Joe Paterno and PSU Knew

They all knew, except for the Cops. Normally, I don't read the Huffpost, but this came across one of the news sites, I clicked on the link. When I read this, my blood boils. Also, I am not sure why Sandusky deserves a new trial, he's not the victim here, the children that he abused are.

HARRISBURG, Penn. — Penn State’s revered former head coach Joe Paterno was told of child sexual abuse by convicted molester Jerry Sandusky as far back as 1976, decades before previously thought, but did not report it to higher authorities, a court document showed.

Paterno, the coach with the most wins in major college football history, died in 2012 after being fired over revelations that Sandusky, his coaching assistant, sexually abused a young boy in the Penn State football showers in 2002.

Paterno told university officials, but not police.

The revelations that Paterno appeared to know about abuse decades earlier come the same day a different judge in Pennsylvania granted Sandusky a hearing later this month to press his case for a new trial.

New York Daily News: New Joe Paterno statue planned for off-campus location just outside PSU campus

#148994378 / gettyimages.com

When I read this story my blood boils. Why would anyone want that statue in their establishment? Seriously, why would anyone want to honors a man that himself admitted that he could have done more, given the nature of the case.

Bernie Augustine, New York Daily News --- A group of Paterno supporters plan to raise $300,000 for a bronze tribute to the coach that will sit outside the Tavern Restaurant, a popular bar for alumni and Penn State fans located just about two miles from the Beaver Stadium location where Paterno’s statue once stood.

“There’s been some level of frustration among Penn Staters with what happened with the statue at the stadium,” Ted Sebastianelli, one of the project’s organizers told OnwardState.com, an independent, student-run Penn State news blog. “We wanted to come up with a way to honor Joe for all that he did for the State College community. It wasn’t just the university he impacted — it was the whole town.”

The on-campus Paterno statue was torn down in July 2012 in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, which cost Paterno his job and tarnished his coaching legacy. Paterno died of lung cancer in January 2012, just two months after his firing. Sandusky, Paterno’s longtime defensive coordinator, is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence after being convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse

Being a vindictive person, I think that they should do is let the victims of Jerry Sandusky to take a torch to this Godawful statue. Break it in 1,000 pieces and melt it down to a glob of molten metal. This statue is disrespectful to the victims of Jerry Sandusky. Let's not sugar coat this, While Paterno was head coach, Sandusky raped numerous young kids in the PSU athletic facilities. This is unacceptable. I think this taints Paterno's legacy, forever.

The Paterno family speaks

 I take issue with the first statement right out of the gate... What do you think?

Here is the Paterno family’s full statement:
 
Sexual abuse is reprehensible, especially when it involves children, and no one starting with Joe Paterno condones or minimizes it. The horrific acts committed by Jerry Sandusky shock the conscience of every decent human being. How Sandusky was able to get away with his crimes for so long has yet to be fully understood, despite the claims and assertions of the Freeh report.

The release of the Freeh report has triggered an avalanche of vitriol, condemnation and posthumous punishment on Joe Paterno. The NCAA has now become the latest party to accept the report as the final word on the Sandusky scandal. The sanctions announced by the NCAA today defame the legacy and contributions of a great coach and educator without any input from our family or those who knew him best.

That the President, the Athletic Director and the Board of Trustees accepted this unprecedented action by the NCAA without requiring a full due process hearing before the Committee on Infractions is an abdication of their responsibilities and a breach of their fiduciary duties to the University and the 500,000 alumni. Punishing past, present and future students of the University because of Sandusky’s crimes does not serve justice. This is not a fair or thoughtful action; it is a panicked response to the public’s understandable revulsion at what Sandusky did.

The point of due process is to protect against this sort of reflexive action. Joe Paterno was never interviewed by the University or the Freeh Group. His counsel has not been able to interview key witnesses as they are represented by counsel related to ongoing litigation. We have had no access to the records reviewed by the Freeh group. The NCAA never contacted our family or our legal counsel. And the fact that several parties have pending trials that could produce evidence and testimony relevant to this matter has been totally discounted.

Unfortunately all of these facts have been ignored by the NCAA, the Freeh Group and the University.

