GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The sun has officially set on the MLP Mid-Season Tournament, with the New Jersey 5s and Brooklyn Aces capturing Premier and Challenger titles on Sunday.

But the story of the event—aside from all the breathtaking points and exhilarating matches—actually comes from the first day of competition, last Wednesday.

The Florida Smash and California Black Bears were playing for a spot in the second round, with Florida leading 2-1 going into the final mixed doubles game.

That final bout featured the Smash’s Tammy Emmrich and Yates Johnson facing the Black Bears’ Michelle Esquivel and Rafa Hewett.

With the score tied at 17-17, Esquivel called a ball that appeared to be comfortably in from Johnson out, prompting fierce protest from the Smash.

Other members of the Black Bears maintained that they didn’t see the ball land, and the head referee didn’t have enough to overturn the call because the line judges apparently didn’t see it, either.

Of course, no video replay was available because rain had forced play to move to an alternate venue indoors.

California would go on to win that mixed doubles game, as well as the DreamBreaker that followed, to advance to the second round.

Smash owner and player Travis Rettenmaier took to social media after the match and shared his thoughts on the situation and its implications for the future of pickleball.

Naturally, he had some pretty strong words for the Black Bears:

“If this sport is ever gonna get to where we all want it to go, then gambling is a huge part of that. You need outcomes that are fair. You need people to be able to gamble and trust the fact that whoever wins, wins. You can’t have circumstances where people that are a bit classless and don’t necessarily care about the way that they appear are willing to cheat and win at all costs. Unfortunately, we’re still in a circumstance with Major League Pickleball—and pickleball in general—where there’s no recourse for these people, and they are willing to cheat.”

Rettenmaier went on to make another point about how players having the power to make their own calls could hinder the growth of gambling in the sport.

“We’re still in a scenario where players are making the decisions. They are making the calls, and then conferring with the ref. At some point, this needs to go away. The ref—or the technology—has to make the call because, otherwise, you’re gonna have those that feel they have the option to manipulate the rules and cheat. Therefore, you’ll never have gambling be very prevalent in the sport because nobody will trust the outcome.”

The co-host of the Tennis Sucks Podcast suggested that MLP could “reprimand” California for using the call to cheat and gain an unfair advantage.

This idea begs the question of whether there’s an organizational obligation from the United Pickleball Association, the holding company and governing body of MLP and the PPA Tour, to levy sanctions against teams or individuals who cheat.

At the outset, it seems like the answer to that question should be a resounding “yes.” After all, the UPA has levied sanctions in the past when it suspended and fined Andrei Daescu after an illegal substance was found on his paddle at MLP Atlanta.

Bringing the hammer down on line calls, however, is a bit more complicated. It's impossible to determine malicious intent—that is, any situation where a player calls a ball out, despite knowing that it was in.

Sometimes, players just miss calls; the ball will be traveling too fast to get a good look, or it will be 99% out but catch just a sliver of the line.

What do you think? Should players be punished for making egregiously bad line calls? How should that be regulated until video replays are available on every pro court? Let us know on Instagram and Twitter/X.