What's with all the cheaters?
This is the time of year when I picture autumnal scenes.
Leaves changing colors.
Bales of hay.
Scarecrows.
It’s Pumpkin Spice Latte Season, for crying out loud.
The autumnal fave, PSL
And apparently this year, it’s another season – Cheating Season.
It all started with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine.
Adam Levine with his wife Behati Prinsloo
He’s living the rockstar dream: sold millions of records, married a model, and was even once crowned People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive.
At age 43, he’s also got the dad thing going with two kids (with a third on the way).
And he also appears to be the author of some sleazy DMs.
Sumner Stroh shared the DMs she (allegedly) received from Adam Levine
I’m not sure what was worse – seeing that he writes like a horny 16-year-old with a limited vocabulary, or that he was considering giving his unborn child the same name as the woman he’s writing such broetry to.
But not to be outdone, a few days later I read that one of the “Try Guys” has been caught cheating on his wife, prompting me to immediately ask:
What are the Try Guys?
The answer – I don’t care.
Not all US pop culture moments and figures make the highbrow publications or cross the pond, but I was picking up coverage about the Try Guys cheating scandal from the New York Times , the Wall Street Journal and over in the UK in The Guardian).
Is it a slow news period in the US?
And as far as cheating scandals go, this feels pretty boring.
Are today’s journalists not familiar with the time in history when Julia Roberts ditched her fiancé Kiefer Sutherland days before their wedding to run off to Ireland with his best pal Jason Patric?
I don’t expect people to know about the Elizabeth Taylor/Debbie Reynolds/Eddie Fisher scandal of the 1950s, but don’t they know about the time when Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie?
Then he did this ‘Happy Family’ photo shoot with Jolie.
Now those were scandals.
Now THIS was scandalous!
But apparently the Try Guy cheater is one of these guys who likes to talk about his wife incessantly.
He’s what they call a “Wife Guy” – a guy who gushes about his wife publicly (see: comedian John Mulaney, before he ditched his wife and had a baby with Olivia Munn).
This “Wife Guy Try Guy” (I’m not learning his name) has built his identity (and the brand that presumably pays his bills) around his wife-loving content.
And the other Try Guys are shocked and offended – and now Cheating Try Guy is out. Dumped from trying whatever it is that Try Guys try.
Next!
But Cheating Season 2022 isn’t limited to one’s spouse.
Reading the Financial Times last week, I saw not one but two articles about another cheating scandal.
This one involves US teenager Hans Niemann, who shocked the chess world when he broke world chess champion Magnus Carlsen’s 53-game unbeaten streak last month.
Nothing to see here, folks… Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen face off.
But was there cheating involved?
Carlsen seems to think so.
And the suggestion that a sex toy was involved has given this story wings.
Today I’ve learned that a new investigation found that Niemann “likely received illegal assistance in more than 100 online games” as recently as 2020, including in events where prize money was at stake.
I also learned that apparently, with AI and some dirty tricks, there’s a grandmaster in all of us!
But wait, there’s more.
The “cheating in sports” news isn’t limited to chess.
There’s also been… weights in fish?
That’s right. The Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament got ugly when the tournament director felt a hard object inside one contestant’s catch.
Closer examination revealed that the catch of the day was walleye – and lead balls.
Lead balls are not normally part of a fish’s daily diet
“We got weights in fish!” the director exclaimed.
The aftermath was captured on video, along with a lot of NSFW language.
Why would someone cheat in a fishing competition?
Well, there were 30,000 reasons.
And, with bigger cash prizes at stake, it appears cheating in competitive fishing is becoming more common.
Jake Runyan got an earful after weights were found in his catch
But how does one cheat in a fishing competition?
Thanks to the New York Times, I learned there are many ways for competitors to cheat.
They might have friends deliver pre-caught fish to them, or fish in prohibited areas, or even put fish in cages before the competition.
But the best way to cheat might be stuffing fish with ice, which not only increases the fish’s weight during the weigh-in, but also melts away, leaving no evidence.
So in less than two weeks we’ve had all kinds of cheating stories in the headlines – in reputable newspapers.
What’s the takeaway from all this?
I don’t know, but if nothing else, Levine and the Try Guys reinforce why communication is a skill worth investing in.
And the chess and fishing “champs” show how creativity can help you come up with new ideas to solve problems. Even if that problem is ‘How can I win a chess or fishing tournament by any means necessary?’
Of course, in my workshops, we focus on strengthening your communication and creativity skills for good purposes.
To help you connect with customers and colleagues.
To be more innovative and inspirational.
And to solve problems.
If that sounds good, get in touch.
In the meantime, let’s hope Cheating Season 2022 is coming to an end so we can associate this time of year with pumpkin patches and piles of leaves instead.
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Beth Collier loves writing, pop culture, and seeing people use creativity for good.
She also loves helping companies, leaders, and teams improve their communication (and creativity and leadership) through consulting, coaching, and workshops.
Her clients benefit from Beth’s global corporate experience, Midwestern practicality and enthusiasm, and an endless supply of pop culture references.
To find out how Beth can help you become a more confident, creative, and compelling leader – or improve communication in your company – visit www.beth-collier.com or drop her a line at beth@beth-collier.com