I also think any time I can quote the late Archbishop, the better the discourse and maybe we all get a little smarter. It may have been a stretch, but I hope it was worth it. Thank you for the kind words.
Maybe ...
The institutional power of national fraternities, like the power of sports franchises, makes it difficult to react against abuses like those at Penn State. Institutional self-preservation destroys decent impulses. Reading the article, I felt that the most dreadful thing was that none of the participants sought medical aid when it became clear that the young man was terribly injured. The one who tried to persuade the leaders was quashed ... although, of course, he still could have called 911. Even after the death, the leaders' emphasis was covering the organization's assets.
So, while I agree that organizations for men are important, both the decline in the general quality of college life and the institutional stronghold mentality make it more difficult for fraternities to be a positive environment.
Sports teams have also been corrupted, at least down to the high school level in many areas. Anthony Esolen, the cultural critic and professor of English (You'll have to search - I don't know how to put in a nice link in the text like you did!) has observed that a much lower percentage of adults and teens participates in sports teams than 50 years ago. Even though people tended to work longer hours and be much poorer than today, they played on community, employer-based, and school teams in much greater numbers. Now only a few participate, while most are inert (but emotionally involved) spectators. (Hispanics seem to be something of an exception - adults often play soccer as well as watching.)
Participating on a sports team can have a great deal of benefit, both in physical fitness and socialization, but not as much if the team is mainly a financial concern. Then you get the NFL and NBA, with their high-paid felons.