Breaking down the sanctions

The Penn State Nittany Lions American football team takes the field (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The NCAA has spoken – Penn State will play a $60 million fine – they will face a four-year postseason ban – lose a total of 10 scholarships for four years. Lastly, all of Joe Paterno’s team’s victories from 1998 to 2011 have been vacated and he loses 111 career wins. So by deducting the  111 career wins from Joe Paterno's win total he is no longer the all-time winningest coach in NCAA football history.

Penn State has signed off on the agreement with the NCAA to accept these harsh penalties.

With the correction, Paterno goes from number one all-times winningest coach to eighth on the all-time wins list. Paterno is fifth among FBS coaches.

Here is a breakdown of the NCAA Penalties – while it’s not the death penalty the sanctions are harsh.

$60 million fine. The NCAA imposes a $60 million fine, equivalent to the approximate average of one year's gross revenues from the Penn State football program, to be paid over a five-year period beginning in 2012 into an endowment for programs preventing child sexual abuse and/or assisting the victims of child sexual abuse. The minimum annual payment will be $12 million until the $60 million is paid. The proceeds of this fine may not be used to fund programs at the University. No current sponsored athletic team may be reduced or eliminated in order to fund this fine.

Four-year postseason ban. The NCAA imposes a four-year postseason ban on participation in postseason play in the sport of football, beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 academic year. Therefore, the University's football team shall end its 2012 season and each season through 2015 with the playing if its last regularly scheduled, in-season contest and shall not be eligible to participate in any postseason competition, including a conference championship, any bowl game, or any postseason playoff competition.

Four-year reduction of grants-in-aid. For a period of four years commencing with the 2013-2014 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2016-2017 academic year, the NCAA imposes a limit of 15 initial grants-in-aid (from a maximum of 25 allowed) and for a period of four years commencing with the 2014-2015 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2017-2018 academic year a limit of 65 total grants-in-aid (from a maximum of 85 allowed) for football during each of those specified years. In the event the total number of grants-in-aid drops below 65, the University may award grants-in-aid to non-scholarship student-athletes who have been members of the football program as allowed under Bylaw 15.5.6.3.6.

Five years of probation. The NCAA imposes this period of probation, which will include the appointment of an on-campus, independent Integrity Monitor and periodic reporting as detailed in the Corrective Component of this Consent Decree. Failure to comply with the Consent Decree during this probationary period may result in additional, more severe sanctions.

Vacation of wins since 1998. The NCAA vacates all wins of the Penn State football team from 1998 to 2011. The career record of Coach “Joe” Paterno will reflect the vacated records.

Waiver of transfer rules and grant-in-aid retention. Any entering or returning football student-athlete will be allowed to immediately transfer and will be eligible to immediately compete at the transfer institution, provided he is otherwise eligible. Any football student-athlete who wants to remain at the University may retain his athletic grant-in-aid, as long as he meets and maintains applicable academic requirements, regardless of whether he competes on the football team.

There is no doubt that the NCAA hammered Penn State – hard - to quote Brandon Noble a former PSU football player that was on ESPN the morning and he said, “The NCAA has opened up a can of worms.”

There are many that have asked the question, why act now? Why not wait for the investigations to finish before the NCAA acted against Penn State University.

Ed Ray, the president of Oregon State and chairman of the N.C.A.A.'s executive committee, said the case, and the sanctions imposed, represented a declaration by university presidents and chancellors that “this has to stop.” By that he meant a win at all costs mentality with respect to intercollegiate sports.

“We’ve had enough,” he said. [New York Times]

Penn State is also not done being punished – they still have to face the Big Ten who is also set to announced that they are going to take away their share of the bowl revenue for the next four seasons and they won’t be able to play in the Big Ten Conference championship for the next four season that means Penn State will suffer about a 13 million dollar hit – that’s a huge loss for PSU.

Penn State failures draw unprecedented NCAA sanctions

The NCAA throws the book at Penn State...

Official Statement

By perpetuating a "football first" culture that ultimately enabled serial child sexual abuse to occur, The Pennsylvania State University leadership failed to value and uphold institutional integrity, resulting in a breach of the NCAA constitution and rules. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors and NCAA Executive Committee directed Association President Mark Emmert to examine the circumstances and determine appropriate action in consultation with these presidential bodies.

