Penn State Goings-On

[Caliga]

Paterno statue at PSU is going to be torn down.

[Syt]

[Neil]

Paterno statue at PSU is going to be torn down.

That's too bad.

[FunkMonk]

Paterno statue at PSU is going to be torn down.

Righteousness prevails.

[jimmy olsen]

Better be the Death Penalty, or at least a long TV ban! 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-400_162-57477382/ncaa-source-unprecedented-penalties-against-penn-state/

[stjaba]

Anyone want to predict what the "unprecedented penalty" would be?

I predict it will be:

Loss of scholarships
Bowl/conference championship ban
Significant Financial penalties
Possibly something out of left field

But not:
TV ban
Game cancellations

And that's probably it. The problem with TV bans is that they hurt innocent parties- i.e. the other team and the broadcaster suffer.

Same for game cancellations- it messes up schedules and affects too many innocent parties. It is my understanding that is the reason why the NCAA has avoided TV bans and game cancellations since at least the early 90s.

The only problem with my prediction is that it is hardly unprecedented. Just last year, Ohio State was hit with a scholarship reduction, bowl ban, and probation.

Edit:

Apparently the unprecedented nature of the penalty is in the process of which it was determined, not the penalty itself. Though the penalty itself is "very harsh."

[Sheilbh]

Can the Uni not voluntarily retire for a couple of years?  I'd suggest they need to entirely rebuild their program after what's happened.

[Faeelin]

Can the Uni not voluntarily retire for a couple of years?  I'd suggest they need to entirely rebuild their program after what's happened.

Suggest it all you want, but this is a university that preferred child rape to screwing with the game. Why would they now do this voluntarily?

[Sheilbh]

Suggest it all you want, but this is a university that preferred child rape to screwing with the game. Why would they now do this voluntarily?

You'd hope because they know they need to rebuild their program and because they've a sense of shame.  Of course that could be optimistic.

[stjaba]

Can the Uni not voluntarily retire for a couple of years?  I'd suggest they need to entirely rebuild their program after what's happened.

That happened once, to Southern Methodist University, except it was mandatory, not voluntary. That's called the "death penalty." The problem with that solution, at least in the case of SMU, is it that it is overly punitive. It took SMU nearly 20 years to recover from it.  Aside from destroying the football program, the death penalty would really penalize the local economy. Penn State is located in a small rural town. Its football program brings in literally tens of millions of dollars to the local economy each year from all the football fans that come to the games.

[Admiral Yi]

Can the Uni not voluntarily retire for a couple of years?  I'd suggest they need to entirely rebuild their program after what's happened.

Not sure I agree. You've got an implicated head coach who's dead.  You've got an implicated president and AD who have resigned/been fired.  What's the point of firing all the assistant coaches and telling all the players to go to another school when they've done nothing wrong?

[Sheilbh]

Well that's why I think voluntary retirement would be better.  If the uni could say 'we're going to change our entire program, this was clearly a systemic failure of our University and while that's happening we'll voluntarily retire but will look to re-enter once that's finished'.  Why I ask if it's possible is I'm not sure how you re-qualify?

I don't know if the effect on the community should be a consideration though.  That'll be an unfortunate consequence.  But I think any of the other punishments looks pretty inadequate against institutional tolerance of child abuse.  It'd be like letting the Christian Brothers continue to run schools because they did provide a generally extremely good education for thousands of poorer kids and only a few were abused.

[Neil]

Can the Uni not voluntarily retire for a couple of years?  I'd suggest they need to entirely rebuild their program after what's happened.

Suggest it all you want, but this is a university that preferred child rape to screwing with the game. Why would they now do this voluntarily?

Are you suggesting that the players were in on the kidfucking?

[Sheilbh]

Not sure I agree. You've got an implicated head coach who's dead.  You've got an implicated president and AD who have resigned/been fired.  What's the point of firing all the assistant coaches and telling all the players to go to another school when they've done nothing wrong?

Here's a section from the Freeh report:

According to the testimony of witnesses in Gerald A. Sandusky's ("Sandusky") trial in Centre County in June 2012,237 in the Fall of 2000, a temporary University janitor ("Janitor A") observed a man, later identified to him as Sandusky, in the Assistant Coaches' locker room showers of the Lasch Building with a young boy in the Fall of 2000.

Sandusky had the boy pinned against the wall and was performing oral sex on him. The janitor immediately told one of his fellow janitors ("Janitor B") what he had witnessed, stating that he had "fought in the [Korean] War...seen people with their guts blowed out, arms dismembered... . I just witnessed something in there I'll never forget."

On that same night, Janitor B observed two pairs of feet in this same shower at the Lasch Building but could not see the upper bodies of the two persons. He waited for the two to finish their shower, and later saw Jerry Sandusky and a young boy, around the age of 12, exit the locker room holding hands. Janitor B frequently saw Sandusky in the Lasch Building after hours, usually accompanied by one or more young boys.

Janitor B closely followed Penn State football, and knew Sandusky from watching football games. A senior janitorial employee ("Janitor C") on duty that night spoke with the staff, who had gathered with Janitor A to calm him down. Janitor C advised Janitor A how he could report what he saw, if he wanted to do so. Janitor B said he would stand by Janitor A if he reported the incident to the police, but Janitor A said, "no, they'll get rid of all of us."

Janitor B explained to the Special Investigative Counsel that reporting the incident "would have been like going against the President of the United States in my eyes...I know Paterno has so much power, if he wanted to get rid of someone, I would have been gone." He explained "football runs this University," and said the University would have closed ranks to protect the football program at all costs.

This was, I think, a cultural and institutional failure that goes far beyond a head coach and President and AD.  As Ta-Nehisi Coates put it Sandusky and Paterno didn't bring shame on Penn State, but the university shamed itself through a wilful blindness.  I think they need to change the program, the priorities and the culture of the uni.  Sadly there will be people who did nothing wrong who'll be victims of that, but that's nothing new at Penn State.

[Admiral Yi]

This was, I think, a cultural and institutional failure that goes far beyond a head coach and President and AD.  As Ta-Nehisi Coates put it Sandusky and Paterno didn't bring shame on Penn State, but the university shamed itself through a wilful blindness.  I think they need to change the program, the priorities and the culture of the uni.  Sadly there will be people who did nothing wrong who'll be victims of that, but that's nothing new at Penn State.

Beyond the head coach, president and AD to whom?