http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20120724_Lynne_scheduled_for_sentencing_today_in_priest_abuse_case.html

“Msgr. William J. Lynn will spend three to six years in prison for failing to prevent a priest’s sexual assault on a boy.”

I’m generally against the Death Penalty. But in this case, the NCAA not only has the right, it has the responsibility to make sure its member institutions know inhumanity in the name of sport will not be tolerated.

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I’m not a PSU alumnus and I’m not defending anyone, but I can’t believe some of the lack of thinking associated with this story. Here’s a question — had this happened at OSU instead of Penn State, are you *REALLY* so naive and/or uncritical to think that people in southcentral Ohio or wherever Columbus is would not be saying the same thing? Think about it for a minute and then answer it.

If your answer is “no,” then you’re missing a major chunk of what this is about — the fact that athletics, and prominent figures in athletics (e.g., Paterno), are hoisted up on a pedestal at major universities (including basically all of the Big Ten), and the power and prestige associated with this pedestal is what can lied to abuse and misuse of power, cover-ups, and other self-centered, unethical, reckless acts as was the case here and has been the case at other institutions (including Ohio State). It just so happened that Penn State got the Sandusky abuse thing instead of NCAA violations.

Had this happened at Ohio State and had it involved a figure as prominent as Paterno, you can try to argue that people in Columbus and others affiliated with Ohio State would be entirely objective and would act differently, and that this is something unique to Happy Valley. You’d be lying to yourself, because the issue’s more pervasive than that.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder what would have happened if a Lavar Arrington would have found out he would be playing for a pedophile?

He and other elite players would have steered clear then as they will now.

Hmmm…..so maybe keeping this horror story quiet was to make sure these players came to PSU…..so that Joe could keep getting his precious wins……and MAINTAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.

I love the PSU defenders arguing that it is unfair to punish the innocent players and fans. ……I guess I must have missed all that support you gave to the USC and OSU programs when their athletes and fans were innocently punished.

You know, I was actually going to get upset about some of the PSU defenders comments posted here……and then I looked over the punishment handed down and smiled……

While looking at yourself in the mirror or admiring your tiny genitalia?

You know, I was actually going to get upset about some of the PSU defenders comments posted here……and then I looked over the punishment handed down and smiled……

Did you just make that up? You must be a comedic writer, that was so very original and clever.

Answer this CULT MEMBERS, from 2002-2011(you know, after Paterno truly knew what was going on with Sandusky and little boys), Sandusky could take children to football practices, on gameday they could be on the sidelines and some traveled to road games yet Paterdo did nothing. WHY? He knew what was going on but did nothing. Tell us why he did nothing. I really look forward to hearing your pathetic excuses that will further show how pathetic Pedophile State alumni are!

However, this is a dangerous precedent.

Go ahead, as Michael Rosenberg stated on SI.com, and pull out the NCAA manual. You won’t find a place where PSU violated A NCAA RULE. The NCAA effectively decided to disregard their own statutes, spin it so they could give out the harshest punishments possible (make no mistake: They want PSU to self-declare their OWN death penalty by shutting the program down, if they don’t, it’s even more of a win for the NCAA) and make NCAA Prez Mark Emmertt a hero.

Here’s the problem: Can we now go back to what USC and Ohio State did, flaunting the NCAA rule books, with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, given to recruit players and lavish on those who are on the campus? If we see another major program committing rape, for example, is the NCAA going to levy a bowl ban and take away scholarships, since it won’t be an internal matter but the same akin violations that occurred at PSU, only on a smaller scale?

And honestly: Why not just get rid of college football all together? Or do all of you think PSU is the ONLY major FBS program protecting a sex offender? Don’t hold your breath…

Look, I 100% agree with the NCAA’s need to take action. There’s no way PSU could be allowed to take the field on the level with other programs. That would have been an absolute nightmare for CFB, not to mention the families and the victims.

But don’t kid yourself: Sanctions, vacating Joe Pa’s wins, taking down that statue…NOTHING is going to undo what Sandusky did to those kids. You could drop a nuke on Happy Valley (which some of you out there would probably also say is acceptable) and it won’t take away that pain, that sorrow and those scars.

I can only imagine if you were living in State College, had nothing to do with the PSU CFB program, simply trying to make a living, seeing your town get absolutely destroyed, for something you had nothing to do with, just because the NCAA made a point, losing your house and declaring bankruptcy, and saying “Well, it had to be done, and so what if I am collateral damage. There was no alternative.

Let the justice system do its job. The NCAA needs to put their focus on their own rulebook. The PSU scandal is ALL about the criminal side.

So watch out “The U”, USC, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU and others. You’re next. And it won’t be pretty.

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@psu4me

Of course I can compare them. PSU benefitted from hiding Sandusky’s crimes in the following two ways:

1) PSU’s squeaky clean reputation remained in tact. This obviously is part of the appeal for landing good recruits and large donations from alumni.

2) JoePa got to continue his pursuit of the all-tine wins record. There was a very real possibility that he would have been forced to step down in 2001 or 2002 if Sandusky’s crimes had been known. Many fans were calling for Paterno to step down because PSU had back to back losing seasons. Word of Sandusky’s crimes would have been the straw to break the camel’s back.

