More importantly, get rid of collegiate sports beyond intramurals and let the major leagues run their own minors/farm teams. Linking atheletics [SIC] to academia is such a farce and only in America. One goes to college to get ‘book learning’ and shouldn’t be a pathway to pro sports.
AH_C on July 23, 2012 at 12:40 PM

This is not just about football or baseball who have “farm teams” for the minor/major leagues. I say this as the parent of a child who will be playing college golf in the Fall. You have no idea how important these programs are to the individuals and the sport itself, and to their future careers. I can only hope and pray that idiotic thinking such as yours is in the minority.

Ban me if you want but I find it hard to believe that what he did good far outweighs what he did wrong.

dentalque on July 22, 2012 at 5:58 PM

History is replete with heroes turned to zeros due to moral failing.

A little more complicated than that. It would have to be an elite program similar to the one they signed on to play for. But even if those spots existed—and for all intents and purposes they don’t—roster assignments for the fall have already been made. Bad deal for those kids.

Howard Portnoy on July 22, 2012 at 4:20 PM

This has been percolating for nearly a year. Any kid that accepted Penn was a fool in more ways than one. More importantly, get rid of collegiate sports beyond intramurals and let the major leagues run their own minors/farm teams. Linking atheletics to academia is such a farce and only in America. One goes to college to get ‘book learning’ and shouldn’t be a pathway to pro sports.

Wait for it…

They’re just modifying the base so that he looks the other way!

Thank you. I’m here all week. Be good to your waitresses and the 11 o’ clock show is different from the 9:30.

They should change the name of that place from Penn State to State Penn.

Is it any surprise that Michael Mann runs his global warming scam from there?

For the NCAA to pile on to this is just overkill. This program is going to take a long time to recover from this and the law and public opinion will take care of everything else.

bflat879 on July 22, 2012 at 8:49 PM

I don’t think so. I think the crimes here are so evil that no university board or leadership should ever think that this would be worth turning a blind eye to again either for the cash or the prestige of a winning team. I think the NCAA should go beyond the death penalty and make an example of them so no one would ever forget ever. Or even tempted to get away with it for a slap on the wrist of a forfitted season.

If having Reggie Bush take payment caused USC to forfeit a championship, this penalty must be of many magnitudes greater. If betting on baseball causes lifetime banishment, then this penalty must be of many magnitudes greater. If attempting to sign a player under the table like the Timberwolves did cost them several draft picks, then this penalty must be of many magnitudes greater.

I want to remember him for that, not the shifting soil of morality with the benefit of hindsight.

dentalque on July 22, 2012 at 5:58 PM

“Shifting soil of morality”? Seriously? Where’s the shifting soil here?

Paterno actively covered up child sexual abuse to protect his beloved football team and it’s reputation. The only shifting I see is you tying your logic into pretzels in order to rationalize this horror.

We’re talking about misprision of felony, perjury, subbornation of perjury, and to top it all off, in service of protecting an athletic program from a sexual predator. I weep for our country if where people are going to play football in the fall is in any way shape or form weighed against the importance of justice — real justice — for sexual assault victims.

I am not talking about him. I am talking about coach Paterno and his corpus of work. You know it and choose to ignore it.

The same faulty logic applies to both. If Paterno’s ‘corpus of work’ is to be examined as a whole then why not Sand*sky’s?

You never answered my question. Have you read the report? If it shows that coach Paterno covered up JS’s crimes to “protect the program” I would agree with you.

Paterno knew about the 1998 incident with Sand*sky.

Paterno lied to the grand jury…testifying that he was unaware of any possible child abuse by Sand*sky prior to the 2001 Lasch shower rape.

Then in 2002…In his Grand Jury testimony, Paterno stated that McQueary had described Sand*sky “fondling” a young boy in an act he described of a “sexual nature,”

emails revealed he [Paterno] had engaged in additional conversations with Curley pressuring him (and Schultz and Spanier) not to report the rape to police.

My problem is the the attempt to implicate Paterno and penalize a bunch of students and coaches who have had nothing to do with it.

dentalque on July 22, 2012 at 7:42 PM

They had a lot to do with it. The sick adulation that sports is given at Penn State is the prime motivation behind the cover up. The worship that is directed towards Paterno, Sand*sky, and THE GAME, is why those kids were molested for years and no one wanted to do the right thing. THE GAME was more important and those ‘great men’ were only ‘great’ because they won THE GAME. If they had lost most of those games, would they have been considered ‘great men’?

sharrukin on July 22, 2012 at 6:45 PM

That is a poor debate technique known as “Throwing mud in the water.” I am not talking about him. I am talking about coach Paterno and his corpus of work. You know it and choose to ignore it. You never answered my question. Have you read the report? If it shows that coach Paterno covered up JS’s crimes to “protect the program” I would agree with you. My problem is the the attempt to implicate Paterno and penalize a bunch of students and coaches who have had nothing to do with it.