"As we evaluated the situation, the victims affected by Jerry Sandusky and the efforts by many to conceal his crimes informed our actions," said Emmert. "At our core, we are educators. Penn State leadership lost sight of that."

According to the NCAA conclusions and sanctions, the Freeh Report "presents an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity leading to a culture in which a football program was held in higher esteem than the values of the institution, the values of the NCAA, the values of higher education, and most disturbingly the values of human decency."

As a result, the NCAA imposed a $60 million sanction on the university, which is equivalent to the average gross annual revenue of the football program. These funds must be paid into an endowment for external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at the university.

The sanctions also include a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins from 1998 through 2011. The career record of former head football coach Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records. Penn State must also reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period. In addition, the NCAA reserves the right to impose additional sanctions on involved individuals at the conclusion of any criminal proceedings.

The NCAA recognizes that student-athletes are not responsible for these events and worked to minimize the impact of its sanctions on current and incoming football student-athletes. Any entering or returning student-athlete will be allowed to immediately transfer and compete at another school. Further, any football student-athletes who remain at the university may retain their scholarships, regardless of whether they compete on the team.

To further integrate the athletics department into the university, Penn State will be required to enter into an "Athletics Integrity Agreement" with the NCAA. It also must adopt all Freeh Report recommendations and appoint an independent, NCAA-selected Athletics Integrity Monitor, who will oversee compliance with the agreement.

Effective immediately, the university faces five years of probation. Specifically, the university is subject to more severe penalties if it does not adhere to these requirements or violates NCAA rules in any sport during this time period.

"There has been much speculation on whether or not the NCAA has the authority to impose any type of penalty related to Penn State," said Ed Ray, Executive Committee chair and Oregon State president. "This egregious behavior not only goes against our rules and constitution, but also against our values."

Because Penn State accepted the Freeh Report factual findings, which the university itself commissioned, the NCAA determined traditional investigative proceedings would be redundant and unnecessary.

"We cannot look to NCAA history to determine how to handle circumstances so disturbing, shocking and disappointing," said Emmert. "As the individuals charged with governing college sports, we have a responsibility to act. These events should serve as a call to every single school and athletics department to take an honest look at its campus environment and eradicate the 'sports are king' mindset that can so dramatically cloud the judgment of educators."

Penn State fully cooperated with the NCAA on this examination of the issues and took decisive action in removing individuals in leadership who were culpable.

"The actions already taken by the new Penn State Board of Trustees chair Karen Peetz and Penn State President Rodney Erickson have demonstrated a strong desire and determination to take the steps necessary for Penn State to right these severe wrongs," said Emmert.

Redwing77's Perspective on the Penn State Debacle

There's a lot going on and a lot have been discussed by Goon or by commentators on the posts and at large by any and all media members even on an international scale (BBC is covering it).  And the truth is, this situation has gone beyond simply a bad man doing bad things.  It's become a blemish on collegiate sports in general... even though bad stuff has been happening for a long time now.

Some say it is cultural

I had a discussion (still ongoing) over Twitter with a Ira Socol who wrote a very interesting and well researched blog post. He states that Penn State be allowed to play... but they should play the entire season with empty stands.

This is not an unprecedented thing.  In his article, he cites 3 soccer teams that had to play 5 games (2 teams played 1 game each and one other played the last 2 games) without fans in attendence.  However, he cites the reasoning behind this and all of the reasons stem from actions of the FANS with relation to the team.  One was racial abuse to a player.  Another was due to physical violence where a fan ran onto the field and attacked a visitng player.  All of this is caused by violence.

But what of Penn State's situation?  He argues that the culture that surrounds Penn State football is of such blind devotion that it basically produced an environment where this act would seem not permissable but certainly capable of being covered up.  He argues that without this societal and cultural smokescreen, Penn State would not have gotten away with such an act for as long as they had.

I believe he's partially correct.  Society did not cause Sandusky to molest those boys.  It didn't stop McQueary from stopping the abuse (which he did not) or prevent him from notifying Paterno.  It did not cause the wheels to stop turning.  The prestige and power that those in the know had was threated by the Sandusky thing and couple that with their corrupt need for such power, they did not act.

