your thoughts on the Penn State scandal

[RealityCheck]

Bottom line for me is what the Board of Trustees knew and when did they know it. If they had any knowledge and assisted in the coverup, then punishing only the football program is small potatoes. Unlikely, but shuttering the university for a year or two to clean house would be in order.

But we know shutting the university down won't happen. And shutting the university down just like shutting down football would just punish more inncoent victims, and it is totally impractical this close to the start of the 2012 season.

A better alternative that is actually gaining traction is for the high and mighty Big Ten to at least consider booting Penn State out on its ear after 2012-2013. That would be a huge annual financial hit on top of settlements that could run into the $100 million range.

[DawgyNWindow]

Total lack of institutional control.

Minimum 5 years with no football. That program was obviously running the university instead of the opposite.

This is what big money in college sports leads to.

[counselingdawg]

I said that JoePa was a villain, but are we saying that if I know about a murder and don't turn it in, I'm as bad as the murderer? I think there is a difference.

[maverick]

For those advocating the "death penalty" for Penn State, what do you think that accomplishes? I am still working through my own thoughts on this. Understand: I am not really disagreeing with you, just asking the question.

The Freeh report makes clear that at least Spanier, Schultz, Paterno, the AD, janitors, and others failed to report, creating an environment that allowed for the continued abuse of children. Those people should be held accountable, criminally if there is an avenue for that; and civilly. Certainly, they should no longer hold those jobs or any job that places them in a similar position. I like Dawgmatic's suggestion of ridding the Penn State landscape of any physical remnants of these tragedies. Damn tradition! Their tradition is sullied and there surely are wealthy donors who could build new facilities that would serve as monuments to ensure victims they have not been forgotten. New facilities also could mark the day that Penn State football recognized it's corrupt culture and vowed "NEVER AGAIN."

If the offending principals are punished, the physical reminders are demolished, and the culture and policies are changed to help ensure this never happens again, what does dismantling the football program do?

[GrassyNoleHitman]

I said that JoePa was a villain, but are we saying that if I know about a murder and don't turn it in, I'm as bad as the murderer? I think there is a difference.

it would not make you a murderer, but it WOULD make you an accessory after the fact. that is still a major crime that would lead to jail time.

[GrassyNoleHitman]

For those advocating the "death penalty" for Penn State, what do you think that accomplishes? I am still working through my own thoughts on this. Understand: I am not really disagreeing with you, just asking the question.

it send messages to every program:

1. NO program is so big that it is above the law
2. the cult of coach worship needs to end everywhere. if a coach is treated as a god, they will usually begin to protect that power at all costs.
3. it tells all of the Coach K's out there that winning at all costs is NOT acceptable. if the cost of winning is too high, you will find all those wins were meaningless. ( i used him as an example because of his over the top statements in support of Paterno)
4. it regains some moral authority for the NCAA. it gets them thinking about more than the bottom line dollar figures.

[DallasDog]

I talked to a friend of mine that works in NCAA compliance. While this is definitely lack of control, it doesn't really fit their bylaw for it. It would be a stretch for the NCAA to claim jurisdiction here.

As to someones post earlier about making it a crime to not report stuff. In most states at every level of the education system a teachers/school employee who fails to report suspected abuse can face charges and/or some type of punishment.

[hookdown]

After all is said and done, their current $1.7B+ endowment should look like Tech's. If they shut down the football program, it is the school that needs to do it, not the NCAA. They should remove every reference to Paterno on campus (buildings, statue, etc.). Did the BIG remove his name form one of their awards? If not, they need to. And maybe some sort of memoral to the victims?

[GrassyNoleHitman]

Did the BIG remove his name form one of their awards? If not, they need to.

they did. the trophy for winning the B1G title game was going to be called the "Stagg - Paterno Championship Trophy". now it is simply called the "Stagg Championship Trophy"

[maverick]

I talked to a friend of mine that works in NCAA compliance. While this is definitely lack of control, it doesn't really fit their bylaw for it. It would be a stretch for the NCAA to claim jurisdiction here.

As to someones post earlier about making it a crime to not report stuff. In most states at every level of the education system a teachers/school employee who fails to report suspected abuse can face charges and/or some type of punishment.

Actually, faculty, staff, and coaches in higher ed often were not specifically included in mandated reporting laws. Laws typically refer to mandatory reporting of abuse of children, elderly, and/or dependent adults. Maybe the failure to specifically include higher ed was an oversight because it would seem, on the surface, that these populations of potential victims wouldn't be in higher ed settings. The Sandusky case made it apparent that assumption is invalid. Kudos to lawmakers, including those in Louisiana, who saw the oversight and closed the loophole.

[Beaver-Dog]

I think the people who covered it up should be prosecuted to to full extent of the law. The victims should an will sue the university. The cost will be staggering. These are criminal actions and I don't think the NCAA will have a lot to says about it. There may be some sanctions but most of the action will be outside it's mandate. The overall shame tied to this will hurt their football program for many years. The financial cost will hurt it as well. The statue of Paterno should be left in place and a pigeon feeder placed at it's base and a sign saying, "Do not wash."

[TYLERTECHSAS]

The Death Penalty for football at least should be used in this case. But the big $$ BCS power teams/conferences heads wont let that happen and come up with some liberal arse excuse like Maverick did above.
Fire and prosecute by law all involved that knowingly allowed this to happen on their watch.
Take away their NC title year and make PSU spend their billion's $$ tearing done their athletic offices and facilities where any of this happened and build something new.

Here is some of the latest.
NYT: PATERNO GOT ‘SWEETER DEAL’ IN MIDDLE OF SANDUSKY INVESTIGATION

[longdawgview]

Joe Pa must have been a catholic. He did the same thing that the pope did.

That's pretty low.

[Wade_Antley]

A better alternative that is actually gaining traction is for the high and mighty Big Ten to at least consider booting Penn State out on its ear after 2012-2013. That would be a huge annual financial hit on top of settlements that could run into the $100 million range.

This makes a lot of sense to me. Let the B1G kick them out so they have to live as an independent in all sports for awhile. I'm sure the Big East would eventually try to add them and that would be, probably, the worst punishment imaginable.

[longdawgview]

Penn State? I don't know enough all the workings of the university to make a categorical statement. Certainly there are some negligible employees, but that shouldn't necessarily define the entire organization. I think we need to be more specific in our assessments.

Very true. There definitely seems to be a cover-up from the Penn State officials but Joe Pa's son was saying on CNN that the Freeh report didn't have access to witnesses such as McQueary. Maybe judgements should wait to the till trials of Curley and Schultz.