If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'.
The credit for that old saying generally goes to NASCAR legend Richard Petty, though it just as easily could have come from Tom Brady, Gaylord Perry or pretty much any of the millions who have thrown, pitched or hit a ball since people started playing sports.
Blurring the line between legal and illegal, then figuring out how to get away with it, is as old as keeping score.
But what two New England Patriots employees did when they executed a plan to deflate footballs to Brady's liking - according to an NFL-commissioned report by lawyer Ted Wells - was a direct violation of a well-defined rule about equipment that didn't leave room for shades of gray.