By Rikki Frohmader | Staff Writer

CORRECTION

Is it always necessary to break to rules to win? Do the good guys ever win?

*Wu-Tang playing in the back, “Cash Rules Everything Around Me…Dolla dolla bill yall!”

What would you do to obtain the highest level of success? Would you make a pact with the devil to access wealth, power, and money?

In the world of sports but really society in general, the need for success, the glory and everything that comes with it is the goal of many.

However the definition of success and great achievement varies, especially in athletics. Some view success as having a winning record, or the best players, or even perhaps having the most players to obtain their degree and moving to use that education to better themselves outside of sports.

The goal that most times outweighs all the others is the undying need to win and in college sports that tells the history and success of an athletic program.

Unfortunately with that comes ones who will do anything to win, even figuratively, or perhaps very realistically speaking sell their soul to win. But is that really necessary?

Countless programs have signed contracts with the Devil, making deals to capture power and success in exchange for their souls and this evil has thrived even more so when good men say nothing.

For instance, Memphis Men’s Basketball program in 2007-2008 led by Coach John Calipari and then freshman, now NBA star Derrick Rose underwent a scandal that exposed the cheating that was present within that program.

It was discovered that Derrick Rose did not take his SAT his senior year, but rather had someone else take it.

Baylor’s Women’s Basketball program went undefeated, winning the national championship for the 2011-2012 season.

However, scandal erupted shortly after when it was discovered that contact with star player Brittney Griner had been made too early and often in her prep career, which is illegal by the extent it was taken.

Both the Baylor Women’s and Men’s Basketball programs lost scholarships and faced other sanctions that possibly did put a hindrance on their programs.

In men’s sports, especially basketball and football where the most money is made it is has been discovered numerous times that players have been given benefits that are illegal to receive in college sports.

These benefits include gear, money, and everything in between which technically could make that player no longer an amateur but rather a paid professional.

Cheating is too commonplace in sports and most times is not found out and punished. Take this idea of cheating to win down to the junior college level and you will find that it is just as widespread as in Division 1 sports.

Take for instance coaches who recruit players outside of their recruiting district or area, ever wonder why there are players on a roster who are from the east coast or various other areas? Maybe this defiance, this want to break the rules to win says that the people who do this really do not have faith in their community to produce successful student athletes or that the athletes somehow are not capable of being both intelligent on and off the court, field or in and out of the pool.

If a coach, player, or school official so willingly cheats, what else would they willingly do, besides teach their players how to break the rules?

To me that would say that a coach who cheats cannot possibly be teaching their players anything. What people need to realize is that there is more to life than athletics.

At the college level, athletes should be a strong combination of both students and athletes, not a strong combination of cheaters and athletes with large egos that cannot survive outside of their athletic play.

Read a book, the good guys do win in the end because they can go to sleep with a clear conscience or win a championship without worry someone might take it away due to violations.