Is there a magic word related to this case that is not allowed??

willamettevalley on July 22, 2012 at 7:22 PM

Sand*sky

Yes I do have a different definition of great then you do. I judge a man on the corpus of his work.

dentalque on July 22, 2012 at 6:42 PM

You know, Sand*sky may have done some nice things in his career but that really doesn’t blot out, nor does it excuse his behavior. The ‘corpus of his work’ be damned.

He was part of a pedophile ring that enabled Sand*sky to keep molesting children for years.

You have a different definition of great than I do. I guess Sand*sky was a swell guy as well who made a few bad calls in his life. But hey, he inspired some people as well and even set up that nice charity Second Mile. And he was a great coach too!

Go Sand*sky! /

sharrukin on July 22, 2012 at 6:08 PM

Yes I do have a different definition of great then you do. I judge a man on the corpus of his work. I don’t usually make personal attacks but unless you have read the report and reached a different conclusion, you are a media following moronic drone.

Surely you jest.

In recent years their star has fallen, but they still turn out plenty of NFL top draft prospects.

Howard Portnoy on July 22, 2012 at 5:23 PM

My point wasn’t clear. To use the word “prestigious” to describe a sport program that knowingly harbored a pedophile is … well, I’ll let you use the modifier of your choice.

They should change the name of that place from Penn State to State Penn.

Coach Paterno was a great man, inspired generations, and was LOYAL to the one place he wanted to be.

dentalque on July 22, 2012 at 5:58 PM

A great man?

He was part of a pedophile ring that enabled Sand*sky to keep molesting children for years.

You have a different definition of great than I do. I guess Sand*sky was a swell guy as well who made a few bad calls in his life. But hey, he inspired some people as well and even set up that nice charity Second Mile. And he was a great coach too!

Go Sand*sky! /

How can it be explained that the NCAA had no idea this was going on? Has the NCAA even been asked if they knew or suspected? Did Freeh explore that or not?

BTW, the real mission of the NCAA is to make sure the money keeps coming in hand-over-fist to the major university’s sports programs, and to publicly spank somebody for getting caught every now and then.

1. & 3. Wrong. For better or worse, it’s a livelihood, or an entree into one.
2. Huh??

Howard Portnoy on July 22, 2012 at 5:23 PM

1 & 3. Just because the kids are looking forward to an extremely lucrative career doesn’t mean we have to protect a culture of people that led Paterno to sacrifice the abuse victims to preserve the money train.

2. A team is a collection of players, coaches, etc. By moving the players from team A to team B, team B changes. If they are good enough, team B can be the starting point for their career, because team A no longer exists to outshine it.

Surely you jest.

In recent years their star has fallen, but they still turn out plenty of NFL top draft prospects.

pedestrian on July 22, 2012 at 5:13 PM

1. & 3. Wrong. For better or worse, it’s a livelihood, or an entree into one.
2. Huh??

A little more complicated than that. It would have to be an elite program similar to the one they signed on to play for. But even if those spots existed—and for all intents and purposes they don’t—roster assignments for the fall have already been made. Bad deal for those kids.

Howard Portnoy on July 22, 2012 at 4:20 PM

1. It’s a game.
2. If they are so good that it matters what team they play for, then by going to another team that team will become better.
3. It’s a game.

Penn State’s prestigious program

Surely you jest.

Cry me a river. What Joe Paterno did is considered misprision of a felony in some states. It disgusts me to no end to see him martyred in sports journalism because he coached kids who played a game to pay for school.

I’m certainly not “martyring” Paterno. I am lamenting the fate of a bunch of kids whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Allow transfers without sitting out for this year and next year.

Again, easier said than done. Which ranked programs have openings for any of these kids.

It would have to be an elite program similar to the one they signed on to play for. But even if those spots existed—and for all intents and purposes they don’t—roster assignments for the fall have already been made. Bad deal for those kids.

Howard Portnoy on July 22, 2012 at 4:20 PM

Cry me a river. What Joe Paterno did is considered misprision of a felony in some states. It disgusts me to no end to see him martyred in sports journalism because he coached kids who played a game to pay for school.

somewhere else

A little more complicated than that. It would have to be an elite program similar to the one they signed on to play for. But even if those spots existed—and for all intents and purposes they don’t—roster assignments for the fall have already been made. Bad deal for those kids.