[mousepod]

I once got into an argument with a group of loved ones over a game. We were playing Quiddler, which is a word game played with a special deck of cards. Each player has to use the cards that they're dealt to make words. Whatever letters you don't use are subtracted from your total.

I was dealt a crappy hand, so I knew that the only way I could stay in the game was to bluff, and put down a word that I knew to be false.

You are allowed to consult a dictionary before you play your hand, but not during your turn or if you are challenging someone - the fact that challenges are addressed in the rules made it clear to me that bluffs are part of the game.

So I bluffed.

Nobody challenged me, so the game went on.

A few minutes later, someone picks up a dictionary and accuses me of cheating.

"I didn't cheat. I bluffed."

"That's not how we play the game. We play a friendly game."

Clearly, this debate about the Amazing Race (or more specifically, Rob and Amber), is a debate on the unwritten rules of the game, or "sportsmanship". I understand that JWBear holds "sportsmanlike" values sacrosanct, while Neph and GD seem to appreciate the rules and the limits to which they can be pushed in order to advance in the game.

I shared my story to illustrate how I feel.