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Post by Auntie Cheesus on Jul 23, 2012 7:58:33 GMT -6
The NCAA announced the sanctions against Penn State this morning. The penalties are:
A $60 million fine (equal to one year of the gross proceeds from the football program), to be donated to programs for the prevention of child abuse
Vacating of Joe Paterno's wins from 1998 to 2011 (110 games)
Football scholarships reduced from 25 to 15
A four year ban from bowl games
Penn State has 90 days to file an appeal with the NCAA.
Honestly, I think the fine should have been larger and the payment spread out over multiple years. Let "Joe Pa's" big money backers, if they really believe he was an innocent bystander in all this, put their money where their mouths are.
Vacating the wins? Absolutely perfect. It still allows Paterno to remain the longest serving coach in college football while striking his record for the most wins of any coach.
Reduction of the number of scholarships? Also a good decision. Penn State will not be attracting the top tier applicants and this limits the number of players that would even consider Penn State.
No bowl games for four years? This one punishes the players more than the program. Bowl games are a big deal to NFL scouts. This makes Penn State players less desirable in the NFL. Here's hoping those students are now going to take their academics seriously and not pin their futures on NFL careers.
So, who else has an opinion on this?
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Post by hobblekitty on Jul 23, 2012 8:11:32 GMT -6
Rather than the scholarship reduction and bowl game ban, the football program should have gotten the death penalty IMHO. Since protecting the football program at all costs is what kept people silent allowing more kids to be abused, the football program should be taken away. I think it would have done less damage to the players that way, because there can be no players if there is no football team.
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Post by hobblekitty on Jul 23, 2012 8:43:55 GMT -6
Slap on the wrist. Donors will put $120 million just to say "fuck you" to NCAA. And every penny of that anticipated $120 mill will end up getting paid out in the civil suits. They're coming, of this I'm certain. |
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Post by Auntie Cheesus on Jul 23, 2012 9:06:56 GMT -6
hobblekitty: Rather than the scholarship reduction and bowl game ban, the football program should have gotten the death penalty IMHO. Since protecting the football program at all costs is what kept people silent allowing more kids to be abused, the football program should be taken away. I think it would have done less damage to the players that way, because there can be no players if there is no football team.
I think the reason why the NCAA was reluctant to give Penn State the death penalty in this is two-fold: First off, the NCAA did not use their own internal investigations in this; they relied on the Freeh report, which was commissioned by Penn State. Penn State has also stated they will not appeal the decision by the NCAA as to sanctions. Second, there has only been one football program to get the NCAA "death penalty": Southern Methodist University. In that case, the SMU football program had been placed on probation five times between 1974 and 1985. Overall, SMU had been sanctioned seven times in its history, more than any Division I-A program. In 1985, it had been placed on three years' probation for recruiting violations involving an assistant coach and several boosters. This penalty was assessed after former Mustang lineman Sean Stopperich told the NCAA that he and his family had received large amounts of money in order to get him to renege on an oral commitment to his hometown school, the University of Pittsburgh. After a 1986 investigation by Dallas station WFAA and another NCAA investigation, the NCAA handed down the penalty: A complete loss of the 1987 football season, in addition to the loss of all 1988 home games, 55 scholarships, probation extended until the 1990 season, no paid campus visits by recruits or off-campus recruiting until August of 1989, the ban of nine program boosters and the assistant coaching staff cut from 9 to 5. The fallout contributed to the death of the Southwestern Conference and SMU has only had three bowl game appearances since 1984. The long lasting and far reaching effects of the "death penalty" for SMU has caused the NCAA to have to seriously consider handing that down. These current sanctions on Penn State are likely to affect the school for a decade, but is not likely to take down the entire conference with it. (edit: my grammar sucks before my second cup of coffee)
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Post by strahdd on Jul 23, 2012 10:16:53 GMT -6
I'm pretty happy with these sanctions. I wish the fine had been a lot more though.
I just still can't get over the paterno worship that some still have. I mean, I'm a huge HUGE Bobby Bowden fan, but if he had done this I wouldn't be defending him.
Someone in one of the threads compared Paterno to Benoit. It made sense.
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Post by Auntie Cheesus on Jul 23, 2012 12:09:51 GMT -6
Of course, the Paterno family has released a statement on the Penn State sanctions by the NCAA:
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.
My thoughts: The NCAA is under no obligation to give a flying rat's ass about Joe Paterno's legacy or the feelings of his family. Joe Paterno participated in a conspiracy of silence that allowed young boys to have their innocence stripped from them by Jerry Sandusky in order to protect the great god called "football". Penn State and the legacy of Joe Paterno deserved to get pounded into dust for looking the other way when one of their own sexually assaulted youngsters in the football team facilities and on trips to football bowl games.
The message being sent to every college in America is clear - Even the governing body for collegiate athletics feels that sports culture should not trump ethics.
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Post by desertgeek on Jul 23, 2012 16:24:29 GMT -6
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