Crime Pays… in some pro sports

In last week’s New York Times, the front-page article was titled, “Baseball’s Integrity Crisis: Doctored Balls.”  Cheating in sports has been bothering me for a long-time now!  It is one reason why I retired from all fantasy sports in 2019 and have not read any sports box scores (those that know me this is crazy) since 2019.

The money is sports is so lucrative that it often “pays to cheat!”  Most sports do NOT have a clear policy against cheating, and those that do, do NOT take back performance bonuses earned due to cheating.  Baseball cheating is probably the worst of all sports, other sports are not far behind. 

See some of the most memorable cheats below:

1. Lance Armstrong: Lance, a former American bike racing specialist (and cancer survivor) won 7 consecutive “Tour de France” races from 1999-2005 and catapulted the sports global popularity.  Lance was investigated and stripped of all his medals; however, he earned over $125 million during his career.
2. Bob Baffert: Arguably horse racing’s most famous trainer, his 2021 Kentucky Derby winning horse, Medina Spirit, was treated with an ointment containing a steroid, which caused him to fail the postrace drug test.  Medina Spirit’s failed drug test is the 5th medication violation in the past 13 months for Baffert.
3. Ben Johnson: On September 24th, 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson ran the 100-meter dash in 9.79 seconds to win the gold at the summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.  He tested positive for steroids 3 days later and was stripped of the medal. 
4. Tim Donaghy and Pete Rose: NBA referee Tim Donaghy was a gambling addict who made bets on the games he refereed.  Pete Rose, who was a player and manager also bet on games he managed.  Donaghy resigned from the league amidst an FBI investigation that he bet on games that he officiated.  Donaghy pled guilty and spent 11 months in jail.  Pete Rose was suspended from baseball for life!
5. Serena Williams: Serena Williams received illegal coaching signals during her 2018 U.S. Tennis Open Finals loss to then 20-year-old Naomi Osaka.  Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, admitted to sending her signals saying, “all the coaches do it!”  She received a warning, then a one-point penalty for racket abuse, then a game penalty for verbal use of chair umpire Carlos Ramos calling him “a liar and a thief!”  She made $1.85 million as the 2018 runner-up.  She was NOT penalized for cheating, nor did she have to return any winnings from finishing 2nd!
6. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez:  These 3 major league baseball players (and many others) have been accused of taking PEDs (performing enhancement drugs).  Clemens “misremembered” and only Alex Rodriguez was given a 1 season suspension.  Although these 3 may never make the hall of fame because of it, they have made many millions since those accusations.
7. The Houston Astros:  The Houston Astros were caught using technology to steal signs from opposing teams during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.  They beat the Yankees, then the Dodgers and won the 2017 World Series.  No players were fined, nor did they lose playoff bonus money.  Instead, the league fined the Astros $5 million (the maximum allowed) and suspended the general manager and manager 1 season each. 
8. New England Patriots: In what was called “Spygate,” the Patriots were disciplined by the NFL in 2007 for videotaping coaching signals during NFL games.  They were then caught illegally filming N.Y. Jet practices.  They even had a library of illegal videotapes from all teams across the league.  The NFL fined Bill Belichick $500,000 and the Patriots $250,000 and docked them a 1st round draft pick.  In 2014, Tom Brady was caught intentionally deflating footballs (which made them easier to catch) in the AFC championship game, which was known as “deflate-gate!” He was investigated but never fined.  In 2021, Bill Belichick is still coaching the New England Patriots!  

To me, it seems that Professional Sports not only need to clean up their act, they also need to clearly define and set stiffer monetary penalties for offenders as there are double standards across the board!  Why should players and teams like the Houston Astros and New England Patriots stop cheating when they are making 100’s of millions of dollars from winning, bonuses, and endorsement deals when they will only get a “slap on the wrist?”