Each and every year, we see major professional sports bring in billions (with a B) of dollars in revenue. It doesn’t matter whether the money is spent on social issues, economic issues, or any other issue that may arise throughout the year. The point is that people watch sports no matter what else is happening in their lives. Regardless of your sport(s) of choice, we all get the same feeling while watching the most elite humans on earth do the things that we all wish we could do.

Whether you are a Yankee fan, Laker fan, or a Patriots fan, we all share a community with both the people who like our teams and the people who despise our teams. People either grow up cheering on the teams that their parents love or pick their own favorites along the way. Regardless, of how you got to where you are, your team is your team and if anyone says otherwise, you politely--yet firmly--ask them to leave. Nobody’s opinion can change how you feel.

Every year, it seems like there is some kind of cheating scandal going on in the sports world. From the steroid era in baseball to the fairly recent deflategate involving the patriots, you can bet that there will be something going on.

Now, I am not a fan of baseball. It is just too slow for me. I do however enjoy watching the highlights of guys crushing the ball hundreds of feet into the stands. I have joked for years saying that they should make steroids a requirement in baseball so guys are throwing 120 mph and every hit is homerun. These are jokes of course, but there are some older fans who feel strongly about these issues. This is made evident by the guys who haven’t made it into the hall of fame. Some of the greatest hitters of all time haven’t made it in because many fans (from older generations) will not vote for anyone with steroids tied to their name. The thing that makes me think this is more of a problem for the older generation is the fact that each year, these hitters are getting more and more votes. This only makes sense because more of the older voters are no longer voting, and the next generation is filling their shoes. It seems to me that in professional sports, cheating is not nearly as much of an issue to the younger fans as it is to the older fans.

Another angle that we can take is the New England Patriots. As a pats fan, I, along with a Whole lot more people, believe that this is the greatest franchise in sports history. They have the greatest QB in NFL history and one of the best, if not the best coach in NFL history. This team has had historic runs. They have not been without scrutiny, though. A few years ago, they were caught in Spygate. If you are reading this article, chances are that you know what happened, so I will spare the details. The aftermath is what we need to think about. If that had happened 50 years ago, do you think that the patriots would have the same backing that they do today? I honestly don’t think so. They got in trouble but other than that, not much has changed. The people who were pats fans before that happened are still fans today, and the people who wish they lost every game, hate them just as much. Other than being something the media could sink their teeth into for a few weeks, the fact that they had film of other teams really didn’t matter to the fans today.

We can also look at the alleged "deflategate" that happened. I say alleged, because it was one, not proven that anyone told anyone to let air out, and 2, it could be completely explained by gas laws, but the NFL has it out for the patriots, allegedly of course, but that’s a topic for an entire different article. The fact of the matter is that even though this scandal was so well known, the only real impact of it was that the media could talk for weeks. No one changed their feelings because of this “cheating” issue.

So now the big question: does cheating in professional sports really matter today? I know, it is unethical and shouldn’t be done, but in the grand scheme of things, a nonviolent offense doesn't really affect the sports world today. As I mentioned earlier, the steroid guys will make it to the hall of fame. Should they, though? If you put up historic numbers over a career, should that all be negated for 1 year of using steroids? Two years? Three years? Should the pats have been given a harsher or a more lax penalty? The real question is does it matter at all? I feel that years ago, these issues would have completely ruined these teams’ and players careers. Today, though, I don’t think it affects the legacy at all. The worst case would be if a team or players cheated and lost. That way, we could use that as an excuse. Otherwise, in today’s sporting world, I don’t think it makes any difference. We will talk about the issues, we will give our buddies who like those teams a hard time, but most importantly, we will still watch the games. When it all comes down to it, that is really the only thing that matters.