Unmitigated seriousness is always out of place in human affairs

Part of the beauty and much of the moral seriousness of sport derives from the severe justice of strenuous play in a circumscribed universe of rules that protect the integrity of competition. Records are worth recording, and worth striving to surpass, because they serve as benchmarks of excellence achieved under the pressure of competition.

[Lev Beniov:] "The imminence of death did not frighten me as much as it should have. I had been too afraid for too long; I was too exhausted, too hungry, too feel anything with proper intensity. But if my fear had diminished, it was not because my courage had increased. My body was so weak, so spent, that my legs trembled from the effort of standing upright. I could summon no great concern for anything, including the fate of Lev Beniov.

Seriousness is the last refuge of the shallow.

I fully understand the seriousness of the implications and I accept the penalty imposed by the commissioner. I'm glad to have these issues addressed and behind me.

That could be something as simple as a discussion about the seriousness of it and do we or do we not want to do something about it. It's the behavior of a schoolyard bully whose behavior needs to be reined in.