THAT is the prominant issue with this affair.  Society may act like an enabler but it takes corruption and bad ethics to become enabled. 

There is no excuse for what happened at Penn State.  And they should pay.  The problem is:  Why punish the fans?  They did not perform 45 acts of sexual abuse.  They did not smear the name of Penn State, really.  They did not commit any violent act or any racially motivated abuse of the caliber that those European soccer teams were punished for.

The truth is that we have to be careful with this line of thought.  It is perilously close to saying that Penn State was merely abiding by the tolerances of society rather than trying to save their own power and prestige by covering up a heinous atrocity.

So what is the Price to be paid?

Since I do not believe in punishing the fans, I think that I would do the following:

1.  SIGNIFICANT reduction of scholarships for more than 4 years.
2.  No bowl games for the same time period that there are reductions of scholarships
3.  Asterisks by all of Paterno's records
4.  Joe Paterno's name and likeness should be removed from all signs, visual aids, and media in and around Beaver Stadium and other PSU athletic facilities.
5.  For the entire season, box seats will be closed and all general admission seats will be issued at the discretion of the Penn Statue AD and Administration at the price of FREE.  The students will still get their section or sections.
6.  All institutional support for the team is suspended for 1 year.  No band.  No cheerleaders.  No halftime shows. No fundraisers that would raise money for athletics at Penn State.
7.  All money that would normally be gathered for the athletic department that comes through on-site merchandise sales, concessions, and any items sold at the Stadium be immediately forfeited to either go towards general scholarship funding, a University sanctioned event or organization not related to the Athletic department, or to a charity. 
8.  (This one isn't possible but I can dream)  A media blackout.  NO Penn State Home Games will be televised locally, regionally, or nationally for one year.  If you don't go to Beaver Stadium, you don't see or hear the game.  PERIOD.

All academic services provided to athletes, such as tutoring and the like, will continue as normal. 

The NCAA says there is no Death Penalty but I argue that there is.  If Penn State does not get the Death Penalty, which I believe they won't, I believe that the NCAA has doled out the last death penalty ever:  to the Death Penalty.  There is no situation, therefore, that would warrant it so the threat of a Death Penalty becomes null and void.  It no longer exists, folks.  No need to fear.

The true debate is:  Where do the NON football athletics and Penn State fit into this?

NCAA source: "Unprecedented" penalties against Penn State

Sounds like "judgement" day is coming for Penn State University tomorrow. It sounds like the sanctions are going to be unprecedented. It will be interesting to see what the sanctions are and how much teeth they actually have to them.

(CBS News) CBS News has learned that the NCAA will announce what a high-ranking association source called "unprecedented" penalties against both the Penn State University football team and the school.

"I've never seen anything like it," the source told correspondent Armen Keteyian.

NCAA President Mark Emmert will make the announcement Monday morning at 9 a.m. at the organization's headquarters in Indianapolis.

The penalties come in the wake of the independent report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that chronicled repeated efforts by four top Penn State officials, including former football coach Joe Paterno, to conceal allegations of serial child sex abuse by Jerry Sandusky over a 14-year period.

The NCAA had been awaiting the school's response to four key questions pertaining to the sex abuse scandal, including issues involving institutional control and ethics.

UPDATE: Also, the Joe Paterno statue that was erected in front of Beaver Stadium to honor Paterno, has been taken down today by Penn State University. Here is what former FSU football coach Bobby Bowden had to say about the statue.

NCAA boss Mark Emmert is open to PSU death penalty

While I do think that PSU football could receive the death penalty – color my cynical – I just don’t see it happening. In the end the almighty dollar will prevail. Mark my words… A death penalty would affect the bottom line of more than one school – the NCAA would be hard pressed to cause suffering on the other B1G schools.

NEW YORK (AP) --- The president of the NCAA says he isn't ruling out the possibility of shutting down the Penn State football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

In a PBS interview Monday night, NCAA President Mark Emmert said he doesn't want to "take anything off the table" if the NCAA determines penalties against Penn State are warranted. Emmert said he's "never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university."

