Penn State busted: Big Time!

[dtel]

I do not keep up with college football and know nothing about PS.

I completely agree it is wrong and the kids must be protected, so I must ask.

This was not something that could have possibly improved anything football at PS so why is that program being punished ?

Why not just punish, fire and convict anyone involved in any way and not punish the players or it's program and history ?

The players had nothing to do with this, they are the victims, especially players who were not even there at the time or were planing on going there ?

[CECAA850]

This was not something that could have possibly improved anything football at PS so why is that program being punished ?

The program tried to sweep the issue under the rug so they could continue to recruit blue chip athletes, win football games and enjoy the revenue stream that a successful football program provides. Exposing the crimes that were being committed would jeopardise their chances at recruitment.

[WS65711]

I do not keep up with college football and know nothing about PS.

I completely agree it is wrong and the kids must be protected, so I must ask.

This was not something that could have possibly improved anything football at PS so why is that program being punished ?

Why not just punish, fire and convict anyone involved in any way and not punish the players or it's program and history ?

The players had nothing to do with this, they are the victims, especially players who were not even there at the time or were planing on going there ?

No, this wasn't something that "could have possibly improved anything football". However, the entire coverup was initiated from the very beginning in order protect the highly regarded Penn State football program. I don't believe the players are necessarily being "punished", except to the extent that many many of them are at Penn State in the first place because of the reputation of the football program. Only now do we (and they) come to realize the scope of the actions that were taken by school offiials to "protect" that reputation, at the expense of some unknown number of innocent children. In hindsight, had Joe Paterno and other school administrators dealt with the Sandusky issue in the proper manner 15 years ago, it would all be over with and forgotten by now. But he (Joe) didn't. He chose to sweep things under the rug, to protect the reputation. The reputation that drew today's players to be there today. So although I feel for them (the players and students), they are much better off than the kids that were swept under the rug.

[dtel]

The program tried to sweep the issue under the rug so they could continue to recruit blue chip athletes, win football games and enjoy the revenue stream that a successful football program provides. Exposing the crimes that were being committed would jeopardise their chances at recruitment.

Ok that makes sense, I didn't think of it from that angle, thanks.

Such a loss because of one sick person and then the cover up, sad.

[CECAA850]

In hindsight,

Nice[]

[WS65711]

In hindsight,

Nice

I guess I should have said.. "In retrospect, " [8-)]

[oscarsear]

My 0.02......... This is one instance where the traditional Japanese sense of applied shame would be welcomed. As in hara-kiri. As for Penn State I am astonished at how many are acrimonious about these sanctions. If they had any genuine character they'd be asking for more punishment cuz their isn't enough punishment available to atone for this mess. Of course more punishment is pending. They'll get roasted in civil awards.

[Daddy Dee]

It's such a cliche, I hesitate to mention it. The coverup is always worse than the original mess. Arresting Sandusky and dealing with the bad publicity, the shame brought on the program and making the victims whole, as much as would have been possible in 1998 would have been just a ripple in the pond compared to having the whole thing go nuclear in 2012. I haven't followed all the details of the case, but there is also the tragic consideration of how many more boys were raped by Sandusky after 1998. The magnitude of this case involving a major university, like the punishment, is unprecedented in college football history.

[DizRotus]

Tha Paterno family should please just keep quiet.

The public got a glimpse of Paterno's true character when the University tried to appropriately ease him out a decade ago. He let his "bosses" know that they couldn't fire him.

The charade of Paterno being the "head coach" the last few years should have been embarrassing to PSU, Paterno and the Paterno family. Joe might have been the CEO of the program but he wasn't actually coaching as he strolled the sidelines without as much as a headset. At least twice he was injured because he couldn't get out of the way of his own players.

Now we know how inappropriately concerned Paterno was about the victory record. His coaching was the football equivalent of a comb-over. We know he wasn't really the coach, just as we know that Gene Keady is actually bald.

The victory total meant more to Paterno and Penn State football than the safety of Jerry's victims.

[germerikan]

All persons who were part of this either by knowing or doing should be fired and then receive the highest penalty possible in the judicial system.

They were fired, now they need to be held accountable.

Good we see eye to eye on this point, and the punishment cannot be extreme enough.

The sanctions given have nothing to do with what happened, it was politics. To burn the entire school is ludicrous and not needed.

