In perhaps the most heinous offense in the history of college sports, the legal system had already spoken with respect to the perpetrator, Jerry Sandusky. All eyes were on the NCAA, which had a moral obligation to do something. This was not about an athlete being paid under the table or some academic fraud, this was about a crime that took place on the watch of the NCAA and something was expected to be done. The NCAA answered with both barrels.
The loss of $60 million, scholarships, no bowl games for four years, along with other sanctions that covered everything one could imagine. As for Joe Paterno’s role, he did not escape. His record is now tarnished with respect to wins, as Penn State will vacate all their victories dating back to the first hint of Jerry Sandusky’s predation on youth when nothing was officially done about it. The NCAA thought it was a good idea to use this incident as a lesson to any other school and coach who thought they were invincible.
The NCAA has allowed Penn State students to go anywhere they want with no penalty. They can still play and get an education, though in some cases they will have to compete for a job as they will have a change in address. That is better than not being afforded an education at all.
For those sanctimonious fans who lived in a bubble in “Happy Valley,” let’s see if you will still come out and support “Old State U” now. This is when the real fans will show up. If businesses and attendance is down, they can only blame themselves as they were there for the good times. Let’s see how adversity will affect the loyal.
You can see the NCAA piling on Joe Paterno, but then again what else could they do? It was on Joe’s watch, and he knew about it. He reported it and yet still allowed Sandusky to have his way on campus and eventually with the kids. In all he was part of the problem and he paid dearly, even in death.
What happens to the people above Paterno who have yet to go to court? What can the NCAA do to them? Nothing. The legal system will handle it; and should they survive, what institution of any learning would employ them?
