“If you’re not cheating you’re not trying hard enough.” That ubiquitous quote from the sports pages can be traced back to at least the early 1970s. The concept permeates many different sports and is sometimes celebrated as evidence of a “will to win.”
“Winning isn’t everything — it’s the only thing,” from the namesake of the NFL Super Bowl trophy, Vince Lombardi, has become a measure of motivation way beyond football. The rest of the former Green Bay Packers coach’s comment on winning is not as often attached to the inspiration.
“The objective is to win: fairly, squarely, decently, win by the rules, but still win.” It is this portion of Coach Lombardi’s message that America so desperately needs to embrace. The scandal associated with Walleye tournament fishing on Lake Erie brings this thought to mind. Blade Outdoors Editor Matt Markey’s observation on the nationally broadcast Dan Patrick radio show, “that few outside the fishing world are aware of the money at stake,” well expresses what may have motivated the alleged cheating, and the public’s shock.
The story went national when social media was filled with video of the suspect Walleye catch being gutted to reveal lead weights and Walleye fillets inside. Their fish were opened because the reported weights were out of step with the length of the Walleye that experienced contestants can all easily gauge.
There are multiple investigations going on over weights and fillets found inside fish submitted as catch in a Cleveland tournament. The men behind the stuffed Walleye were suspended but they have won more than $300,000 in prior fishing tournaments. Those tournament prize winnings are suspect now, too, and the dollars involved make cheating to win a felony theft.
The issue of cheating in high-stakes tournaments is not restricted to fishing. The world of chess is aflame with allegations of cheating. So, too, is poker. The problem is a mixture of individual character and cultural corruption that can make cheating look clever, especially when pro athletes have glamorized the practice for at least 50 years.
But, unlike professional athletics, where competitive issues are left to league commissioners to handle internally, high-stakes tournaments fall into a legal jurisdiction. If the current investigation of Walleye tournament fishing uncovers evidence of cheating behind large prize winnings, prosecutors should charge to the full extent of the law and resist any effort on negotiated sentences.
A full public exposure of the how, when, and where of tournament fishing cheating would help restore the cultural balance between winning at any cost and winning by the rules.
First Published October 9, 2022, 4:00 a.m.
