MESSAGE #930 Cheaters Never Prosper…
Former baseball superstar, Mark Grace once said, “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.”
Really, Mark?
Character goes a long way in my book. I just lost all respect for Grace. Well, not all, there’s always the chance that he was misquoted.
But here’s the point – I would rather my players give it their all without cheating and lose, than cheat and win. If they make it, they make it. If not, they will go on to be successful in business, art, music or cooking.
Cheaters cheat because they want to win more than anything else.
What are you playing for, the trophy?
Here, I’ll give you one. Will you be happy? I doubt it.
Winners never cheat and cheaters never win.
Somewhere along the line, as a society, we started focusing on the result; focusing on ourselves.
Well, we headed down the wrong path.
The key is staying in the present moment – enjoying the process. Focusing on helping others and making a difference.
People say nice guys finish last, but I disagree.
Nice guys are winners before the competition begins.
I have to totally agree with you here, Ed. I’ve seen a lot of people focusing only on the end result of whatever they may be trying to do, but only wind up giving up entirely on that goal because they expect to make a big jump from the starting line to the finish and not see what is going on between that process. So great post here Ed! And that’s some nice motivation for the few nice guys out there in this vast world. :]
Well said.The French footballer that handed the ball against Ireland is another example.
Then his guilty conscience got to him.
After running USTA L1+ events since 2002 I think I have witnessed every form of cheating in tennis from kids.The parents are complicit.Putting so much pressure on kids to win.
What the heck happened to “our sport” being about fun? I have never pushed my kids towards competitive tennis because since I have seen the dark side of the sport as a player,coach and tournament director/umpire it would not be fair to lead them into such a dysfunctional environment.
World Team Tennis has got it right.Billie Jean King recognized a long time ago that most people prefer team sports.
In that team setting tennis is at it’s best.Baseball will recover from the steroid/HGH cheating issue.
Tennis will always have cheaters because in very few sports do you allow the players to be their own umpires.As the kids always said to me,”when in doubt call it OUT!”.
This is a very well-made website! I’m impressed! Although under pressure cheating is sometimes the only resort….we can’t all be perfect!
Gasp! Cheating is never a resort in my book. If anything, try as hard as you can under pressure. The results will be results, but you’ll feel good about yourself in the end.
I agree that cheating is a bad thing to do. Although, I feel there would be no satisfaction in giving up a game when the ball was barely on the line. The coaches and family put you under a lot of pressure!