It's not called politics, it's called justice. What in the world are you talking about, "To burn the entire school"? The football program has been heavily sanctioned, not the school or it's students. Athletes in the football program are free to transfer to another school without penalty if they wish.

Really? With the amount of sanctions being laid you don`t thing it will spill over. Don´t get me wrong, it was a sickening and heinous crime and I would like to deal with child molesters in the old west way. But these sanctions seem like cutting off the head is being used when amputating the arm would be the right decision. If you do not think that these sanctions will not hurt the rest of the school then we are definitely in disagreement and I can accept that.

That is exactly what happens here in the USA. For example in the BP oil spill disaster BP had to pony up because of the actions of their employees, and for the actions of employees of other companies on that rig because BP was supposed to be in control of the rig.

And if you think the NCAA's penalties are the end of it, just wait until the civil lawsuits from the victims start getting filed. It's not over yet for the school and persons involved in this mess.

Sorry, I should have been more specific, I was concentrating on this crime and my comment "all institutions" was meant for a very large institution where it is unfortunately known to have a long history of pedophiles.

I will shut up now...

[sheltie dave]

Germerikan, how can Penn State be so desperate for funds when they just raised a record amount of money?

Penn State announced yesterday
that the school received $208.7 million in donations over the last
fiscal year, the second-highest amount ever collected by the school.
Donors also set school records with 191,712 supporters providing 323,271
total gifts. The fundraising success is of particular interest, if not
surprise, given the child sex abuse scandal that enveloped the school
late last year. Though a closer look at the numbers reveals that Penn
State’s fundraising has actually suffered somewhat when compared to past
years, support for the school is undoubtedly at an all-time high
despite the ongoing scandal.

And to copy from a friend's post over on AudioKarma, here is FisherDude.

I have a different perspective on the relative harshness of the NCAA
penalties. I think they're essentially meaningless in actual practice,
and here's why:



1. $60MM in fines spread out over 5 years. That's $12MM per year.
Penn State's total endowment and similar finds is $1.831 BILLION as of
June of last year. Even at a very conservative return on investment of
3% per year, the fund would earn $54MM per year. $12MM is less than a
quarter of their annual income from the fund. It's meaningless.



2. Loss of scholarships: Scholarships are given to students who want
to attend the university to play football. Who wants to go there to
play football now? Nobody who thinks they have any chance of a
successful Division I football career. So, until a sufficient number of
years go by so that the memories of the atrocities start to fade, and
quality football players actually have Penn State on their short list,
the loss of football scholarships is meaningless. The only players who
would have been candidates for the scholarships are players who felt
they had no chance to play football for a decent school.



3. No post season play or bowl games for four years: Since the current
football players are being allowed to transfer to other schools without
penalty, and no additional new quality football players will want to
enter or transfer to PSU, what are the chances that the school will
actually make it to the post season anyway? Exactly zero.



4. Vacating all wins since 1998: This means that Paterno will lose his
title as the winningest coach in Division I history. What will this
mean to him? Nothing, he's dead. What will this mean to the players
who played on those teams? Nothing. They all know they played their
hearts out, they all know they played their best, and they all know how
many games they won. The players from those years gone by will be
completely unaffected.



5. Several years probation: Please.



The damage to the football program was already done before the NCAA handed down their penalties. The penalties are going to mean nothing. Here's what's really going to happen:



1. Penn State will play every football game going forward, exactly as if nothing has happened.

2. Attendance will be down significantly, revenue to local business
such as restaurants and hotels will be down significantly, and sponsors
are already starting to back out of their contracts.

3. There will be other, as yet probably not fully understood, negative
impacts on Penn State's financial well-being. The lawsuits that will be
filed by the victims will only be a small part of this. For example,
Penn State clothing sales were $80MM in 2010, $60MM last year after the
scandal broke, and are estimated at no more than $45MM this year.

4. Penn State will probably finish dead last in the Big 10 for several years due to the lower quality of players.

5. Penn State will begin to be known as an outstanding academic university, instead of being known for the football powerhouse that regularly filled Beaver Stadium's 106,500 seats.





Several years into the future, the memories of what happened will no
longer be top of mind for the general public, better players will once
again want to go there, the scholarships will be reinstated, and Penn State will begin its rebuilding, and the NCAA will have had exactly zip influence on any of it.