He added, "What the appropriate penalties are, if there are determinations of violations, we'll have to decide." The last time the NCAA shut down a football program with the so-called "death penalty" was in the 1980s, when SMU was forced to drop the sport because of extra benefits violations.

After the NCAA suspended the SMU program for a year, the school decided not to play in 1988, either, as it tried to regroup.

While I would personally have no problem with the NCAA throwing the book at Penn State University, however, I don't think it's going to happen. Not in this case. All you have to do is look to the SMU scandal of the 1980's to realize that there might never be another NCAA death penalty handed out again – the death penalty buried the SMU football program into a twenty year period of mediocrity that they are finally recovering from now.

In 2002, John Lombardi, then president of the University of Florida and now president of the Louisiana State University System, expressed the sentiment of many college officials when he said:

“ SMU taught the committee that the death penalty is too much like the nuclear bomb. It's like what happened after we dropped the (atom) bomb in World War II. The results were so catastrophic that now we'll do anything to avoid dropping another one.”

That’s not to say that the acts that happened on PSU’s campus aren’t egregious, because they are disgusting – there is also no way to sugar coat this mess. I am just not hopeful that the NCAA will do it in this instance. We will be watching to see how this shakes out.

Now we find out from an L.A. Times article that the Sandusky might have been abusing young boys as early as the 1970’s. Wow!

Joe Paterno’s family continued its fight Monday to save the reputation of one of college football’s most honored coaches, insisting that it will conduct its own investigation into the Penn State University child sex-abuse scandal tied to Jerry Sandusky. Meanwhile, reports that Sandusky may have abused some victims as early as the 1970s raised new questions about the already complicated legal liability issues in the scandal.

Citing "sources close to the Jerry Sandusky case," the Patriot-News reported that three men have told police that they were abused in the 1970s or 1980s by Sandusky, who was convicted in June on 45 criminal charges of sexually abusing boys. He is in jail awaiting sentencing...

So the sports world is watching – what the NCAA does next is anyone’s bet…

Sifting through the debris of the PSU child abuse scandal…

I have spent the weekend reading about the Penn State University child abuse scandal and the more I read, the angrier I have become.

In a nut shell - power PSU administrators and an iconic football coach - covered up a grotesque, disgusting sexual abuse scandal for 14 years. This is really really nothing more than a sad and depressing case, that will plague Penn State University for a very long time.

The people that stepped forward were thrown under the bus and shunned publicly. In this case it would appear that the football program appears to have run the univeristy - when there was evidence of wrong doing - these same powerful people from the athletic department covered this disgusting scandal up and swept it under the rug.

Why? Because these same selfish people cared more about the football program and it's image than the health and welfare of young boys. I can tell you one thing, I wouldn't send my child to this school.

For 14 years they were silent and complicit in Sandusky's sexual abuse. For 14 years Paterno, President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz could have picked up the phone to call the cops and tell what they knew about Sandusky sexually assaulting young boys. But they didn't. All they cared about was negative attention and how it might reflect on the program and the university.[CNN Opinion]

There is no way anyone can defend this mess, this is totally unacceptable and there is no way anyone can defend this or sugar coat this. You can put chocolate sprinkles and frosting on a turd but in the end it's still a turd.

Earlier this week I said that the NCAA should throw the book at PSU, but after thinking about it what could they do about it. There also may not be any NCAA response to this mess/scandal.

That's the sad part is; I begrudgingly believe the Sicatoka might be right - there might not be anything that the NCAA can do about this, because it would be outside of their scope of control – as disgusting as this is, this would appear to be a criminal issue and maybe not worthy of a single NCAA sanctions. Sicatoka said recently in the comments of another blog post“…until the events can be shown to have violated some NCAA rule (lack of institutional control, maybe?) I don't see where the NCAA has any jurisdiction in this matter.

Going forward I think the first thing the University should have done to begin the healing process is tear down the statue Joe Paterno, unfortunately, that's not going to happen either or at least for now.

