Cheaters! Cheaters I tell you!

I have finished the book "A Game of Shadows - Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports" by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams.  I like sports.  The highlight of my trip to Boston this past summer was seeing a Red Sox game at Fenway, where I kept score. I watch hockey playoffs; my husband is so intense about his beloved Leafs that you get excited just being in the same room.  I host the Superbowl party every year, and I care about the Hammy: the trophy my husband plays for in his footbal fantasy league.  The Hammy currently has a place of honour on our coffee table in our living room.  The previous winner's wife had it (gasp) in the garage.  For shame.

Although I enjoy sports, I am not keen on keeping up with larger stories.  I knew about the steroids scandal: to me it was obvious that everyone was juicing. I did not know about the depth or the snakiness of the athletes involved. I mean how could these athletes deny that they were on steroids?! Look at them!!  We were watching a baseball game on ESPN classic from the 80's and they guys looked so small compared to today's athletes.  It's like they took a bunch of high school kids and turned them into linebackers. It's really quite stunning. 

The basic argument that Victor Conte (mastermind of the BALCO scandal) was that all athletes  at an elite level cheat. If you don't cheat by using performance enhancing drugs, you will not play and you definatly will not win.  So this begs the question: Do cheaters prosper? 

In the gaming industry there is a whole culture of using cheat codes to advance the game.  Is this really cheating? Do you use cheat codes?  I haven't. Not for any moral reasons, but because I just havne't felt the need. I do use the guide books extensivly for my RPGs.  Is this cheating?

What is the worst story about someone cheating that you know of?  I know one guy who was the ultimate scammer. But stupid.  This guy (and I can't believe I'm saying this) actually scammed his way onto the Oprah show.  I don't want to go into details about that (there were *consequences*), but I will share another story about the sma eguy.

The lads (my husband included) were in a fantasy baseball league in university.  One of those leagues where you draft real baseball players, then based on their stats, you get points. Whoever get the most points by the end of the season makes