Are There Consequences for Being Honest?

Today like a of days did not include a great deal of TV watching, however while at the gym I was catching up on some Sports Center (instead of watching Obama, still not sure why I chose SC). Dominating the news was Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) admitting he knowingly used banned substances during a specific period (3 seasons) while at the Texas Rangers.

A few choice quotes from the interview (mind you these are "rough" quotes not exact):

• "I was very naive"
• "I was very stupid"
• "Yes I knowingly used a banned substance"
• "I just want to turn the page and get back to playing the best baseball I can"

There are several things wrong with this picture; one, how do you "turn the page" when you admit breaking the rules?? Two, at this point there are no planned consequences for his cheating. Underlying all this is the aspect that the cheating was discovered by an anonymous test that turned out to not be too anonymous!

Normally the only sport I get lathered up about is College Football (Notre Dame, most importantly), but this story has been brewing for some time. It sets an example, do you have integrity or not. Seems to me admitting guilt is far easier when there are ZERO known consequences. Sacrifice and repercussions seem appropriate given that rules were broken, lies told and overall cheating engaged in for years.

Where I come from, honesty meant perhaps less of a "sentence" but didn't mean you got out of trouble just by owning up to doing wrong. Kudos to Alex for his honesty, but there are consequences for our choices in life, we can't get out of jail free just by telling the truth.