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My Apology

acohen527

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That doesn't make sense. An easy scramble will never tell you anything about the validity of it.

Sorry if I didn't make sense. I'm new to speedsolving, and just wanted to throw my opinion out there. But I'm saying if it was unusually lucky, or unheard of (like only 4 pieces unsolved in a scramble) there would be a pretty good chance that it was mis-scrambled, if that's a word. So would you afterwards check the scramble with the delegate or competition runner to make sure it was legitimate, or just take your solve.
 

A Leman

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What finally motivated you to announce this? Also, are you going to get back into Bld and bring down your pb?
 

Divineskulls

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While I am disappointed in you for doing what you did, I cannot help the fact that you confessing is very brave to me, regardless of the fact that you didn't end up getting punished for it. As you are a local cuber to me, and a very fast one at that (But more importantly, a nice, intelligent person), I do look up to you, and this doesn't change that. Thank you for confessing and apologizing, as I'm sure it will cause some people to rethink how they act in situations like this. You're still a cool dude in my eyes, Rowe. :D
 

rowehessler

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What finally motivated you to announce this? Also, are you going to get back into Bld and bring down your pb?
Its been killing me for a while and i just decided to tell them and come clean. Its been a major depressing thing for me and the worst part was not being able to talk about it with anyone. I just decided to tell Ron and hope for the best. It's another reason i stopped BLD, i was just ashamed of myself. I'm practicing now hopefully I'll break that 52 and actually deserve a good time.
 

rowehessler

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While I am disappointed in you for doing what you did, I cannot help the fact that you confessing is very brave to me, regardless of the fact that you didn't end up getting punished for it. As you are a local cuber to me, and a very fast one at that (But more importantly, a nice, intelligent person), I do look up to you, and this doesn't change that. Thank you for confessing and apologizing, as I'm sure it will cause some people to rethink how they act in situations like this. You're still a cool dude in my eyes, Rowe. :D

Thank you Nick
 

IamWEB

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Some people may be upset towards Rowe because they don't feel the consequences were tough enough.
Remember that the consequences weren't decided by Rowe. That part isn't his fault/responsibility.

If you want to take up this issue with Tyson, good luck - I'll feed bad, but I probably can't make it to your funeral.
... notserious
 

rubixwiz031

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Well first of all, I think Rowe should be applauded for his honesty.

Second, I am not even that upset about this. After thinking about this, I am still unsure of how I would have reacted in the moment. And that's what Rowe did- reacted. It's not as if he sat in a chair and debated the pros and cons over this in his mind. He reacted.
and I hope someday you can all look past this terrible decision and forgive me
 

Kian

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I've already told Rowe personally, but I think it is worth noting how proud I am of him right now.

Rowe made a mistake, of course. He made a lie of omission. Once that moment passed it must have been incredibly difficult to come forward. It is OK for you to be shocked by this and even to be a little bit pissed about it, but that shouldn't carry over into a damnation of the man. It's easy to sit at home and say there's not anything you did in your lives that you're not proud of, but you all know it's not true. I am absolutely sure that there are people in our community who have done unsportsmanlike things that we will never know about. Maybe this will encourage others to come forward, maybe not. We need to be willing to accept an apology that is asked for in good faith. I ask everyone to not judge a man by the mistakes he makes, but by how he rectifies them. All men do the former, far fewer do the latter.

Rowe exhibited maturity in telling a truth he absolutely did not have to. It is important that we as a community embrace truth, however latent. I don't think many of the people on this forum understand how different a person Rowe is than he was when he set that record. He has truly become a better person over the last four years that I have known him and he is a deeply good man. Nobody here has the right to call him otherwise.

And so, in many ways, I have more respect for Rowe today than I did for him yesterday. I don't know that I would be strong enough to do the same thing myself.

-Kian Barry: competitor, friend, and WCA delegate
 

tim

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But I'm saying if it was unusually lucky, or unheard of (like only 4 pieces unsolved in a scramble) there would be a pretty good chance that it was mis-scrambled, if that's a word. So would you afterwards check the scramble with the delegate or competition runner to make sure it was legitimate, or just take your solve.