Don Van Natta Jr. , ESPN.com --- The embattled members of Penn State's Board of Trustees quietly have decided to leave Joe Paterno's statue standing -- at least for now and, some hope, forever, according to sources with firsthand knowledge of the trustees' private discussions this week. The trustees' reluctance to remove the statue is motivated, in part, by a desire not to offend alumni and students who adore the late coach despite the damning findings of his role in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse cover-up detailed in the Freeh report, the sources said. Some trustees also said in interviews they want to resist being pressured by the media into a sudden decision about such an emotionally charged issue.

I would love to see PSU take that statue of Joe Paterno and smash it into a thousand pieces and then melt it down into a molten blob.  In my opinion, from now on when Penn State will be for the crimes of Jerry Sandusky and how he sodomized young boys for 14 years in the showers of Penn State University athletic buildings and when he was caught the university swept it under the rug and covered it up - these people should also go to jail for a very long time because they are just culpable as well in this matter. I hope the victims sue Penn State into the ground.

Time for the NCAA to throw the book at PSU football

Getty Images

The results of the PSU sex abuse scandal were made public today – just like many of us expected – PSU officials to include former head football coach Joe Paterno covered up these heinous and disgusting vile acts for over 14 year period, there is no excuse for this felonious criminal behavior, none.

PSU officials have known since 1998 that Jerry Sandusky was a sexual predator and was abusing young boys on the grounds of Penn State University, yet they covered these crimes up. This is unacceptable! The Penn State officials that covered up these crimes are also culpable for the heinous acts that were committed against the victims of Jerry Sandusky.

There is no way of sugar coating this - this is a horrible disgusting scandal cannot go unpunished – the NCAA has to respond to this, if the NCAA fails to respond to this in an acceptable manner they have no credibility what-so-ever. The NCAA needs to come down hard on the PSU football team - the "death penalty" for the PSU football team would be a good start.

State College, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Penn State's most powerful leaders showed "total and consistent disregard" for victims of child sex abuse and failed to protect children, according to the findings of a long-awaited internal review over how the university handled a scandal involving its former defensive coordinator. In fact, the report says several former officials "empowered" Jerry Sandusky to continue his abuse, and investigators say legendary head football coach Joe Paterno could have stopped the attacks had he done more. Read the report here (PDF)

I read a good number of the Freeh report until I couldn’t stomach any more of it - I hope Jerry Sandusky rots in hell. There are a few items in this report that I found to be really egregious. The University knew about this as early as 1998.

Investigators found that even before May 1998, "several staff members and football coaches regularly observed Sandusky showering with young boys," but "none of the individuals interviewed notified their superiors of this behavior," according to the report.

It also found that university police "and the Department of Public Welfare responded promptly to the report by a young boy's mother of a possible sexual assault by Sandusky" in 1998, and top university officials were "kept informed of the investigation.

In what universe is an adult male showering with a young boy to be considered to be normal behavior – that should have been the last incident in this story not the beginning of a long line of abusive incidents. Again, there is not excuse to these incidents - none - the victims of Jerry Sandusky will suffer the effects of their abuse for the rest of their lives.

Another thing that I find disgusting is on Page 62 of the Free Report it states.

On Friday February 9, 2011, University graduate assistant Michael McQueary observed Sandusky involved in a sexual activity with a boy in the coach’s shower room in the University Lasch Building. McQueary met with and reported the incident to Paterno on Saturday, February 10, 2001. Paterno did not immediately report what McQueary told him, explaining that he didn’t not want to interfere with anyone’s weekend.

Wait, What? Didn’t want to interfere with anyone’s weekend, you’ve got to be kidding me. I had to read this twice because I couldn't believe that Paterno could be so callus, the health and safety of the children victimized are way more important than some university suit's weekend being interrupted because one of their assistant football coaches was a sexual predator and had perpetrated a felonious crime against a minor child. This is nothing but arrogance of an out of control football coach and staff.

Finally, They should take the statue that stands outside of Beaver Stadium and smash it into a thousand pieces melt it down and sell the rubble as scraps, because the actions of a few bad apples in  have tarnished the reputation for Penn State for a very long time.

The ball is in PSU’s court, the rest of the world is waiting for you to make the proper and right move.

Text of letter Joe Paterno wrote in December 2011

This letter by Joe Paterno's which was written in December of 2011 or January of 2012 has been making it's way around the internet today and its a must read if you have not read it.

