The unthinkable has finally occurred. Jeff Gordon was penalized for cheating on Thursday at the Daytona 500.Gordon’s car was found to be sitting too low to the ground. Even though Gordon won the qualifying race he will begin the Daytona 500 in the 42nd slot. Gordon's was the sixth team in three days to be caught with technical violations, and the season hasn't even begun.
Michael Waltrip, whose Toyota Camry failed inspection after an illegal substance was found in the gas line, committed the most serious of the violations.
His crew chief and team director were suspended indefinitely and kicked out of the Daytona International Speedway. Waltrip was docked 100 driver and car owner points.
Also in violation on Thursday were the teams of Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Scott Riggs, whose crew chiefs were all fined and suspended. All drivers also lost points reported Fox News .
Most sports have volumes of pages specifying and defining every rule and activity possible within the sport. Not so with NASCAR.
At 184 pages, the 2007 edition of the NASCAR Nextel Cup rulebook is nearly twice as long as it was two years ago (96 pages), but it's still not much wider or longer than a checkbook. The fact that every roll bar, rear view mirror, and rocker arm is covered within such a small amount of type means there is a lot of room for "interpretation".
Cheaters.
They’re everywhere. Trying to bend the rules without breaking.
Cheaters operate in the belief that somehow they will be able to achieve legitimate victories through illegitimate means. The problem is that it simply is not possible. Cheaters convince themselves that avoiding approved avenues of action will somehow bring them a success with value but it won’t.
I would rather genuinely earn second place than cheat my way into first place. There’s no value in a dishonest effort, even if it wins. This is the reason why no one celebrates Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire. Their efforts and great achievements are wounded from the dishonest means that achieved them.
Being genuine is always better than being dishonest.
It is better to admit or suffer a genuine failure than to celebrate a fraudulent success.
It’s a pity that talented, driven and often clearly creative people resort to cheating; the lazy man’s method of success. They spend energy, that could be harnessed to achieve legitimate success, to mire their reputation and their efforts in the gray areas of deception and half-truths.
It never ceases to amaze me the dichotomy that exists in public opinion regarding cheaters.
There are those who say, “Everyone does it. It’s no big deal to cheat.” Yet watch as Tyco or Arthur Anderson flushes stock down the tube and they get sued and sent to court.
Also in violation on Thursday were the teams of Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Scott Riggs, whose crew chiefs were all fined and suspended. All drivers also lost points reported Fox News .
Most sports have volumes of pages specifying and defining every rule and activity possible within the sport. Not so with NASCAR.
At 184 pages, the 2007 edition of the NASCAR Nextel Cup rulebook is nearly twice as long as it was two years ago (96 pages), but it's still not much wider or longer than a checkbook. The fact that every roll bar, rear view mirror, and rocker arm is covered within such a small amount of type means there is a lot of room for "interpretation".
Cheaters.
They’re everywhere. Trying to bend the rules without breaking.
Cheaters operate in the belief that somehow they will be able to achieve legitimate victories through illegitimate means. The problem is that it simply is not possible. Cheaters convince themselves that avoiding approved avenues of action will somehow bring them a success with value but it won’t.
I would rather genuinely earn second place than cheat my way into first place. There’s no value in a dishonest effort, even if it wins. This is the reason why no one celebrates Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire. Their efforts and great achievements are wounded from the dishonest means that achieved them.
Being genuine is always better than being dishonest.
It is better to admit or suffer a genuine failure than to celebrate a fraudulent success.
It’s a pity that talented, driven and often clearly creative people resort to cheating; the lazy man’s method of success. They spend energy, that could be harnessed to achieve legitimate success, to mire their reputation and their efforts in the gray areas of deception and half-truths.
It never ceases to amaze me the dichotomy that exists in public opinion regarding cheaters.
There are those who say, “Everyone does it. It’s no big deal to cheat.” Yet watch as Tyco or Arthur Anderson flushes stock down the tube and they get sued and sent to court."Do what you must to get ahead in life" but when Martha Stewart lies about stock trades she gets 6 months in the cooler.
When we cheat our boss or our family we say, “No Harm, No Foul” but when Ken Lay destroys Enron employees retirement suddenly we cry “Foul!”
We’ll cheat a little here and a little there but when Sammy Sosa corks a bat it causes everyone to acknowledge that there is a difference between right and wrong. Suddenly moral relativism doesn’t make much sense.
The bottom line is that there is a real and understood line between right and wrong. We can avoid it and pretend it doesn’t apply to us, or our situation but, that doesn’t erase the line. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong.
When we cheat our boss or our family we say, “No Harm, No Foul” but when Ken Lay destroys Enron employees retirement suddenly we cry “Foul!”
We’ll cheat a little here and a little there but when Sammy Sosa corks a bat it causes everyone to acknowledge that there is a difference between right and wrong. Suddenly moral relativism doesn’t make much sense.
The bottom line is that there is a real and understood line between right and wrong. We can avoid it and pretend it doesn’t apply to us, or our situation but, that doesn’t erase the line. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong.
Grandma said it best. Cheaters never win and winners never cheat.
1 comment:
Yes she did and she was always right.
God bless her.!
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