You Make the Call: Cheating or Not?

Did Maria Sharapova really cheat if she didn't know meldonium was on the banned drug list? Just because dooring an opponent in NASCAR is technically legal, should it be?

Cheating is perhaps one of the most loaded topics in all of sports. What constitutes cheating? Does it always align perfectly with the rule books? What if no one hears the tree fall in the forest? Allegations of dishonest practices, intentional and unintentional, appear frequently in the sports world. More often than not, the lines of integrity fall along a slippery slope.  

The following are five recent examples of borderline cheating moments. Did these folks act dishonestly or unsafely? What punishments, if any, are appropriate?

You decide.

Molly Huddle's Stiff Arm

American distance runner Molly Huddle won the New York City Half Marathon in late March, beating Kenyan Joyce Chepkirui by 0.08 of a second.

It was an exciting finish, but video replay clearly shows Huddle extending her arm out in front of Chepkirui at the end. To the untrained eye, it looked a lot like she was trying to hold her opponent back.  

Chepkirui did not file a complaint, nor did the broadcasters make any type of real to-do about it. And yet, didn't it look shady?

Running may not seem like a contact sport on its surface, but the fact is, a little jostling for position isn't abnormal. Still, right at the end of a race like that, not in the middle of a crowded pack? That's not something you see every day.

Rule 163 of the 2016 USATF Competition Rules reads, "Any competitor or participant jostling, running across, or obstructing another competitor or participant so as to impede his or her progress shall be liable to disqualification in that event."

Sure looked like obstruction.

Consider this, as Sarah Barker of Deadspin did. What if Chepkirui had done the same thing to Huddle? Would the reaction have been any different?  

Huddle told Christopher Chavez of SI.com, "I officially want to say there was no intent on my part to cheat or obstruct Joyce. I would never do that."

What do you think? Did Huddle's move fall under run-of-the-mill jostling for position?

Verdict: No. That business was straight shady.

Dwight Howard's Stickum

During a March game against the Atlanta Falcons, Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard was caught using stickum. Yes, stickum. You might remember Rashid "Hot Hands" Hanon using something similar in Little Giants.

So what was Howard doing with it? According to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he sprayed it on his hands as Hawks forward Paul Millsap made his way to the free-throw line. A rebound assistant, perhaps?

Millsap got his hands on the ball shortly thereafter and later said, "I've never felt the ball like that ever. It was sticky. It was like super glue or something was on there. I couldn’t get it off my hands. It was the weirdest thing ever," according to Vivlamore.

Using such a substance is absolutely cheating, technically speaking, but Howard was not actually punished. Instead, the NBA sent a memo to all teams reminding them of the illegality of stickum, per Shams Charania of The Vertical.

For his part, Howard said, "I don't know why people are making a big deal out of it. I do it every game. It's not a big deal. I ain't tripping," according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Verdict: Break the rules, get punished. Sounds easy enough. If Eric Weddle can get fined $10,000 for watching his daughter perform during a halftime show, Howard should have at least gotten a slap on the wrist.

Maria Sharapova's Drug Test

In early March, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova called a press conference to announce she had tested positive for meldonium, a newly banned substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list.

According to Sharapova, per Josh Peter of USA Today, she has taken meldonium for years for reasons relating to a magnesium deficiency and family history of diabetes, and she was not aware it had recently been placed on the banned list. For its part, WADA put it on the list "because of evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance,” per Peter.

After her announcement, Sharapova was given a "provisional suspension" and awaits what could be up to a four-year ban, according to Ravi Ubha of CNN.

FoxSports.com's Chris Chase noted several British newspapers featured reports in which Sharapova was warned at least five times about changes to the banned list, but the tennis star only admitted to receiving one email. She conceded that she ignored that email.

Per Simon Cambers of the Guardian, Sharapova said:

"

I make no excuses for not knowing about the ban. I already told you about the December 22, 2015 email I received. Its subject line was 'Main Changes to the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme for 2016.' I should have paid more attention to it. But the other 'communications'? They were buried in newsletters, websites or handouts.

"

Verdict: She cheated. If you get pulled over for going 70 mph on a Chicago highway, being from Michigan isn't an excuse.

NASCAR's Bumping 

Should NASCAR drivers be allowed to bump each other late in races, or, at all? Kevin Harvick edged Carl Edwards at the Good Sam 500 in Phoenix in March. He won by .010 seconds after a lot of contact down the stretch.

"

With final bump, Harvick edges Edwards in Sprint Cup race at Phoenix.. Related Articles: https://t.co/8DvDiZuyKU

— NASCAR News (@nascar_news1) March 15, 2016"

Edwards said, per Reid Spencer of NASCAR.com, "I ran into him about as hard as I thought I could without wrecking him, and it ended up being a drag race. It was kind of fun coming to the line because I thought, man, I got him, and then he doored me real hard and then he got a little run, and then I tried to door him and slow him down, but it just didn't work."

Hmm.

In October, Matt Kenseth lost at Kansas after Joey Logano spun him out near the end of the race. NASCAR chairman Brian France called it "quintessential NASCAR," per Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports).

Two weeks later, Kenseth appeared to wreck Logano intentionally at Martinsville, action for which he received a two-race suspension.

Certainly, no one should ever wreck anyone on purpose. But isn't all intentional contact dangerous?  

According to Fryer, here's what France had to say about drivers and the difference between what Logano did and what Kenseth did:

"

They know that circumstances late in the race, blocking - although I'm not a fan of blocking, that is part of racing - contact, the short end of some of those exchanges that happen are all part of it and do not look to NASCAR to deal with that. They are part of racing. 'The line is if you intentionally ... banzai-ing into some situation with the sole purpose of taking somebody out, we'll deal with that. We dealt with that at Martinsville.

"

Verdict: Intentional contact of any kind at 113 mph seems like a bad idea. Then again, even if NASCAR wanted to outlaw Harvick-Edwards-like bumping, intent would sure be hard to police. 

Arnaud Demare's Alleged Tow 

In late March, French cyclist Arnaud Demare won the Milan-San Remo cycling race in Italy.

According to Patrick Redford of Deadspin, Demare fell 30 kilometers from the finish line, and several competitors later accused him of receiving a tow up a climb so he could get back into the race.

Cyclist Matteo Tosatto told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Redford):

"

Demare was off the back before the Cipressa. Then on the climb he passed us going twice our speed. I didn't see if he was on the car window or with a (sticky) bottle. Of course he was strong in the sprint but without that tow he would never have made it to contest the sprint. I've never seen a thing like that done so shamelessly.

"

There is no video evidence of the incident, and although Demare's times look suspicious around the stretch in question, he and his team denied all allegations.

Suze Clemitson of the Guardian wrote, "Cycling's ethical code seems to add up to two principles: Don't get caught, and, if you are caught, hope the rules are applied in a suitably arbitrary fashion."

Verdict: If you can't prove someone cheated, you can't punish them.