[The Associated Press]

For the last two months, at the request of the Attorney General's office, I have not discussed the specifics of my testimony regarding the pending cases. And while I will continue to honor that request, I do feel compelled to address comments made subsequent to November 9; specifically, I feel compelled to say, in no uncertain terms, that this is not a football scandal.

Let me say that again so I am not misunderstood: regardless of anyone's opinion of my actions or the actions of the handful of administration officials in this matter, the fact is nothing alleged is an indictment of football or evidence that the spectacular collections of accomplishments by dedicated student athletes should be in anyway tarnished.

Yet, over and over again, I have heard Penn State officials decrying the influence of football and have heard such ignorant comments like Penn State will no longer be a ''football factory'' and we are going to ''start'' focusing on integrity in athletics. These statements are simply unsupported by the five decades of evidence to the contrary - and succeed only in unfairly besmirching both a great university and the players and alumni of the football program who have given of themselves to help make it great.

For over 40 years young men have come to Penn State with the idea that they were going to do something different - they were coming to a place where they would be expected to compete at the highest levels of college football and challenged to get a degree. And they succeeded - during the last 45 years NO ONE has won more games while graduating more players. The men who made that commitment and who gave of themselves to help build the national reputation of what was once a regional school deserve better than to have their hard work and sacrifice dismissed as part of a ''football factory,'' all in the interests of expediency.

Penn State is not a football factory and it is ALREADY a great University. We have world-class researchers, degree programs, and students in every discipline. Penn Staters have been pioneers in medical advancements, engineering, and in the humanities. Our graduates have gone on to change the world - even graduates with football lettermen sweaters.

That is why recent comments are so perplexing and damaging - Penn Staters know we are a world class University. We can recite with pride the ranks of our academic programs and the successes of our graduates. Penn Staters (and employers) know what we are and the quality of our education. Nothing that has been alleged in any way implicates that reputation; rather, it is only the inexplicable comments of our own administration doing so.

It must stop. This is not a football scandal and should not be treated as one. It is not an academic scandal and does not in any way tarnish the hard earned and well-deserved academic reputation of Penn State. That Penn State officials would suggest otherwise is a disservice to every one of the over 500,000 living alumni.

Forget my career in terms of my accomplishments and look at the last 40 years as I do: as the aggregate achievements of hundreds of young men working to become better people as they got an education and became better football players. Look at those men and what they have done in the world since they left Penn State and assess their contributions as an aggregate - is this a collection of jocks who did nothing but skate by at a football factory, or are these men who earned an education and built a reputation second to none as a place where academic integrity and gridiron success could thrive together?

Whatever failings that may have happened at Penn State, whatever conclusions about my or others' conduct you may wish to draw from a fair view of the allegations, it is inarguable that these actions had nothing to do with this last team or any of the hundreds of prior graduates of the ''Grand Experiment.''

Penn Staters across the globe should feel no shame in saying ''We are . Penn State.'' This is a great university with one of the best academic performing football programs in major college athletics. Those are facts - and nothing that has been alleged changes them.

NCAA to wait for 'appropriate time' for action on Penn State

I don't think that Penn State is out of the woods yet and I do believe that there has to be some kind of NCAA punishment or sanctions for Penn State University football team. What happened on their campus is disgusting and heinous crime and might have been covered up.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – The NCAA says that it will decide on whether to take action at the "appropriate time" in connection with its inquiry into Penn State and the child sexual abuse scandal that led to the ouster of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno.

The NCAA says Penn State will have to formally respond to questions from President Mark Emmert about the conduct of its athletics department in connection with the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal.

Findings from Penn State's internal investigation into the case of ex-defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky are due to be released at 9 a.m. ET Thursday. The NCAA says it has already been collecting information from the probe led by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

The NCAA says Penn State will have to formally respond to questions from NCAA President Mark Emmert, even after Freeh unveils his findings.

The governing body says it won't interfere with other ongoing inquiries and will determine if additional action is necessary. It offered no specific timeline.

