First, let me preface this with the idea that I believe there are many "ways" to play basketball the "right" way. I believe that there are many different styles of playing the game of basketball. You can press and run, you can be patient, you can mix the styles, you can play different defenses and offenses...there is no "right" way to how you play the game.What I am talking about is the right way to do the peripheral things.
Why do we have rules? Is it about your own selfish wants to be successful in a worldly way? Do the ends justify the means?
You often see people being successful not just in basketball, but in other aspects of life who you know are at times immoral or unethical; and if you are not being successful, you, at the least, ponder being unethical yourself. How do you continue to do things "the right way" while those who are not ethical are knowingly breaking or bending the rules? Especially if you are expected to compete with those people? If you break the rules, or bend them doesn't it even the playing field?
The answer, for me, is that I will do what I think is right...I will continue to do what I think is ethical because that is what you are supposed to do, how I have been raised, and because my faith won't allow it any other way. If anything happens at any school (like a player moving in) the perception is that something wrong has occurred. Trust me, it happens a lot throughout the state of Indiana where something wrong did occur, and I think that is where that perception comes from.
Now, there is a huge difference in knowingly breaking/bending rules and doing it without knowledge of doing so, ignorance, I guess you could say. It is that moment when you realize what you have done that speaks volumes of your character.
It is frustrating to watch some be successful while being less than what they should be (but really, who am I to decide that), while others are not being as successful, those that are trying to be what they should be and follow the rules.
The great thing is that a huge majority of people that I am around from competing schools do toe the line. There are rare exceptions that most everyone knows about, and it seems odd that it goes unpunished, yet those of us who do follow the rules would be busted immediately for the same action. But, most of the people from other schools do what they are supposed to do, they do turn themselves in (which we have done) for unknowingly breaking rules, and they are good people.
We will continue to do things to the best of our ability to do it the "right way". We canot control perception, but we can control our actions. We can control the image of "if there's smoke, there's fire", and as long as I am in control, we won't tolerate that smoke.
