My Apology

[bgdgyfer]

Well, I don`t have much to say either. I don`t know Rowe, I just know he is fast. We forgive you..

 

[rowehessler]

As Dumbledore once said: " Soon you will have to make the choice between what is easy and what is right".

I love harry potter

 

[DavidWoner]

That was a very grown up and difficult thing to do, Rowe. Admirable, even.

Cubers have done worse things when they were young and under pressure. The fact that you admitted it freely without accusation where others have continuously denied, even when presented with proof, is what sets this incident apart from others.

I am glad you came forward and hope we as a community, and especially you, can put this behind us.

 

[Iggy]

I don't know you that well, but it was very brave for you to admit the truth. You're awesome and you have my full respect.

 

[JasonK]

I honestly can't decide how I feel about the lack of consequences, however I definitely gained respect for Rowe. Would've been all too easy to just never say anything about it, but you chose to face the music anyway. Respect+

 

[hcfong]

Well done Rowe, for reporting yourself. It shows you've matured and have grown as a person. Well done.

I've been to less than 30 competitions and have gotten the same scramble twice in BLD easily over 5 times. The most common reason is that new judges tend to leave the spot blank and just take the card up. Some smaller competitions really need to take the time to teach their staff how to judge correctly.

I'm surprised that this happens so often. Yes, I can understand that an inexperienced judge might forget to write down a DNF, but what about the scrambers? Surely, a cube that's just been returned by the judge from a solve with a blank scoresheet should have been a reason for a scrambler (usually a more experienced person) to ask why it's still blank.

 

[Cubenovice]

Props for Rowe for confessing.

Hmm... I haven't actually been to any competition yet (but planning to). Is it more likely to get the same scramble twice in BLD than in sighted solves because the judge has to write down "DNF"? I mean, it's more natural to write down the time for a sighted solve but if you DNF a BLD, it's more likely the judge will leave the spot blank?

New judge forgetting to write DNF PLUS the competitor not signing the scoresheet...
Some competitor attention and maybe even honesty is in there too.

If this "not writing DNF" happens a lot the competitor could deliberately take advantage of it.

 

[JasonK]

New judge forgetting to write DNF PLUS the competitor not signing the scoresheet...
Some competitor attention and maybe even honesty is in there too.

If this "not writing DNF" happens a lot the competitor could deliberately take advantage of it.

I can say from experience that the "Competitor must sign +2s and DNFs" regulation is not always followed.

 

[Geert]

Mistakes happen, good thing you confessed your mistake, it shows great bravery to do this.

Surely, a cube that's just been returned by the judge from a solve with a blank scoresheet should have been a reason for a scrambler (usually a more experienced person) to ask why it's still blank.

I have scrambled numerous times, and to be honest, when I'm scrambling I'm not paying attention to the cubes that are coming back, I'm looking at the scrambles (because obviously I'm scrambling).
A cube that gets placed back with a blank scorecard (after a solve) can easily get lost between other cubes that are waiting to be scrambled...
After scrambling dozens of cubes, it's almost impossible to remember which cube/cuber already had a certain scramble.

 

[Andreaillest]

I think I have more respect for you for confessing this years after it happened. Anyone would have kept this a secret and let it die, but deciding to fess up to it takes courage. We all do dumb things when we were younger and I'm sure the temptation at the time was very alluring. What matters is that you're rectifying what you've done on your own and I think most of us will forgive you because of this.

I hope you found the peace you were looking for.

 

[rwcinoto]

Congratulations for your courage. It is more important to the community than for you bringing it clear. It does not matter what other people think, the important thing is doing what you believe is right now, even though you have made a mistake in the past.

 

[JianhanC]

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.

Is that why you took up ciggys? but really, major props for admitting it, well done. I remembered reading somewhere that you stopped BLD was because you thought you've hit your limit, now we know that's not entirely true haha. Really nice of you to come clean. Respect levelled up.

 

[Goosly]

I would probably do the same thing 3 years ago, when I was 17 (hypothetically; I didn't know BLD back then), but at this time I really hope I would tell the judge I got the same scramble. I don't see the point of cheating in such a way, since it's just cheating yourself, but at that age everyone makes mistakes.

 

[MarcelP]

It takes a lot of balls to admit such a thing in public. I think it is mighty big of you.

 

[Godmil]

wow, I'm impressed that you'd admit to this. It's all fine in my books now.

