If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying

Alex Rodriguez

One of baseball's biggest stars, Alex Rodriguez, recently admitted to cheating by using performance enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers. While many baseball fans are appalled and shocked—I’m not. Over the years, many star athletes have been caught taking drugs to enhance their game. Rodriguez wasn’t the first to get caught cheating and he won't be the last. Former Cubs player Mark Grace said "If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough."

As children, we are taught that cheaters never win and winners never cheat. If a child believes this going into high school, he or she may end up on the chess club instead of the football team or cheerleading squad. We are now learning that cheaters are only getting younger. 

Not only are high school students cheating in sports by taking performance enhancing drugs, they are also cheating on exams and plagiarizing term papers. The pressure to make good grades can decide whether a child attends Harvard or Nameless U. Stakes are high when competing for academic and athletic scholarships. 

So why do people cheat? 

People cheat to get an edge on competition or to just get ahead in life. We live in a competitive society where winning at all costs is all that matters. If you don't believe me, just see the NFL.

The NFL is the largest game in America that earns billions. Team owners shell out millions to coaches and players they consider potential winners. But when an NFL season ends, coaches that don’t win get fired and coaches that win earn contract extensions. Professional sports teams’ only want winners. 

To sum it up…society smiles upon winners and frowns on losers…only performance matters.  

Someone once said that winning isn’t everything…and if you believe that statement, you are either naive or played football for the 2008 Detroit Lions.