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Football will return. They have one I the biggest alumni groups in the nation. It will just be in 10 years.
It will return, but it will never be the same, they will not rebound to the same level of eras past, and they earned this penalty. Same as Nixon, same as the Roman Catholic Church since their pedophilia issues rose.
Some of the prior boosters will leave, for good, disgusted.
This whole tawdry affair resulted from moral ineptitude placing glory of football program and big dollars it brought ahead of welfare of exploited children. Very sad for the guys with scholarships to PSU football. Perhaps some will jump ship to another school and who can blame them? The interview of Franco Harris standing up for Paterno even with the knowledge he concealed the truth from authorities is loathsome. For shame Franco! Thankfully other PSU football alumni have choose to speak out against their coaches behavior. The disreputable behavior of some administrators and the crimes of the pedophile in their midst does not reflect one iota upon the scholastic achievements of PSU students, many of whom will be responsible contributors to our society.
I find the punishment to be appropriate due to several factors:
I am convinced that more people throughout the athletic department and school administration knew about what Sandusky was doing than just simply four men. To them, keeping the prestige of the program was more important than the well-being of the children being victimized. Over the past 9 months, the cult-like reverence for the figureheads of Penn Football (Joe Paterno is particular) was nothing short of scary. Paterno himself was elevated by his fans to a sort of demagogue, instead of just being a man who happened to be a good football coach. Then again, that is a reflection of American Culture in holding athletic figures, especially in football, in extremely high reverence.
Over the past 8 or so months, I have seen just how the fans of Penn State would react towards any negative attention that the school was getting. The delusion of these fans was just sad and pathetic. To them, they were the victim, being bullied by the evil mass media and the "sheep" who didn't understand their situation. To them, anyone outside of the confines of Happy Valley was an "outsider" who didn't "understand." They blamed everyone except themselves for getting into this situation and making it worse. It is the media's fault for making them out to be something they weren't. It's the University President's fault for removing the statue and caving in. It's the NCAA's fault for punishing them as severely as they did. It's pathetic really, and ignores just who the real victims were.
Why was such a punishment necessary? I remember reading Friday Night Lights (great book, much better than the movie,) and seeing just how fanatical the Permian fans were to their team. Academics didn't matter, unemployment didn't matter, education was put on the back burner; the most important thing was seeing the Panthers play every Friday night. I see the same fanaticism with Penn State. To them, football is powerful. I'm pretty sure Paterno had more power than even the University's President. When PSU showed that the integrity of the football program was more important than keeping children safe for over a decade, a punishment needs to be administered to show that you can't have that. Don't blame the NCAA, the media, and everyone else besides yourself. This was your fault. This was your fault for being fanatical and cult-like in your reverence. This was PSU's fault for covering it up. I am a big sports fan too, but there are more important things than football out of there, and that was something PSU lost touch off and now are getting punished for it.
Oh, and the pictures of the students and alumni crying upon hearing their punishment was absolutely pathetic. Did you too cry when you found out about the children being abused?
Looks like some Penetration state fans are upset at the penalties handed down. Nothing in the penalties hurts academic students. About the only people it hurts are hard core Penetration State football fans. But don't worry, you'll be bowl elegible in only four years. All the low ranking colleges should start making shirts that say their universities' name, a comma, and then "at least we're not Penn State".
Know how I know you have impeccable debating skills?
It will return, but it will never be the same, they will not rebound to the same level of eras past, and they earned this penalty. Same as Nixon, same as the Roman Catholic Church since their pedophilia issues rose.
Some of the prior boosters will leave, for good, disgusted.
Disagree. They had this support with just a good program on field which means very dedicated fans. There is no comparable example in the past to use. SMU didn't have much fan support.
With a dedicated effort in the future to make child causes part of the football program they can be fine in about 10 years.
Disagree. They had this support with just a good program on field which means very dedicated fans. There is no comparable example in the past to use. SMU didn't have much fan support.
With a dedicated effort in future to make child causes part of the football program they can be fine in about 10 years.
I doubt it, both their rebound to past levels and there making a sincere effort on behalf off child sexual abuse causes. They have not been sincere, in well over a decade.
It may be time to determine if they wish to be a football factory or a university.
A trustee has already hired a lawyer..hardly the sign on sincere, abject apology. More like Nixon, with less personal charm (sar).
I was surprised that the NCAA got involved. Maybe this will serve as a warning to other schools. I hope that the NCAA will allow the players to transfer without penalty.
With the stripping of Paterno's wins, Eddie Robinson is back on top on the wins list, where he rightfully belongs. The mirage that was Paterno's good character image, has been exposed. I can't say that I'm surprised. I lived in State College during the mid to late 80s, and never bought into that Happy Valley obsession that was Paterno and the Nittany Lions. There always seemed to be hidden issues there. I just couldn't put my finger on it at the time. The penalty is right, surprised it's not more than $60M though, given the nature of the crimes and the cover-up. $600M+ seems more like it.
Last edited by LexusNexus; 07-23-2012 at 01:19 PM..
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Real substance prevails; Eddie Robinson
