Any Thoughts On The Penn State Sanctions?

[Greg Ambrosius]

I know this is hardly the place to debate what has happened at Penn State, but I'd be interested in hearing any of your thoughts on what the NCAA did to the program today. We all agree that what happened to the victims was horrific and could have been prevented had those who had knowledge of this pedophile taken action immediately. There's no doubt that several leaders put the school's image above the fate of the victims at the time and eight more victims in later years. Four key management officials made terrible decisions that caused much of this, allowing Sandusky to be a free man for 13 more years when he should have been locked up right away.

But did the NCAA, which didn't even conduct its own investigation on the matter, do the right thing today with its "near Death Penalty" sentence? Should they have levied more sanctions and maybe even shut down the football program altogether? Or have they opened a pandora's box for future sanctions by circumventing its own rules?

The NCAA stepped in this time, but why didn't it sanction Baylor in 2003 when there was a murder involving players on the men's basketball team? Why is the entire school being punished when there's no doubt that four individuals kept much of the facts hidden from the Board of Regents and others who could have stepped in?

Did the NCAA do anything today to help the victims? Let's hear your thoughts if you have anything to say about this sad, sad situation.

[76erfan]

very strict but the NCAA had to make an example out of them so that no team ever EVER does this again.

NCAA knew PSU would look horrible if they argued with the punishment so they could be as strict as they wanted.

You have to wonder if the stadium will be even half full (100,000 capacity) this coming year.

My dad was a PSU alum and this is going to be really really tough to overcome.

[BigBlueNation]

As an avid college sports fan, I feel they got off easy. This isn't about TattooGate, Reggie Bush's house, Miami's hookers, Eustacy or Petrino's girlfriends. We're referring to criminal acts against children that administrators/coaches at a University of higher learning knew about. Any and everyone involved that knew about this should be behind bars. Football was bigger than the law at HAPPY VALLEY. I feel for the existing players and coaches at PSU, but the NCAA gave them an out..they can leave or transfer under no penalty.

Penn State University will survive, the football program will suffer for the next 8 years, but the school will survive.

[BillyWaz]

I feel bad for all the current students, football players, alumni, etc. that had absolutely no idea this was going on. They truly should not be punished.

Now for anyone who did know what was going on (even at the smallest level).....they deserve punishment far worse than death, IMO.

I am a teacher, and if I knew of anyone doing this in my school (or any other) THERE IS NO WAY I could possibly "turn my head", sleep at night, live with myself, etc. Sandusky was a sick f***. However the others who "protected" the program (including Paterno) deserve the harshest punish punishment possible, IMO.

Makes me sick to even think about it.

[Glenneration X]

They should have gotten another year of sanctions for hesitating on the removal of Paterno's statue.

[kjduke]

Vacating the wins was a dumb idea. They won those games on the field. For everything else, whether they overstepped or not, I like the harsh sanctions.

Looks a lot like the Catholic church cover-ups - protecting revenues and reputation at the expense of individual rights and morality. If this stops college programs from making their own immoral, if not criminal, decisions it will be the best thing the NCAA had ever done.

[Shrink Attack]

I did see that current players are allowed to transfer to other schools and play immediately with no penalty or having to sit out a year. Small consolation, though.

[Getpaddled]

Didn't like them taking all the wins away.. everything else was fine.

When a parent goes to jail for their crimes, the kids/family suffers. By no fault of their own.
That is what's happening to PSU athletes.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I did see that current players are allowed to transfer to other schools and play immediately with no penalty or having to sit out a year. Small consolation, though.

Yeah, they are free agents Paul, but this comes six weeks before the start of the college football season. It can't be easy to get up and transfer to a new school in late July just because you want to play football somewhere else. But it is small consolation.

I agree that Penn State deserved a harsh penalty for the coverup of its top management and the failure to put Sandusky away not just once, but twice when it knew of his awful transgressions. As Billy said, any sane human being when being told about a co-worker doing this would have called the cops immediately and gotten to the bottom of this. I don't care how much you love your job or your team, you don't just let a criminal go free to commit more crimes, especially ones as heinous as raping children. Just sickening.

But I thought the NCAA looked hypocritical today. They held a press conference 11 days after Penn State's own funded investigation revealed all of this terrible evidence. They looked like Inspector Clouseau falling into a conviction that they had nothing to do with. During today's press conference they never once scolded the university president who should have pushed Paterno aside and taken charge of the situation. They acted as if this grave punishment was going to send a message to future coaches not to let their rogue football programs run wild or you could face similar sanctions. As NCAA President Mark Emmert said:

""The fundamental message here, the gut-check message is, do we have the right balance in our culture?" he said. "Do we have, first and foremost, the academic values of integrity and honesty and responsibility as the drivers of our university? Or are we in a position where hero worship and winning at all costs has subordinated those core values?"

And at the same time the NCAA allows basketball teams to play regular games from November through March to generate billions of dollars for the NCAA and the universities. They have 32 bowl games to generate more money and will create a Plus-One bowl format for more football revenue. Schools are leaving conferences on a daily basis for more money and yet Emmert is asking if we have our academic values in place?? It's hypocritical when he knows that there are dozens of football coaches out there right now with more power than their university presidents who could just as easily cover up a crime or infraction in a heartbeat.

This punishment isn't going to change college football. For the 13 years that they took all of Penn State's wins away from them, they didn't cheat to earn those wins. They just had a coach and an administration that failed to turn in a criminal. The four people involved are either dead, in jail or going to jail. And the rest of the university will suffer for years, even decades, forever, as a result. Still, that's not as bad as the punishment that Sandusky's victims face and I realize that.

I just think the NCAA rode in on their white horse too late, did too little in this matter, didn't slap the university president with enough blame, and is doing nothing to change college sports. But they looked tough today...well after the real damage had already been done. And it's hard for anyone to argue that Penn State didn't deserve it, but I do think the NCAA has created a slippery slope for program punishment going forward.

[BigBlueNation]

Greg, I understand what you're saying, but personally, I've always looked at this situation as criminal and felonious, and nothing to do with the NCAA. I feel the NCAA had to sit back and let the system go through its due process. Emmert even admitted the NCAA didn't do their own investigation because they couldn't have done as thorough a job. They took the Freeh report as gospel and PSU signed off on everything to avoid the death penalty, which may have been the easier way out. I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone affiliated with the university. What's crazy is there are still Paterno supporters there.

IMO, the players can step up, stay at PSU, be HEROES, and rebuild a fallen program, just as the kids at USC have done with Kiffen, and a group of players did at Kentucky in 1989. Our basketball program hit hard times with Eddie Sutton and probation in the late '80's. A bunch of freshman stayed at the school, they brought in Rick Petino and rebuilt the program. All of those seniors, "The Unforgetables" have their names hanging in Rupp Arena. These were the players beaten by the "Laettner" shot in 1992.

Penn State will survive, the abused children may not.