It has no integrity. It's about money. They take our money and they entertain us. 99% of the time we look the other way, wink wink, when they cheat for advantage, but every now something comes along to give us an opportunity to pretend that, as fans and human beings, we have morals and ethics. "The integrity of the game!" "The children!" But all along we've gleefully ignored any number of other questionable behaviors because we're so busy being entertained we "forgot" to notice them.

We created this. We reveled in its results. And not just steroids, our new boogey man, but all of it, throughout the history of professional sports. But now we're pretending to be shocked, shocked! there's gambling in this establishment.

Hypocrites.

Oh, we have all kinds of excuses for why this particular variation is different. (I'm still laughing about the guy who trotted out the FDA. Laff riots.) But in the end, we're all a bunch of frauds.

You want pure sport? Go watch the little kids at the park play kick ball. That's about as close as you're going to get. By the time they get organized, the cheating and maneuvering for unfair advantage has become standardized, and we ignore it. As parents we chant the Little League pledge for an organization as corrupt as any in sports. We talk about "team" and "sportsmanship," but our coaches are ego-driven savages and at a very young age our children are already being taught how to win without getting caught.

By the time they're pros they're way past redemption.

But, oh my, I do declayuh I did not realize those big men were cheatin'!

Bullshit. They always have been, and they always will. If you people really cared, you'd do the only thing that might have a chance of getting noticed. You'd quit buying the jerseys and the hats and the foam fingers. And more important than that, you'd quit watching.

But then what would you do?

Or you could be honest and admit that yeah, they DO cheat because it IS all about the money, but whatever, because it's still entertaining.

I love the self-righteous prattling of the deluded.

"a contest played on a level field" -- ha ha, nice one. No such thing, of course, but I'm amused that you imply it's possible. A boy can dream, I guess.

"it is invalid to argue that cheating is excusable because it is widespread and the rule does not make sense and the rule cannot be perfectly enforced" -- In sports, it's neither excusable nor inexcusable. It's as inevitable as the sunrise in any activity that involves money, ego, or both. Wring your hands all you want, you won't stop it. Furthermore, the moment you participate, whether with your wallet or your eyeballs, you're complicit.

"you do not belong in this discussion" -- Oops, did I forget to ask your permission?

"In 99.99999999999999999% of the time, file sharing involves copyright material, which matches the definition of STEALING to a t."

Prove this. Prove that it's even remotely near this figure. Show the data, show the research. Oh no! You can't. Because you just made that number up to support your hissy fit.

The sad thing is that in a way, you were sorta veering toward a valid point, but since you decided to go the "pull crazy, unsupportable numbers outa your ass" route, your credibility vanished.

Doesn't really care what happens now. Although it would be nice if the Obamadroids and the Clintonocrats would quit calling my freaking house asking for money. No, you people cannot have my money. I'm sure Mark Penn and Donnie McClurkin still have a few friends who can throw some dollars your way.

Except for U.S. Senators in bathrooms.

Okay, I admit I kinda find Lynx annoying, but unless the charges against me somehow involved Apple, Lynx is exactly the kind of person I'd want on the jury. If I lost, at least I'd know the deliberations would thorough and careful.

No. Really, I'm . . . *yawn* . . . um, what were we talking about?

They're both right.

After all, Huck probably knows his Bible pretty well, but that doesn't make him any less batshit crazy. If anything, it makes him MORE batshit crazy.

Roger wins!