Joe Paterno loses his halo. (Pittsburgh, State College: crime, home, neighborhood)

[SPSGuy]

Penn State administrators are in a conference room weighing the financial pros and cons of moving the statue. I can hear them right now, "Well, we may lose donation money, but we may have to spend money gaurding and fixing it"

All while totally ignoring the obvious moral obligation they owe to the ones who where fell victim to Joe Paterno turning a blind eye to atrocities that happened in his buildings on his watch while allowing a pedophile to damage more kids instead of turning him in.

I should have went to Pitt.

[Velvet Jones]

I'm still baffled by one thing. There is some much outrage at Penn State, most of it deserved, but where is the outrage at the local police? The local DA's office? Former AG Corbett? While what Penn State higher ups did was despicable, it's not their job to play CSI. If these allegations were so severe then why did it take another decade plus before anything happened? Penn State officials apparently didn't go out of their way to assist in the investigation, but crimes still get solved every day without co-operations from those being investigated.

[SPSGuy]

Originally Posted by Velvet Jones

I'm still baffled by one thing. There is some much outrage at Penn State, most of it deserved, but where is the outrage at the local police? The local DA's office? Former AG Corbett? While what Penn State higher ups did was despicable, it's not their job to play CSI. If these allegations were so severe then why did it take another decade plus before anything happened? Penn State officials apparently didn't go out of their way to assist in the investigation, but crimes still get solved every day without co-operations from those being investigated.

A lot of the critcism of Freeh's report is there is missing areas of evidence. That I do agree with. However, there is evidence that proves those four men did obviously know what was going on, and didn't turn this sick pedophile in while allowing more kids to fall victim to him.

I do agree though that Freeh didn't go further. Including proving how Tommy Boy was also probably linked into this, or what happened to Gricar. I think there is still a lot more to the story. But unfortunately power and money always will win out over morality.

[JD59]

News, Penn State Students Guarding Paterno Statue.

Despite rumors, Penn State has not made a decision on whether the Paterno statue will be removed or not, but University spokesman David LaTorre confirmed Tuesday that the university would make a decision regarding the statue in the next seven to 10 days. Many people have been visiting the statue placing notes and flowers at the statue’s feet in support of Paterno.

A small commercial airplane trailing a message that said “Take the statue down or we will” flew over Beaver Stadium for about three hours Tuesday.

Decision on Joe Paterno statue to come soon - The Daily Collegian Online

[MathmanMathman]

Penn State gets body slammed by the NCAA

Penn State Nittany Lions hit with $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban, wins dating to 1998 - ESPN

Which is worse, the "Death Penalty" or this?

And JoePa's statue was taken down.

[gg]

I sure feel sorry for the students. So many probably really looked forward to going to Penn State and all that atmosphere. Now it is all gone. On the bright side, maybe colleges will focus on education again and not as much football. Of course that isn't going to happen with all that money in men's football and basketball. Those are the money makers, so coaches can make a million or so and whatever all else goes on.

[Goinback2011]

Read about what's going on in the NFL with litigation over head injuries that is gonna be on the same scale as tobacco settlements and understand that this is the beginning of the end of football as a sport period.

As for Penn State, Paterno and Spanier believed they could control ANYthing and were proven wrong. But the NCAA is just as crazy when they think they can change history (negating the wins) with the stroke of a pen. Everyone involved in college football seems to be delusional.

[Q-tip motha]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I sure feel sorry for the students. So many probably really looked forward to going to Penn State and all that atmosphere. Now it is all gone. On the bright side, maybe colleges will focus on education again and not as much football. Of course that isn't going to happen with all that money in men's football and basketball. Those are the money makers, so coaches can make a million or so and whatever all else goes on.

I think the students will get over not seeing PSU play in a bowl. May take years of therapy, and some will possibly resort to suicide due to their inability to cope. Some might even become Notre Dame fans....god help them. I've heard that State College tattoo parlors and souvenir shops have put out requests for anyone that can draw something as vague a raisin in a suit wearing glasses. The demand for anyone who can help this battered generation commemorate this defining event in their lives is unbelievable.





I feel sorry for 10 or so little boys that were raped in a shower, but you're right the PSU students should be the focus here. Bless their hearts they've been through so much.

[Clint.]

The $60 million seems meaningless to me - the money will come on the backs of people who had nothing to do with the cover-up, etc. Fine the people involved. Better yet, charge them criminally. NCAA doesn't really care about changing things...it's all PR. Aren't coaches usually the highest paid and most influential university employees? I don't see that changing.

Maybe, to acknowledge the cultic following of PSU fans that were responsible for creating the atmosphere that enabled Paterno and the others to turn a blind eye to Sandusky, ban radio and television broadcasting of games for one season - the students could still play, lowly people could keep their jobs, students could still play, etc., but the atmosphere of adoration would be more subdued and give people pause to reflect. Plus the existing penalties. Too much money would be lost with that, though, so I'm sure it was never even considered.

[SolitaryThrush]

NCAA penalties were needed. It'd be a slap in the face to the victims and to any decent human being to see 110,000 fans in Beaver Stadium every Saturday cheering a team and a university that participated in heinous crimes and a shocking 14-year coverup. But by not really going very far, the NCAA will allow State College to adopt a sense of victimhood:

[T]he legacy of the Penn State scandal will no longer be Jerry Sandusky's heinous crimes or the courageous victims who stood up to him. Thanks to a brazen power play and a carefully orchestrated p.r. extravaganza, this human tragedy will take a backseat over the next four years (or longer) to a more trivial narrative: Whether Penn State football can recover from crippling NCAA sanctions.

Mark*Emmert, NCAA*overstepped bounds in hammering Penn State - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

They should have given the program the death penalty, and not allowed the school to basically negotiate the penalty (which is what happened when they choose the current punishment over the threat of the death penalty). Now instead of the focus being a decade of child molestation and massive coverup at the highest level of the university among its most important figures, the focus is on how the football team will rebuild, and how the local businesses will find a way to survive. Watching some of the kids they interviewed reacting to the penalties is disgusting. I know 19-year-olds are usually stupid, but still. Maybe they'll riot again.

Really, what kind of punishment is it to have a Big Ten school not be very good for five years? So Penn State turns into Minnesota or Indiana, big deal. $60 million over four years is nothing for a big school like that . . . hell, the coaching staff almost earns more. The Big Ten's punishment was only nominal: they took away the bowl money for which PSU wasn't eligible anyway.

People in Pittsburgh (where I'm posting from) seem to take especial delight in the whole scandal. People put down the "cultish" fanbase as a Penn State thing that needs to be wiped from the face of the earth. But it's naive to pretend this doesn't exist at every single large university in the US. The cultural problem was at Penn State, but is also throughout our country, where our students and universities put more into athletics than in academics. I was hoping to see the football program suspended for a while to give the PSU community a chance to reevaluate their priorities: after all, the alums, the fans, the business owners, and the students all had a role in building the cult of personality to what it was, and they all share part of the blame. That won't happen now. But we can all use this as an opportunity to reevaluate our priorities and to take closer looks at the abuses of power and messed up priorities in American higher education, at all of our schools . . . But I'm sorry to say that probably won't happen either.