Who's to blame?

 Cheats do win

Why cheat?

In the case of most sports, the players are the last people to blame for cheating, why?

Nobody with sense would risk being caught, unless they thought someone higher up the chain had their back, this goes from Mohammed Ali cheating to beat Henry Cooper, in a fight Angelo Dundee admitted to fixing, to the DeflateGate Superbowl.

Big as Deflate was, it was far from the largest, that happened way back in 1987 and concerned the SMU Mustangs. Though the team itself was small, the impact on the division it was in was huge, and it rocked the NFL for a decade, as the college was banned from playing its home games in Dallas for five years, and had no TV coverage.

The impact it had on the NFL was that it restricted the players available to be drafted for those years.

The cheat who lost

 My Golden year

Why cheat?

2012 was my summit as a writer, two of my stories earned an award, and I beat my harshest critic in contests THREE times that year. Usually cheats win, but I would rather come second knowing I did my best, than win knowing I cheated.

Here are some examples of what I am talking about. In 2012, I beat my critic, despite her asking a friend to hack a site, to eliminate one of my stories, which came back to beat hers on its return. The same year, she proclaimed a prize she had "claimed" on LinkedIn, that was until I pointed out, I had bought the story months earlier from a friend, and posted a photo of the book the story was in.

The last of June's Journey

 June's Journey

Why Cheat?

Last night, I played my final round of June's Journey, until now I had enjoyed playing the game, so what turned enjoyment into a nightmare?

The short version is I didn't enjoy playing it anymore.

The reasons are many

At least two people are using cheat codes. This is plain to see as their scores are almost identical on each level.

The game has gone to extra-ordinary levels of difficulty, where they will stop your progress from reaching 100%, and advancing to the next stage by as little as 1% to get you to use energy, and buy more input.

Another factor is that I now strugglt to stay in the top 15, whereas before I was rarely out of the top 5 of a level, and I am certain many of those above me are using a cheat code.

Why cheat?

 June's Journey

Lac La Biche

It would please me to top a section in June's Journey, but I realise it is not likely to happen, why?

I have noticed, each section is topped by the same two names, either one person is playing two games, or two people are using the cheat code available online.

I have been able to reach third postion in several section of the game, I doubt I will better those positions, I am satisfied to be third, do my best, and know I didn't cheat.

I can see the thrill if you are an ego-driven person of seeing your name at the top, but using a cheat defeats the challenge for me. My late friend, Faye Dupre, and I noticed this in a game we played while I worked for  her in Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada, in the late Summer and Fall of 2009. Within an hour of the weeks game opening, the same two names topped the list.

I know the ladies were cheating as the totals they achieved were impossible to achieve without AI assistance, the average score per minute was regular, nobody can maintain a regular score without assistance.