ABSTRACT
In many ways, determining the ethics of actions in sport is easier than in the non-sporting realm. According to ethos-based approach, because sport is a social construct and a culture in itself, the participants therefore understand and abide by the ethos—the storied context—of rules and how the game is played. The ethos-based approach is appealing because it accounts for the fact that human nature is a real aspect of sport and admits that sport is an imprecise human enterprise. The tension between formalism and an ethos-based account becomes obvious. In the context of sport, people assign the term "cheating" to such ethical violations, so we must define just what cheating entails. Examples of clear-cut supererogatory actions abound in sport. Blowouts is especially common in youth sports leagues, where teams are not always evenly matched. In evaluating the ethics of intentionally losing, one must consider the nature of sport: attempting to win within the boundaries of the rules.
