Penn State and NCAA FB rant

[tkpatience]

I think by now there are quite a few stories which cause sports enthusiasts fatigue when being brought up. Whether it's Manning traded by the Colts, Tebow traded by the Broncos, Luck being drafted overall one, or the fallout of Penn State abuse trial, big things are always developing in the world of sports.

The changing atmosphere of sports has become one of the sources of attention. To be fair, conflict and controversy make good publicity. Whenever you turn on the news, they're going to lead off with the bad stuff cause that is what will draw viewers.

The events that took place under Joe Paterno's reign as the former "winningest" head coach in NCAA football history is despicable and unforgivable. The young children victimized by Sandusky must live with the scars associated with the heinous actions of this sick, deranged pedophile. A fate that for some I'm sure is worse than death.

Everyone knew something big was going to happen to make sure that this may not, will not, could not happen again. To that end, Penn State now has to eat the $60 Million fine, a four year ban on bowl games, forfeiture of 112 wins, and loss of scholarships.

I agree that something has to be done to ensure football was never held above the safety of children, but I'm not so sure that the NCAA did enough. There are a lot of things I did not like about the whole thing.

1. This is not just a sports issue. The whole thing has turned, for lack of a better word, political. The last time I checked sports is sports and politics is politics. Nothing good comes from mixing the two.

2. Even though Penn State got nailed with sanctions, this basically scapegoats one program for a weakness in the entire system. The football program at Penn State got what was coming to them for the inadvertent, well for the majority other than leadership, part they played in the scandal coverup.

They've made an example out of Penn State. What that example was is debatable.


3. Although the penalties affect things that occurred in the passed, NCAA isn't very proactive in their approach to rectify the situation.

What is the NCAA doing to make sure that this won't happen again at some other school?

I'm pretty sure that Penn State will not think twice about doing the right thing next time. Not so sure when it comes to the effect it will have on other schools.

Take a look at MLB. When they went after steroids, it was the entire MLB that was impacted as a result of testing requirements. There were scapegoats that were targeted by congress, but at least they didn't take a half-assed approach.

TL: DR: My problem with what happened wasn't as much about what they are trying to do as much as how they are trying to do it.

 

[jhop220]

I understand your rant on the NCAA and Penn State.

What that institution allowed to happen is deplorable and I was hoping for at least a 2 year Death Penalty (No football), but what they got exceeded the death penalty by leaps and bounds.

Penn State got fined the equivalent of what they make every year in gross football related sales.
They are banned from the postseason for 4 years.
The scholarship reduction is huge and basically limits Penn State to a Division 1-AA school for 5 years.

You won't see the effects of these sanctions until basically next year or 2014. However, they will be noticed and you will see Penn State at the bottom of the Big 10 consistently over the following 10 years.

The players there are free to transfer to any school without penalty until the start of the 2013-14 season. Their top player Silas Redd is likely to transfer to USC. Now most junior and senior players have opted to stay for good reason, but I wouldn't expect the freshmen, sophomores, or incoming recruits to stay at all. That would be stupid on their part.

Now as far as making sure this doesn't happen in other schools...well, I think the message they sent spoke volumes of what they will do if any institution under the NCAA is found to have these egregious actions take place.

I really hope the football program never recovers. I have zero sympathy for a school that allows such deplorable actions to take place for that long. I would have been fine with the NCAA throwing them out and forcing the school to reapply for admission into the NCAA in January.

 

[storm7400]

Peyton Manning did not get traded to the Denver Broncos. He was cut by the Indianapolis Colts and subsequently signed as a free agent with the Broncos.

As for Penn State, well I think I covered it on the airwaves Friday night