Penn St investigation results revealed. Sick to my stomach

[huedell]

marva wrote:
But dismantling Penn State's football program because of this would be like closing down that Aurora, Col. movie theater that's in the news today because a terrible crime occurred there or mandating that Warner's never make another movie because of the tragedy. It's too much and achieves nothing.

This^

Very well stated. Could not agree more. NCAA cannot justify stepping in.

-Chris

NCAA could have & should've and probably WILL do worse.

So will others, I'm betting. It won't be "over" for a long time.

For all that marva went on & on... it's unjustifiable words.

To say this ruling "accomplishes nothing" is inaccurate.

It accomplishes a LOT of what is necessary for PSU to endure... it begins to reset PSU's rep in the eyes of the world.

And the Batman/Warners/Movie Theatre is flimsy at best.

If the movie theatre had a staff or if WB had an inner structure that had a dept. rife w/guilty sex offenders (or guilty shooters
to use the right analogy thingamado)... THEN there might be a connection for an analogy... but no.

I feel for the ones who are complaining about (or who represent) the "innocent" sports dept at PSU... but, the way I see it, is that the disatisfied people aren't seeing the bigger picture w/this decision.

The reality is that PSU's overall reputation is more important than the PSU sports program. If they REALLY CARE about their ALMA MATER et al... they'll take the hit so PSU can live to win another day!

[megomania]

How does stripping scholarships, bowl game bans, and deleting records help or benefit the victims in any way? I'm perfectly ok with the fines (but it's also a realm I think the NCAA should be careful about entering) but what they've done with the scholarships has a ripple effect on players. Again, how does this help the victims?

[Duncan]

I think the sanctions are about right. Current & future players can transfer without penalty, so no innocent players have to be punished. I'm never a big fan of scholarship reductions for similar reasons, but I understand why they did it in this case. The $60 mil, bowl ban, etc. will leave a mark. Normally, I think that vacated wins are a joke, but obviously the NCAA didn't want Paterno to be its winningest coach. So be it.

Also, by allowing PSU to keep playing football & generating revenue, the other sports programs will be able to continue and businesses in State College won't fold. It's messed up that so much depends on the work of unpaid football players, but that's a topic for another day.

[Iron Mego]

The NCAA ruling has come down and in my book, it sends the right message. Don't ever place your own sense of glory over your greater responsibility to protect those who can't defend themselves when you could have stepped in...

THIS is the point of the penalties and sanctions.

[Type Two]

I also agree with MIB41, and would like to add that I think the NCAA should have tacked on the "Death Penalty" for PSU, if for no other reason than to mark them with the ignominy of being only the second football program to ever receive it.

[MegoSteve]

How does stripping scholarships, bowl game bans, and deleting records help or benefit the victims in any way? I'm perfectly ok with the fines (but it's also a realm I think the NCAA should be careful about entering) but what they've done with the scholarships has a ripple effect on players. Again, how does this help the victims?

The problem is that the football program is held in such a high regard in the community and within the university that it was "too big to fail." People were literally afraid to speak out because of the tremendous power Joe Paterno had on campus. He had enough power that the administration was afraid to punish football players who violated school rules without checking with him first. That old janitor that first spotted the abuse going on in the shower was so frightened he practically had a heart attack, because he was so shocked at what he saw. He was also afraid he'd lose his job for speaking out. Mike McQueary was just the low guy on the totem pole and he was so afraid to speak out about what he saw that he had to call his dad first. Speaking out against Penn State football while working for Penn State would be career suicide. Paterno's reach in the state was unbelievable... I don't have the figures, but I am pretty sure he was the highest paid state employee in Pennsylvania for many years.

Even now, after all this, there are STILL people in Pennsylvania defending what Paterno did and acting like he's still a saint and how Penn State's football program can do no wrong. Those people still don't seem to get that a child predator used Penn State football as a honey pot to lure his victims and keep them coming back.

So, the punishment needed to be against the football program. Frankly, in a perfect world, they would have shut the program down completely for four or five years, but what they did was a compromise and effectively weakened the program.

[johnnystorm]

I'm glad they didn't shut down the football program entirely, as it would not punish only Penn State, but the hundreds of local businesses that rely on revenue from the games- hotels, resteraunts, gas stations, etc. Those of you who live in an area with a college know what I'm talking about...and State College is not a huge town by any means, so we're talking about businesses in a 50-100 mile radius of the stadium. And I think the fans will still fill Beaver Stadium, still pack the place. Punishing PSU football program is one thing - taking money from a small business owner relying on that cash to pay his bills is totally another.

I think the sanctions will force Penn State to rebuild a leaner, more efficient team. Be interesting to see how many players jump ship. Probably not as many as you might think.


The fines will not hurt them- at 12 mil a year, that can come from alumni donations and probably will. Unless I missed it, nothing I saw says it must be paid from football revenue.

[Adam West]

Actually, it is going to hurt pretty bad. A lot of public state universities rely on profitable sports programs to help fund college education especially now with state budget shortfalls. I specifically remember reading that University of Maryland football and basketball funnelled most of their profits back into the university and although neither team is particularly good at the moment; there was a time not too long ago when both teams were very good and Maryland is now one of the top state universities in the country. I have 3 kids going to college (one in a year). I am not even going to consider Penn State for any of them. I feel bad for the students attending school there. I think it will tarnish the degrees they have earned. Back when I attended Maryland; it wasn't difficult to get in and whenever I told people I graduated there; it received an acceptable nod of approval. Now, if I happen to tell someone I graduated there; they act like I practically graduated from an Ivy League school. Funny how perceptions change about schools over a period of years. Unfortunately, I think Penn State is going to have a stigma attached to it for a long time.

[jwyblejr]

They'll hurt big time now. They're starting to lose sponsors. They just lost State Farm.

[RickD]

It will take years for Penn State to recover from this if they ever do.

NCAA was correct to throw down this harsh punishment.

Regardless of how individuals feel, the current students, or Paterno's family for what the NCAA did, I think they all need to show alot more compassion for the victims instead of football records, status symbols, bowl games, etc.