[GTDawg]

"First of all, use of performance enhancing drugs is not in the same class of wrongdoing as multi-accounting and ghosting in online poker. The latter is much worse."

Why is that thought to be much worse? I would say that doing something against the rules to gain an advantage is against the rules and it's cheating. End of story.

Is it because everybody knows people bend the rules in sports? Because people have been cheating at baseball in little ways for a century? Because everybody wants to believe that people are naturally good and fair when playing poker?

I would like to hear your reasons for saying one is worse than the other.

About the amphetamines, I've talked with several coaches from that era and a few of them have told me the same thing, "Yeah, I tried them a few times and I played amazing. If I had kept using them, I would've had a 10 year pro career." From everything I have heard, I would say it was around...but not the rampant usage that allows people to explain away the steroid era as "it's always been done".

The rest of your post:
JJProdigy, yes
Barry Bonds, yes
Gaylord Perry, yes
Patriots, yes. Sorry bud, but there is only one reason the NFL would destroy all the evidence they recovered and that is because a superbowl was tainted. Did they cheat for a perfect season? no. But I can think of a half dozen scenarios that have happened against the Patriots/in Foxboro...that make you shake your head.
Bobby Thompson, yes. The entire team cheated for much of the season. Of course, it didn't solely make them recover from a 7.5 game deficit to get to the playoff, and it is still damn hard to hit a homerun even if you do know what is coming.
The o-line question is different, I think. Sure, they are going against the rules to try and gain an advantage. But, is that the fault of the refs or the players that it is not called? The other situations...it was being hidden because the players know it's bad and they'll get caught. Is holding really being hidden or do the refs just not call it as much as they should?

"At what point does breaking a rule make one a cheater, and at what point does overuse of the word devalue the stigma that label places on someone?"

It will always be a point of personal preference long after the governing body has made their decision and the event is long past.