David Kuo of Beliefnet suggests that the sporting public’s response to cheating is becoming increasingly ambiguous. And that’s bad.
We can’t do anything about Barry Bonds anymore. His career is already almost over. His legal punishment awaits. But we can do something about the New England Patriots. We can say that yes, they are having an amazing season, but they cheated and that means that their attainments are marred. There needs to be a certain mark of shame that comes with cheating. Our children need to know that. Other teams and athletes need to know that. And most importantly we need to know that.
Meanwhile, Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated suggests that the guy who gave up Bonds’ record-breaking home run is more worthy of our respect than Bonds himself.