 

[Eric79]

Rowe:
You regretting and believably apologizing - nice move. But even though I don't worry too much about you, I care about the situation: Cheating in the first place - bad. Better confessing late than never? Sure, but having set several WRs (which naturally goes along with being a role model to other cubers) and still waiting for four years to eventually confess - ridiculous.

WCA:
Considering that Rowe cheated purposely (not just because he wasn't completely sure about the incident) and imposing no punishment [whyever] is ridiculous. If it was because he was confessing and because it's already that long ago, as opposed to getting caught in the act de facto doesn't make a difference, he still cheated. Considering it even was a new set WR back then (as opposed to e.g. a less relevant last place in competition) and still not imposing any punishment at all is even more ridiculous! Handling such a situation like that is basically saying 'When you cheat, simply confess some time later and you won't receive any punishments'.
Cheaters (no matter if competitor or judge) in official events always should receive a reasonable punishment - the worse the misdemeanor the worse the punishment. (And in my opinion - regarding WCA competitions - cheating for most probably setting a World Record is only topped by physically harming others.) So imposing no punishment for such a misbehaviour while appearing as the only "real", respectable (world) association is highly unprofessional and reduces the WCA's credibility massively.

 

[Applecow]

So since notes taken by judges on the cards obviously aren't reliable (because they are unexperienced, badly trained or for whatever other reasons), scramblers also should have tables to check who already got a specific scramble - this should always have been obligatory.

about that:
A7c) The competitor is responsible for checking the result on the sheet, immediately after the judge has written it down.

 

[hcfong]

Rowe:
You regretting and believably apologizing - nice move. But even though I don't worry too much about you, I care about the situation: Cheating in the first place - bad. Better confessing late than never? Sure, but having set several WRs (which naturally goes along with being a role model to other cubers) and still waiting for four years to eventually confess - ridiculous.

WCA:
Considering that Rowe cheated purposely (not just because he wasn't completely sure about the incident) and imposing no punishment [whyever] is ridiculous. If it was because he was confessing and because it's already that long ago, as opposed to getting caught in the act de facto doesn't make a difference, he still cheated. Considering it even was a new set WR back then (as opposed to e.g. a less relevant last place in competition) and still not imposing any punishment at all is even more ridiculous! Handling such a situation like that is basically saying 'When you cheat, simply confess some time later and you won't receive any punishments'.
Cheaters (no matter if competitor or judge) in official events always should receive a reasonable punishment - the worse the misdemeanor the worse the punishment. (And in my opinion - regarding WCA competitions - cheating for most probably setting a World Record is only topped by physically harming others.) So imposing no punishment for such a misbehaviour while appearing as the only "real", respectable (world) association is highly unprofessional and reduces the WCA's credibility massively.


On other things:

This is ridiculous. That judge should never ever be a judge again and also receive further punishments.


So since notes taken by judges on the cards obviously aren't reliable (because they are unexperienced, badly trained or for whatever other reasons), scramblers also should have tables to check who already got a specific scramble - this should always have been obligatory.

A few comments:

- Rowe was punished. His WR was scrapped and he forfeited his extra attempt.
- Confessing rather than being caught certainly does make a difference. People who admit they've done wrong are often treated more lenient than people who persevere in claiming their innocence in the midst of overwhelming evidence.
- Cheating with a WR as a result is not worse than cheating with a random time as a result. Cheating is cheating, whatever the result is. It's still compromosing the integrity of the results.
- In my opinion, the WCA responded adequately to the situation. They looked at the seriousness of the offence, took into account that Rowe admitted to it out of his own initiative, and made, in my opinion, the right decision. And this decision does in no way compromise the WCA's credibility.
- Competitions can only run smoothly when people are willing to help out with judging and scrambling. Saying that someone should never judge again and be punished for an honest mistake he made is just ridiculous. We should be happy with every person who is willing to help out and let him know when he's doing something wrong (or she of course).
- Have you ever been to a competition? If you have, you probably would have noticed that your suggestion of having tables to check who already got which scramble isn't possible. Scramblers have to rely on the judge writing the correct details down.

For all those who are disappointed by the actions taken by the WCA and believe Rowe should be punished more severely; are you completely blameless yourself? I don't think Rowe was the only who's made a mistake, who took advantage of the situation, knowing that no one would ever find out. He is however one of the very few who confessed. That is to be commended.

 

[cubegenius]

I respect you for confessing. Hope you will keep cubing!

 

[Ickathu]

You gained my respect, Rowe. I think that a punishment would have been perfectly acceptable, but I think that no punishment is fine too, since you did confess on your own.