Tim Tolley , Victory Bell Rings --- What Jerry Sandusky has been accused of is much, much worse. Legally. He is facing over 50 charges and some 500 years of jail time. Nothing he is accused of will result in NCAA violations. At least, it shouldn’t. Nothing Sandusky did, however terrible the offenses are, affected the on-field product. No cheating or tampering of any kind is involved.First off, I think that Jerry Sandusky is a disgusting and vile P.O.S. and should rot in hell to what he has done to the victims – most of the victims of Sandusky will suffer the effects of their abuse for the rest of their lives. That being said, can the NCAA hold a whole university culpable for the sins of one of their football coaches? If PSU was given the death penalty would that be just? Or heavy handed?
But what if he did it on Penn State property? That’s awful and disgusting. Is it an NCAA violation? If so, who is responsible for it? It’s not the football team. I repeat. It’s not the football team. The athletic director granted Sandusky entry to the facilities. Will the NCAA bring penalties on the entire athletic department because an ex-coach was allowed on campus? Doubtful. Regardless of what he was doing there.
What if the AD (Curley), Police Chief (Shultz) and the President (Spanier) knew about Sandusky’s crimes and even covered it up, as it appears may be the case? Now we might have something. I was asked last week by a hopeful Ohio State fan: “Isn’t that the definition of lack of institutional control?” Probably not, because they didn’t have THIS situation in mind when they wrote the rule, I assure you. Still, a cover-up from administrators is a big deal. Legally. I’m not sure that the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has any real jurisdiction in the matter. It’s not a cover up of players breaking rules or skipping class or doing drugs. I’m not positive it’s athletically related.
Of course, the NCAA has proved to be difficult to predict with their rulings, but I’m not sure where they’d begin. There are sure to be charges doled out, following the Sandusky verdict. Curley and Shultz have already been charged and Spanier may face some of charges of his own. Is that something that the National Collegiate Athletic Association can/will concern themselves with?
Chime in with what you think?
EDIT: Just for the record I am all for the PSU Football team being put on NCAA sanctions – there needs to be some kind of a punishment for PSU – what the penalty is will be up to the NCAA to decide.
