the game. Why? Because Sammy Sosa was using a "corked" bat.

That means someone had hollowed out a piece of the bat's wood and replaced it with cork. Corking the bat makes the bat lighter, so the player can swing it faster and maybe hit the ball farther. Corked bats are against the rules. So Sammy Sosa cheated.

Sosa claims that he did not mean to use a corked bat. But the sad truth is that some players in professional sports cheat. Through the years, pitchers, even Hall of Fame pitchers, have secretly put spit or Vaseline on the ball. Or they have scuffed the ball with jagged rings or even sandpaper. These things make the ball move in unpredictable ways and make it is harder to hit. All of these things are against the rules.

Players cheat in other sports too. In football, blockers hold on almost every play, even though holding is against the rules. They just hope the referees won't see it. In soccer, players flop on the ground, hoping that the referee will award their team a penalty kick. In basketball, players fake being fouled to try to get free throws. And almost every coach yells at the referee to try to get calls made for his team. Even if the calls aren't correct.

Maybe some of this stuff doesn't exactly seem like cheating, but it isn't really fair.

The attitude in pro sports seems to be: It isn't cheating unless you get caught.

So if some pros cheat, does that mean it's okay for kids to cheat or bend the rules in their games? Is it okay for a kid to fake fouls in basketball or soccer, or yell at the refs, or even fib about his age or where he lives so he can play in an easier league?

No way. Kids should never cheat or take the easy way out, hoping the referee will make the call for them.

Why?

Well, first, because it's wrong. But also because there is a big difference between the big business of pro sports and real business of kids sports. It's a difference that parents, coaches and kids sometimes forget.

Kids should play sports to get better. Sure, they like to win just like everyone else. But the real reason to play in a sports league is to understand the rules of the game, learn the basics and then improve your skills. If a kid cheats, his team might win the game, but he's not a better player.

Think about one of the biggest cheaters in kids' sports: Danny Almonte. He was the 14-year-old kid who lied about his age and was the big star in the Little League World Series a couple years back. Do you think that it was helping Danny Almonte to become a better pitcher to throw the ball by a bunch of kids who were two or three years younger than he was?

No. He was a winning a few baseball games, but he wasn't becoming a better baseball player.

Danny Almonte (and his coaches) had forgotten the real reason kids should be playing sports. They had forgotten it isn't always about winning.

Something to think about the next time you want to argue a close play at the plate -- that maybe you know wasn't so close.