Our Last Innocents: ‘Fair play has always been more of an ideal than a working principle.’

The timing was exquisite. A voice on the radio, trying to entice viewers to one of those “Survivor”-type reality shows, promised that the program’s competition would be extremely intense. “We don’t play fair,” the voice intoned. “We play to win.” This pledge was delivered in a manner that suggested not embarrassment, but pride. After all, isn’t that the point—to win, regardless of the means?

Coincidentally or not, the reality-show commercial led directly into a summary of the day’s sports news, which concerned the adventures of the pitcher Roger Clemens, accused of using performance-enhancing substances, and the football coach Bill Belichick, accused of videotaping an opponent’s practice session in violation of This article appears in February 25 2008.