If investigations reveal that Penn State did in fact cover up these heinous crimes then,  PSU needs to have the book thrown at them by the NCAA - but I would say lets let the investigations play out before the long arm of the NCAA wields its punishment. I don't like the fact that the University knew about this back in 2001 and this didn't get exposed. If in fact there was a coverup then PSU should feel the pain of NCAA Sanctions.

Does Penn State belong in the Big Ten?

The Face of Pervert

I found this article while reading the Thank You Terry Hockey Biog. Can you imagine If the Big Ten decided that they no longer could tolerate the scandal at Penn State?

Does Penn State belong in the Big Ten?

The Big Ten’s Council of Presidents voted in 1990 to “integrate Pennsylvania State University” into the conference. PSU began athletic competition in the league in 1993, making the Nittany Lions full-blown competitive members for 19 years.

Though full details aren’t available, the emails released so far and other investigations indicate Paterno and the school’s president, vice president and athletic director learned of Sandusky’s perversion as early as 1998.

In other words, *for at least 74 percent of the time that Penn State has been in the Big Ten Conference, four of the most powerful figures on campus allegedly chose to focus on protecting their institution and positions of authority at the expense of children already abused — with more victims to come because of their inaction.

Is that how the Big Ten does business? And is that the kind of operation the Big Ten wants to associate itself with?

Those are brutally hard questions. But the discussion needs to happen, and at a level far beyond athletics.

The history of major schools getting kicked out of conferences is short.

* This is the sentence that makes my blood boil – Penn State knew – that’s unacceptable.

If the Big Ten decided that they no longer wanted Penn State in their Conference – would cause great turmoil – especially after all of the dominos had already fallen in re-alignment.

In my opinion, Jerry Sandusky is a disgusting P.O.S and deserves to rot in hell for the rest of his life for what he has done to defenseless children. There is no excuse for what Sandusky has done – no matter how you look at it the guy is pure evil.

Going forward, how does Penn State make it right? Is there any chance the Big Ten kicks Penn State out of the Big Ten Conference? What should happen to Penn State? What is a just and right punishment?

In Conclusion; People (Staff, student and visitors) have the right to feel safe on America’s college campuses, what has happened at Penn State is unacceptable especially if they covered it up and kicked it under the rug. Penn State needs to pay some kind of a price for the sins of their football program – but what is an acceptable penalty? Does Penn State deserve to have the book thrown at them? Are NCAA sanctions up to a death penalty an acceptable punishment? What do you think?

Virg Foss Nails it.

Image via WikipediaIn case you haven’t seen it former Fighting Sioux hockey beat writer Virg Foss absolutely nailed it with this article on the Fighting Sioux nickname.

Virg Foss, Grand Forks Herald --- By marching on without a nickname might be the ultimate show of respect to the Sioux name as we say goodbye to it.

I suspect that for as long as I live, fans will wear their Fighting Sioux jerseys to UND games. Sioux cheers will erupt from the crowds.

Taking away the name won’t change that. Neither will forcing a new nickname upon us.

A few years ago, I watched the movie “We Are Marshall” and felt chills go through me listening to the fans chant the school name in a slow cadence.

I watched Penn State students turn out to protest the firing of football legend Joe Paterno earlier this week and heard the chants of “We Are . . . Penn State” rise from their throats.

When the next school year begins at UND, we’ll no longer see the logos or Sioux name on UND uniforms.

UND will press on and in time bitter feelings and wounded hearts will begin to heal.

There’s no need to rush to a new nickname, if one is ever needed.

While there are some pointy headed P.C. hand wringers that want UND to select a new nickname right away because they claim that the no-nickname approach is a way for UND to remain a sort of de Facto Fighting Sioux. Realistically, you’re going to have a hard time totally getting rid of the Fighting Sioux nickname, it’s been part of UND storied history for a very long time, The Fighting Sioux nickname is engrained in our culture and is part of our schools rich history.

I am going to continue to wear my Fighting Sioux sweaters, hoodies and hats with pride until they fall off and disintegrate. Lastly, I also agree with Foss, I like the no-nickname approach and why not simply remain just “North Dakota” wouldn't that be an awesome name? No need for a ridiculous replacement nickname that few will get behind and that no one will like, UND sports teams could just be plain "North Dakota".

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