I’m sure you will find a way to argue against these because your seeing the situation through PSU colored glasses. But it’s a simple fact that the motive for the cover up was to protect the football program, JoePa’s record, and PSU’s reputation. No reasonable person would disagree with that.

And when the motive for committing a crime, or covering up a crime, is to protect an athletic program the NCAA does have the power to act despite what PSU apologists are claiming. They are NOT limited to “on the field” infractions.

Those outside of the little PSU society all get it! Your coach, president, AD were grossly absorbed in winning football games instead of doing the right thing to stop a child rapist. Get your f@#$ing priorities right and move forward in a positive manner. Joe Paterno deserves EVERYTHING he got because he knew what Sandusky was doing and he turned his back so he could win football games.

The whole program needs to be bleached, scrubbed, and rebuilt and this is the first step!
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This guy nailed it , AMEN

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YOU ARE PEDOPHILE STATE TO EVERYBODY OUTSIDE OF THE CULT OF Happy?Valley. Keep embarrassing the school by trying to defend what has happened.

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@tapdancer52

Allow me to explain some of the logic.

First, the NCAA is not doing this to punish those responsible in an individual sense, there will be trials and jail time for those people. They ARE punishing PSU collectively for what their leadership both did, and failed to do.

Second, Emmert stated up front that nothing could be done to remove the pain and anguish the victims of Sandusky have felt for all these years and decades. Nonetheless, the 60 million dollar fine will be funneled to charitable organizations dedicated to helping the victims of abuse. So at least some victims can be helped from the money raised by the fine.

Third, if in fact it is true that the BoT knew nothing about all of this, it underscores a condition the NCAA refers to as “lack of institutional control”. It basically means that tremendous malfeasence took place in part because those in charge didn’t do their job of overseeing things. The BoT not knowing about the Sandusky coverup qualifies as LOIC.

Fourth, beyond all of that, there is a need for the NCAA to set an example to the rest of college football that protecting the program at any cost is completely unacceptable. I think everyone understands that the way it is now, it’s an uphill battle. But this is a first step in trying to create some deterence of possible future cover ups and crimes among other “football-first” universities.

It’s incredibly rare for NCAA penalties to actually affect the perps. It’s ALWAYS the next coach and next batch of players that feel the effect. But that’s no reason to stop enforcing punishments. Can a man avoid prison for theft on the basis of his wife and children being harmed by his absence? They are innocent aren’t they? It’s a sad fact of life that punishment often affects those who were/are innocent. But logically, no punishment would ever be handed out if a requirement existed that no innocents be affected. It happened at USC, Ohio State, and numerous other colleges. And the situation is the same for PSU.

I hope I’ve answered some of your questions about the appropriateness of the PSU sanctions.

The so-called investigation that was conducted by former FBI director Louis Freeh is bogus. This is the same FBI director who ran the FBI during which the agency could not track terrorists effective. Freeh left September 3, 2001 and it was on his watch that the agency was putridly ineffective.

So we are going to trust an investigation run by him to base penalties on Penn State?

You have got to be kidding!

Stripping real world wins from Paterno is a bogus action – in fact – it is a panty-waste punishment – one that takes no gonads – and one that shows a profound lack of understanding about the real world. None of the actions that are asserted to have been taken (the Freeh report is really specious on ACTUAL traceable evidence to Paterno and to some Penn State officials despite the media spin). Since the situations at Penn State did not involve cheating or other ways of winning when the University would not have otherwise won, stripping the wins is outrageous. And it doesn’t take much manhood (well, it doesn’t take any), to strip wins from a dead guy.

There is no evidence that the football program in toto was complicit in this coverup. There is evidence that Paterno did in fact consult with superiors, so if the buck stops anywhere, it should cause heads to roll in the management of the University. Paterno’s only apparent issue here is not “pursuing this situation with rabid vigor”. There is a profound difference in doing nothing and doing what he thought was right. And since he did consult with superiors, the ball shifted from Paterno to the management. Punishing the football program is also a fairly mamby pamby way of addressing the issue.

The real problem is that the University had no systematic plan to address sexual crimes issues; management clearly failed to act; and the University, not a sports program, is totally at fault. So it should be the University that pays.

Here is what I’d do – immediately pursue all legal actions, both civil and criminal, against any and all top University officials from 1998 – 2011. Whether these officials are held civilly or criminally liable is up to the courts to decide.

Whatever steps that are necessary to strip Penn State of its University status and to turn it into a college for a decade. Since this action will immediately affect all football and sports programs, it would make any further action of punishment on sports redundant. Whatever college programs would be allowed to exist would be dependent on the NCAA standards for that. This reduction would be a harsh penalty.

I disagree with the fine – that is a gutless attempt by the NCAA to cover its butt since there is a hint that even NCAA officials had to know what was going on in one of its schools. The fine is merely a way for the NCAA to frost a maggot cake by donating it for PR purposes.

The NCAA is a gutless, spineless den of leftist wimps. It no more wanted to pursue penalties that really punished Penn State than it wanted to actually conduct a real investigation. This whole thing was a dog and pony show with a preconceived conclusion – pin it all on the dead guy, punish the football program, and to do minimal significant change at weeding out the leftists in management who were the actual perpetrators of the coverup.