Penn St- gets hammered by NCAA!

[ShockTalk]

Except that the Freeh report didn't show that he convinced anyone to cover anything up, it just assumes that he did so without having any evidence about what took place. We don't know what was said in that meeting. It could have equally been a case of an administrator meeting with Joe, seeing how much the whole situation tore him up, and independently deciding to try to bury it to spare Joe, without Joe ever asking him to do so. What was said in the Freeh report wouldn't even begin to hold up in a court of law.

Taking the statue down and stripping the wins has nothing to do with there being solid proof of Joe Pa's complicity, but rather proof that in the media circus that follows a tragedy like this one, the concept of innocent until proven guilty is overthrown by the mob's desire to lynch somebody and the more prominent you are, the more you are the target of the lynch mob. Is it possible that Joe Pa is guilty? Yes. But at this point, there has been a lot more assumption and speculation against him than actual evidence. What actual evidence there is is that he did what he was supposed to do in reporting what he knew to administrators.

My problem with this is that it doesn't matter that we don't know for sure whether he intentionally covered it up or didn't. In my mind, and many others, there was, at the very least, complicity. We are not talking about just another football coach, not even just another BCS football coach, but Joe Paterno. To most, this man WAS Penn St. Make no mistake about it, JoePa wielded a very big stick. Not only that, Paterno generally had a very highly thought of image, at least until the last 10 years or so.

If he thought that the Penn St administration wasn't handling the Sandusky situation, he could have forced their hand. JoePa could have solidified his image and been a hero by blowing the whistle at the beginning of all this mess.

Likewise, if he didn't want to be bothered with it, to get to the bottom of it if you will, because he was too busy with football he was also wrong and complicit. It was HIS football program (and his legacy) at risk. With what information is known, there is no way I come even close to giving Paterno a pass.

[SubGod22]

Paterno family tries to appeal, denied

The Paterno family appeal of the Penn State sanctions lasted about two hours Friday afternoon.
The NCAA quickly acted saying, “The Penn State sanctions are not subject to appeal.” That sentence appeared in the Twitter account of Bob Williams, NCAA vice president of communications.

The family had released a letter earlier Friday saying it was going to appeal the consent decree entered into by Penn State with the NCAA. That decree meant that the school accepted the penalties and, by extension, wrongdoing. Included in the penalties was the vacating 111 of Joe Paterno's victories.

In essence, there can be no appeal because there was no formal investigation. The NCAA board and executive committee, along with president Mark Emmert, acted alone in the case.

[1979Shocker]

Former Penn State president Graham Spanier faces charges tied to child sex abuse scandal

By Michael Isikoff, NBC News
Pennsylvania prosecutors are preparing to charge former Penn State president Graham Spanier today with perjury and obstruction of justice relating to the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, sources tell NBC News.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and state Police Commissioner Frank Noonan have scheduled a news conference in the state capital of Harrisburg to announce what the sources describe as a major new development in the case. It comes nearly one year after Sandusky, Penn State's former defensive coordinator, was arrested and charged with repeatedly abusing young boys dating back to 1996, setting off one of the biggest scandals in the history of college sports. Sandusky, the longtime deputy to the school's late legendary coach, Joe Paterno was convicted on 45 counts of child sex abuse last June and was recently sentenced to 30 to 60 years in state prison.

[Aargh]

It's been reported that the AD is next.

[SpanglerFan316]

Penn State is really lucky to have reached a deal with the NCAA before a complete investigation was completed. How many other BCS programs will see the PSU sanctions as proof that "the big guys" (e.g. USC, PSU, UNC) can always make a deal with the NCAA and avoid serious consequences?