Winners never cheat, and cheaters never win.”
Or so we thought.
The headlines this morning in the New York papers were superb, and the story is now trending. It appears the Super Bowl bound Patriots have been caught red-handed yet again. Deflate Gate is the lead story everywhere, and highlights something that’s prevalent not only in sports but in life; people cheat.
I never realized it until we started playing board games last year with our daughters. The need to win was so intense that our eldest started trying to rig which card she pulled in Candyland. Or move her piece to premiere spots on the kids Monopoly board when she thought no one was watching. And when she isn’t the victor the tears start to flow. And not just crocodile tears, I’m talking pure agonizing defeat…over Old Maid!
Unlike our kids though, professional athletes are playing for the greatest prize, to be a champion. With that comes loads of money but more importantly glory. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to hear that the New England Patriots may have cheated again with under inflated footballs, as they were embroiled drama in 2007 with Spygate. Obviously someone on their staff knows something, but the story of athletes or teams cheating isn’t a new one. In baseball it’s performance enhancing drugs, same as cycling and the great Lance Armstrong. Cheating happens, and if it didn’t, there would be no need for referees.
Watching their hero’s fall though might be toughest on our littlest sports fans, and brings up a vital conversation we all need to have about dishonesty. While our children might be receiving mixed messages from the media (and their parents) about the importance of winning, we can all learn some lessons from the Patriots latest scandal.
Cheating is wrong. It’s a universal truth, karma will always come back and bite you. Though the people and athletes we admire might cheat, that doesn’t mean we do the same, or that we have to stop liking them. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s what you do afterwards that counts most.
No matter how much you lie about it, you will get caught. It may not be right away, it may take years before someone finds out…but deep down you will always know what you did. And most times our conscience is our greatest enemy. It’s vital to be truthful about cheating right away though to avoid further consequences for lying.
There will be many times this may come up in our parenting journey. In sports, board games, and even in school. And when stories like this pop up in the mainstream media, it’s an excellent way to teach at home. And if your kids are Patriots fans ask them, “do you think they deserve to be in the Super Bowl if they really did cheat?” Their answers might surprise you! And if they are frustrated with New England, remind them that life is full of disappointments, but it’s always better to win honorably.
Great post! It is very sad when kids see the players they look up to caught up in things like this!
We recently introduced our kids to monopoly and their attempts at cheating ranged from blatant (What? I’m just withdrawing some money from the bank…) to sly (as in collaborating with your sister so that your parents don’t see you place the die so you land on boardwalk.) It was eye opening for sure and I am sure it is all my fault.
Cheating is wrong. Fudging here and there is life. Where do you draw the line? Right here. Agreed, what you do afterwards absolutely matters and that’s why it’s even worse that such a well know person/industry/franchise is becoming known for what they do or rather what they DON’T do after they’re caught. It sends the wrong message to EVERYONE.
That’s why I think boardgames are so important for kids – and everybody. I remember we played a lot as children, and it was an important learning process to be able to lose with honor. Great post, thanks.
Cheating is so horrible, but Bravo to that headline! Bwahahaha @ Tom’s saggy balls!
My stepson is 8 y.o. and he hates to lose. Whenever we play Uno with him and he starts losing, he starts cheating. Once the cheating starts game over for him. We try and teach him cheaters never win.
Ugh, as a lifelong (okay, since high school) Pats fan, I have so many mixed feelings about this. It’s absolutely wrong, but… well, I guess trying to justify it doesn’t help anything. It’s hard to teach black and white to your kids when the world lives in shades of gray.
It is so disappointing to see athletes and celebrities think that they can get away with anything. It teaches kids that they can do the same, but no cheating is cheating! I haven’t been following Deflategate but I hope that there is some sort of consequences for their actions.
My family are huge sports fans. It is disappointing to see teams continue to try and win at any cost. I think a lot can be learned from how a team handles a scandal. So far all I’ve heard is “Not Me,” Not Me.” Hey, that’s the same person who left toys out, shoes in the floor or spilt something at my house!
Right? It’s ridiculous! You got caught, own up to it!!
Ok that headline is funny. The story though is not. I know a little of people who are sad to be seeing all of this play out.
To be honest my kids know nothing about deflate gate…..we don’t really follow football once our team is knocked out (we’re Chicago fans….so I’m sure you understand why we turned off the TV weeks ago…ugh). BUT, my big girl is a huge board game cheater. She’s totally done that thing with the Candyland card. She’s also really big on throwing a fit when she doesn’t win. We’ve had quite a few crucial conversations over the game of Monopoly before. Part of me doesn’t want to crush the competitiveness, but the other part of me just wants to shake her and make her realize while this is great, games are great, heck, even sports are great, they are not worth hurting family, they are not worth harming relationships, and they are not worth losing your self respect. It’s a hard lesson to teach and an even harder lesson to learn!!
Agreed! We of course have sports channels on quite a bit so it’s opened some dialogue.I think it’s important to teach them to lose gracefully. Yes it’s disappointing, and yes we all want to win, but at some point we need to just focus on the fun right?!
I just love this. You’re right that the natural desire to win can make all kids tempted to cheat. It makes me so sad when the people that they look up to cheat, and get away with it.
I know – and it happens too frequently with sports these days.
Ugh, I’m so over these grown adults cheating. It’s crazy! At least you could turn it into a life lesson. Its tough though since the Patriots keep winning.
That headline is great!!! This situation is a lesson, cheating is cheating… It’s hard to teach the kids the right thing when they see this stuff going on!
Oh this is brilliant, well written and a tough one to write! Both of our daughters are athletes, the oldest being in Track and cross country and being apart of the USA t&F association and competeing three years in a row at the USA T&F Junior Olympics and representing IL. She is and I think will always be disgusted with cheaters. She works hard to get where she wants to be, but knows that if she looses she has lost with honor and knowledge that she gave it her all. This year she had the opportunity to attend several D1 schools and run for them. She turned them down in order to attend San Francisco and follow her passion of writing. She didn’t want to go to a school and only give half of herself and let them down. She gets it.
It is a shame that professional athletes loose that somewhere along the way, or maybe just never had it. It is disgusting to be caught and still DENY!!!! Lance Armstrong, you were caught, just COME CLEAN!!! Patriots, you were caught, JUST come Clean…. I would have a little respect for you if you did that, but to deny deny deny, is just plain disgusting.
Thanks for a brilliant post…
xoxoxo
Great quote to share by Sophocles!!! You are right, it is indeed better to win honorably. 🙂
You know what is worse than cheating? Destroying a person’s reputation without knowing all the facts and worse not even wanting to know.
Absolutely. But that is another great lesson we can teach our kids don’t you think? The worlds and media’s rush to report it first instead of right?
well shouldn’t we lead by example? The more information that comes out on deflate-gate exonerates the Patriots. Weather and also how many balls were actually under inflated are a significant factor. A report yesterday by an employee of the NFL said the only ball seriously under inflated was the one handled by the Colts. The referee did not test the balls prior to putting them in play and many of the balls were just a tad under 12.5 and the other very close. Yet you use this as an example of the Pats cheating when you don’t have the facts. Wouldn’t this be more a lesson in malicious gossip or using another example of cheating?