It seems like the more we hear about sports doping, the more we hear athletes using words like “stupid” or “mistake” rather than “cheating” or “unethical.”

Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte: “Was it stupid? Yes, I was stupid.”

Track star Marion Jones: “Making these false statements to federal agents was an incredibly stupid thing for me to do.”

Baltomore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts: “I know I made a mistake.”

Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca: “I apologize for ... mistakes in judgment....” (though he never owns up to what the mistake was).

Their apologies might be perfectly sincere, but there’s a missing element to them nonetheless. They might have been stupid (although they also might have simply taken a risk that went bad on them). They certainly made mistakes. But these are the easy words. “Stupid” is a word that truly goes with unthinking misjudgment, not a calculated effort to gain the upper hand in a competitive sport. “Stupid” is when you make repeated subtraction “mistakes” in your checkbook. It implies the athletes were dupes instead of witting participants. Who wouldn’t forgive some bad subtraction?

Cheating is a good old word that speaks clearly to the idea of not depending on one’s own hard work, if trying to get an unfair advantage over others. It’s not the same as a stupid mistake, and if kids really do emulate their sports heroes, they’re not getting the message they need.

No one makes the contrast between true contrition and the “stupid” confession clearer than Pettitte, whose full quote went like this: "Was it stupid? Yes, I was stupid. Was I desperate? Yes, I probably was. I wish I never would have done that, but I don’t consider myself a cheater."

Then what was he apologizing for? Bad subtraction?