Penn State avoids death penalty; should now self-impose it

Penn State didn’t get the death penalty, though it might as well have. Severe scholarship reductions, $60 million fine, 4-year postseason ban, 5 years probation…sheesh. Also, Paterno drops from first to twelfth on the all-time victory list, as all wins from 1998 to 2011 inclusive have been vacated.

It would be highly impressive for Penn State to comply with these penalties by shutting football down itself. The NCAA has already waived eligibility requirements for transferring players. (And besides, it’s not like they’d lose that many more games.)

How about it, Penn State? Can you muster a truly honorable deed?

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10 thoughts on “Penn State avoids death penalty; should now self-impose it”

  1. Eschew collectivism. Punish the individuals guilty of the crimes and who failed in their oversight duties, all the way through the board of trustees. Penn State is an abstraction. “Punishing Penn State” means punishing individuals, and at this point all that are left are innocent. Punishing innocent people is monstrous.

    What happened to those innocent boys was also monstrous. Beating a dead horse will not undo the terrible actions. Injustice will make a bad problem worse. I have kids too, so I feel horrified and angry. People need to calm down and consider the issue rationally. If we use the bad guys’ tactics, how will everyone else tell us apart?

    What happens next time around with the newly empowered NCAA and a much less serious offense? The time to SECede is now, boys.

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  2. Greg, I think a hiatus would represent a best chance, and certainly a sincere desire (remember I’m talking about the university doing it), for a meaningful culture shift.

    I would not want Alabama to play this fall under similar circumstances. There, I said it.

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  3. Pretty sure the non-Death Penalty option was lobbied by Jim Delaney and the B1G Conference. Minus PSU, they have 11 teams which is just one shy of the requirement for a championship game. Even with a near-Division III PSU, they get to have their game in Indy. All about the $, bro.

    Not a fan of NCAA acting as faux cops in an obvious PR move. I’m betting Emmert wouldn’t have moved so quickly if Paterno was still alive and facing prosecution. Bad situation all around.

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  4. BamaDan, “all about the $” is not a culture change.

    I get what you’re saying, but the NCAA could have waived the 12-team rule just as easily as they did eligibility rules for current Penn State players who transfer, could they not?

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  5. I don’t think so. At least not easily. 11 teams can’t balance out the conference schedule (damn prime numbers) and you can’t just plug in Pitt or (shudder) Notre Dame as PSU would want their lucrative slot back in 4 years. I had heard that these sanctions were the plea bargain from a four year cancellation of football. Cancellation of football would have the very poor unintended consequences of hurting other programs too. Volleyball, soccer, etc. As it is, they will be crippled.

    If you think the NCAA was soley trying to change the culture and not trying to exert some new power, I think that’s naive. And we’d best be careful. PSU isn’t the only program with statues.

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  6. It’s still just a problem to be solved. Relax the 12-team requirement and put some creative thinking on it. There’s an answer. As for football-dependent sports, again, get clever. Fundraisers. Bond issues. Who knows what else? Leaving the football team functioning is still, despite the sanctions, the easy way out. I’m flirting with calling it cowardly, actually.

    I haven’t yet commented on the prudence (or lack thereof) of the NCAA’s behavior in this affair.

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  7. Not in time for this season (which starts in about a month), there isn’t. One could say “Play round robin and take the best two records in,” but that’s not how *this* season is scheduled. Removing Penn State is more of a headache to the Big Ten in that regard. You’re making a moral argument, and a very good one. I’m pointing out that the Big Ten (who is more than sick of the SEC) was probably in on making sure Penn St. fielded a semblance of team to protect a vested interest. Even if there was a strong leadership voice at PSU willing to shutter football, do you think they were allowed to make this decision by Jim Delaney?

    Wonder what bond issues from PSU look like now that Moody’s is threatening to downgrade their credit rating…

    You have to know I loathe this crime and coverup as much as anyone, but I was hoping the justice system would take care of the bad guys. You know, like they’re supposed to and seem to be doing. I have no idea why the puppet Board of Trustees is still employed though. And I had no idea Joe Paterno had such advanced lung cancer. Convenient really.

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  8. Child abuse took place at Penn State, but that does not mean there was a culture of child abuse. Likewise, it was not about protecting the once-exalted Joe Paterno or a football program that was too big to challenge.

    One does not expect a doddering old man to think and act with clarity. We also have the unfortunate propensity toward denial. Then there is self-interest, particularly in those holding positions of authority who knew they would lose their choice spots at the feeding trough once they perceived the problem as being too big and too old to squash.

    Name a real benefit of shutting down the program for even a year: a real benefit in objective terms and in terms of the ways real people think and act. Is is that Penn State students, fans, and alumni would be sent to their respective rooms to think about what they did? That’s still symbolic, an empty and meaningless display. If a 5-year shutdown is good, why not 10 or 20? A hundred years would mean a huge culture shift! Given the horrible press and reputation that Penn State may never shake, additional punitive action will not make them any more vigilant than they already will be.

    Lawyers have a saying: hard cases make bad law. What happened at Penn State was a tragic interaction of classical failures of human nature. Punishment is due to those who engaged and concealed the evil acts. The board of trustees ought to go too. Dropping napalm on the horrified innocents at Penn State serves no purpose other than as a spectacle for everyone else to gawk at. We can self-flagellate over the mistakes of others or we can acknowledge them, avoid similar failures in the future, and move on.

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  9. Greg, I strenuously disagree that it was not about protecting Paterno or a football program that is too big to challenge. That’s still the problem right now. That there was any question whether the statue should have come down embodies the disease perfectly. I also don’t see any “horrified innocents.” A horrified person would be calling for shutting down football. I see and hear grousing from the university and from fans who still don’t get it.

    I suspect there is a growing “we’ll get through this” sentiment at Penn State. Such is to be expected. However, I think it should be happening with a self-imposed hiatus. The continuity is offensive, and I believe damages the chance for a genuinely new beginning.

    Reply

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