Death of the Nittany Lion
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I normally do not involve myself with sports, but after hearing people want the Football program at Penn State gutted, I decided to find out what was going on.
The Report of the Special Investigative Counsel Regarding the Actions of The Pennsylvania State University Related to the Child Sexual Abuse Committed by Gerald A. Sandusky is about 286 pages long and it not only faults Sandusky, but many of the higher ups at Penn State for allowing this to go on.
Scope of Review and Methodology says: “Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan LLP, (“FSS”), was engaged by the Special Investigations Task Force (“Task Force”) on behalf of The Pennsylvania State University’s Board of Trustees (“Board” or “Trustees”)a as Special Investigative Counsel on November 21, 2011. As Special Investigative Counsel, FSS was asked to perform an independent, full and complete investigation of: 1). The alleged failure of Pennsylvania State University personnel to respond to, and report to the appropriate authorities, the sexual abuse of children by former University football coach Gerald A. Sandusky (“Sandusky”); 2). The circumstances under which such abuse could occur in University facilities or under the auspices of University programs for youth.”
The task force was comprised of heavy hitters, “Chairman, Kenneth C. Frazier, Chief Executive Officer and President, Merck & Co., Inc.; Vice Chairman, Ronald J. Tomalis, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education; H. Jesse Arnelle, Attorney; Guion S. Bluford, Jr., Ph.D., Colonel, United States Air Force (retired); Mark H. Dambly, President, Pennrose Properties, LLC; Keith W. Eckel, Sole Proprietor and President, Fred W. Eckel & Sons Farms, Inc.; Daniel R. Hagen, Ph.D., Immediate Past- Chair, The Pennsylvania State University Faculty Senate, Professor, College of Agricultural Sciences; Rodney P. Hughes, Doctoral Student, The Pennsylvania State University; Karen B. Peetz, Chairman, Board of Trustees, The Pennsylvania State University, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Financial Markets and Treasury Services, Bank of New York Mellon.”
What the investigation discovered was there were people in high places of the University, former President Graham B. Spanier, former Senior Vice President-Finance and Business Gary C. Schultz and Athletic Director Timothy M. Curley from 1998 and 2001 -aware of Sandusky’s crimes. The reports were given to law enforcement when discovered and the reports indicated the aforementioned people wanted what was going on kept out of the spotlight as to not tarnish the University or it’s football program.
It has now come down to what can the NCAA do about this. There is nothing in their rule book which covers sexual perversion. The most the NCAA could nail the University on is “deceitful and dishonest behavior” . It begs the question which was brought up in a column by Tim Dahlberg, national sports columnist for The Associated Press. He asked, “If Ohio State gets a one-year bowl ban for players selling jerseys, what should Penn State get for selling out a whole community? If Reggie Bush cost Southern California a four-year probation for accepting cash and cars, what should Penn State get for letting a child molester use its locker rooms for his perverse fantasies?”
Many are saying the Football program should be gutted and the NCAA forbid the Nittany Lions from putting a team on the field. For a long time. This would hurt the aspirations of many young men who went to college on a Football Scholarship, only to discover there is no football team.
Tim Dahlberg, of the A.P., suggested “Give Penn State a year’s probation and bowl ban for every year Sandusky ran amok at State College since 1998, until he was arrested last year. That’s a staggering 13 years, a penalty that would gut the football program much as Sandusky gutted the lives of those young boys. They never got a second chance, but the NCAA can still take the high road and give Penn State one. Shave a year off the penalty for every year the university demonstrates it is moving forward and has control of the program. Throw in a bonus year if everything symbolic of the cult of Joe is removed from campus once and for all. Six years from now, declare it a new day and let Penn State football emerge for a new era.”
Forgive the University is what he is saying. Maybe in time this MIGHT fade in the collective memory of people, but there would also be a black hole of 13 years that could not be explained away.
Bill O’Brien is the new Head Coach and he knows what ever happens, his team, if the NCAA is allowed to field one, will be hobbled. He most likely feels everyone is watching his every move. I am sure he was aware of this when signing on, yet he must feel uncomfortable knowing that a fart could be misconstrued as conduct unbecoming.
The Lions are now a has been team. The alter of St. Joe is soaked with the tears of all the young men hurt by Sandusky. Joe Paterno has most likely met his fate in whatever hereafter there is and maybe is living in a special Hell.
Artist Michael Pilato removed the halo he had painted over Paterno’s head on a mural of key Penn State figures in downtown State College following the legendary and beloved coach’s death in January. Pilato also added a large blue ribbon on Paterno’s lapel to symbolize support for child abuse victims, which the artist says Paterno supported. Pilato removed Sandusky from the mural soon after the scandal broke late last year, simply painting a blue ribbon in the chair Sandusky had previously occupied. The artist recently decided to paint another key Penn State figure — poet Dora McQuaid — in that chair. Spanier remains in the mural for the time being, as Pilato says he hasn’t decided on the fate of the former president’s image yet. There are calls for Paterno’s statue to be removed.
Sandusky is sitting in prison as his family files appeals. He will not leave there alive and he better hope they keep him segregated from the General Population, for there are guys out there, hardened criminals, who do not like guys who prey on young boys.
When G.P. is through with him, his anus will be big enough to swing an Aircraft Carrier around in.
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I can understand both sides of the arguement here. Penn State must pay for it’s involvement in the cover up. I don’t however like the idea of hurting the kids who had nothing to do with it. If the Penn State football program is ended for 13 seasons as you say it should be, then I think that the schools with a football program in Penn or in the Big Ten conf. should get the first crack at the added scholarship players who wish to transfer. Because it maybe to late to adjust the schedule for this upcoming season, the ban would go into effect next season (no bowl game this year) in order to allow the seniors to graduate. This gives everyone time to get the players into new schools and not hurt the kids who did nothing wrong. The blame is on Sandusky, Paterno, the AD, School president and large money alumni donors who turned a blind eye. It should not hurt the players and coaches who knew nothing until the story broke. That is the only way to make a ban like this work and it not cost a lot of good kids the right to finish their degrees.
It’s inevitable that the school will suffer, as it already has. From the day the scandal broke Penn State became known as the child molester football place.