What actually happens if the scrambler mis-scrambles the cube? He misses a move or executes D' as D or L' as R' or ... None of these scrambling errors improve the chance of an easy scramble noticeably. There's still the chance of the scrambler doing it on purpose (the 16 pieces solved thing), though. But the chances of this happening are extremely low since the scrambler will get in trouble if he does that. So the conclusion is: ALWAYS solve any scramble even if it looks ridiculously easy! You can always check the validity afterwards.
(Getting the same scramble a second time is a different issue, though.)

Once that moment passed it must have been incredibly difficult to come forward.

Ah, that sounds much better than "It is very tough to say something, especially as time passes". I almost called you out on it. :p

Rowe exhibited maturity in telling a truth he absolutely did not have to.

Well, remorse probably played a big role here. So there was actually an advantage for him coming forward and telling the truth.
 
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Mikel

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I've already told Rowe personally, but I think it is worth noting how proud I am of him right now.

Rowe made a mistake, of course. He made a lie of omission. Once that moment passed it must have been incredibly difficult to come forward. It is OK for you to be shocked by this and even to be a little bit pissed about it, but that shouldn't carry over into a damnation of the man. It's easy to sit at home and say there's not anything you did in your lives that you're not proud of, but you all know it's not true. I am absolutely sure that there are people in our community who have done unsportsmanlike things that we will never know about. Maybe this will encourage others to come forward, maybe not. We need to be willing to accept an apology that is asked for in good faith. I ask everyone to not judge a man by the mistakes he makes, but by how he rectifies them. All men do the former, far fewer do the latter.

Rowe exhibited maturity in telling a truth he absolutely did not have to. It is important that we as a community embrace truth, however latent. I don't think many of the people on this forum understand how different a person Rowe is than he was when he set that record. He has truly become a better person over the last four years that I have known him and he is a deeply good man. Nobody here has the right to call him otherwise.

And so, in many ways, I have more respect for Rowe today than I did for him yesterday. I don't know that I would be strong enough to do the same thing myself.

-Kian Barry: competitor, friend, and WCA delegate

I really like what you said here. I don't know him personally but I gained more respect for him too.
 

MovingOnUp

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Personally, I feel that, if I put myself in the same position, the temptation may have been too great to not do the same thing. I believe in myself that I wouldn't do it, but that's not to say that I don't know for sure.

Having said that, waiting four years is a bit ridiculous. However, I don't think there is any dispute you are a really good cuber.

Regardless, I'm happy with the position WCA took on it, because I don't want others to feel like they can't come forward because they will be banned, obviously every situation is different, but I can live with this judgement as long as Rowe wasn't hiding the mistake and got caught. Intention means a lot to me.

EDIT:
I've already told Rowe personally, but I think it is worth noting how proud I am of him right now.

Rowe made a mistake, of course. He made a lie of omission. Once that moment passed it must have been incredibly difficult to come forward. It is OK for you to be shocked by this and even to be a little bit pissed about it, but that shouldn't carry over into a damnation of the man. It's easy to sit at home and say there's not anything you did in your lives that you're not proud of, but you all know it's not true. I am absolutely sure that there are people in our community who have done unsportsmanlike things that we will never know about. Maybe this will encourage others to come forward, maybe not. We need to be willing to accept an apology that is asked for in good faith. I ask everyone to not judge a man by the mistakes he makes, but by how he rectifies them. All men do the former, far fewer do the latter.

Rowe exhibited maturity in telling a truth he absolutely did not have to. It is important that we as a community embrace truth, however latent. I don't think many of the people on this forum understand how different a person Rowe is than he was when he set that record. He has truly become a better person over the last four years that I have known him and he is a deeply good man. Nobody here has the right to call him otherwise.

And so, in many ways, I have more respect for Rowe today than I did for him yesterday. I don't know that I would be strong enough to do the same thing myself.

-Kian Barry: competitor, friend, and WCA delegate

I read this after I posted, it is remarkably close to what I was trying to convey, +1
 
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teller

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Growing up can be hard. I did some really stupid things when I was young and I didn't have to suffer the embarrassment of admitting them publicly like this. I forgive you, Rowe.
 

uniacto

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I can't say any good things or bad things about Rowe because I don't know his character or how he acts. But I will say this: confessing to something after 4 years takes alot of guts and I'm glad the truth was told. Lying and cheating is never worth it.
 
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