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Cheating unacceptable in any sport

Bethany Bruner

Cheating is bad. Every athlete from Little League to the major leagues knows it. And that includes Derek Jeter.

Why then, if Derek Jeter knows cheating is bad, did he fake getting hit by a ball during a recent game against Tampa Bay?

No matter what he says about the bat vibrating, which caused him to turn and the ball may have brushed his leg — the real answer is in a snippet of a quote he gave after the game.

A reporter asked Jeter where the ball hit and Jeter said the bat. He openly admitted the ball did not hit him, but then he added that the umpire told him to go to first base. In Jeter's words, "I'm not going to tell him I'm not going to go to first."

Jeter's attitude is one that too many athletes have today. He cheated. Since the ball hit his bat, he should not have been awarded a base. Jeter saw an opportunity and he milked it for all he could. Most athletes wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing if it benefited their team.

What happened in that baseball game is no different than what happens in a lot of games around the sports world. Jeter's actions are no different than a hockey player acting a little too much to try and draw a penalty or a basketball player hitting their own arm on the way up to shoot a layup.

Some people might say what Jeter did wasn't anywhere close to cheating. His action didn't have a major impact on how the game ended. It wasn't like he was using steroids or corking his bat.  One term being tossed around is "gamesmanship."

It doesn't matter what word you use, it all comes down to cheating.

Granted, the culture of sports today has evolved into soccer players rolling around in the grass with one eye on the referee to see if a card will be given. But just because it has become that way doesn't mean it's the right way for it to be.

Now you ask, even if a single incident like a flop in a basketball game that draws an offensive foul has no obvious impact on the outcome of a game is that cheating?

To put it simply, yes.

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Every single play of every game affects the outcome. Every time a player misses a shot, that's two points the team won't have.  If the final is a one-point game, every missed shot has an immediate impact on the outcome.

That basket that got waved off because of the offensive foul? It just became the game-deciding call. Is it still "just a part of the game" now? Not if your team loses.

In low-scoring sports like hockey or soccer those calls become even more important when they happen around scoring opportunities. One flop is all it takes to change the momentum of a game.  

One whistle. One no call. One ball hitting a bat or not hitting a bat. One facial expression to convince a referee there was a foul or penalty where there wasn't.

That's all it takes.