Scandal at Penn State Poses Tough Choices for N.C.A.A.

The New York Times ^ | Saturday, July 14, 2012 | TIM ROHAN

[MinorityRepublican]

In N.C.A.A. parlance, “lack of institutional control” is a hazy, almost undefinable term. It is also the organization’s ultimate admonishment, the phrase it utters before handing down its most severe penalties.

Now, in light of the child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State, there is some question about whether those nebulous words will be used by the N.C.A.A. to impose serious sanctions on the Nittany Lions football program, perhaps even forcing the team to shut down for a time, the so-called death penalty.

[MrEdd]

I would say if the NCAA does not shut Penn State football down than educational institutions should flauntingly ignore all its dictates, and state level courts should back them up and dismantle the organization.

[MuttTheHoople]

No, it’s not. If they can put a team on probation for a coach giving one of his players $10 for a Big Mac Meal, they surely can give the Death Penalty for an entire University and community condoning Homosexual Rape of young boys (the locals saying they never knew what was happening with Sandusky, sounds a lot like German residents outside Concentration Camps who “never knew what was going on”).

[dfwgator]

Penn State is the Mother of All “Lack of Institutional Control” scandals.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

NCAA’s choice is obvious.

[goodwithagun]

The NCAA is meaningless and they have to know this by now. Ohio State: NCAA knew what was happening but also knew OSU is their cash cow; therefore, nothing done about the problem until others starting complaining. The U: NCAA was told there were issues there, they did not discover it themselves. Then they listed to a convicted liar and set out punishments. As it turned out, the convicted liar was (surprise!) lying. Penn State: Again, somebody else had to bring it to the NCAA’s attention.

As a former NCAA student-athlete I can tell you it is quite easy to get away with things. I didn't attempt to because I always had the idea that I would be the one who got caught. Others took a lot of advantage of it though.

[ConorMacNessa]

I never thought I would see something like this happen at Penn State. I was operating under the misapprehension that Joe Paterno was an honorable man and a paragon of virtue. I was wrong.

I think justice demands that the football program at Penn State be shut down. If and when it is resurrected, it should be de-emphasized and subordinated to the proper mission of the University. I love college football, and was a fan of Penn State, but I think it is clear that big-time football has become, at many schools, a rogue elephant.

When football coaches and university officials not only tolerate, but aid and abet the commission of felonies, it's time for some major changes. In the case of Penn State, the ruined lives of many young men cry out for justice. That cry should be heard and heeded!



Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[randita]

PA Ping!

If you want on/off the PA Ping List, please freepmail me. Thanks!

[HangnJudge]

Tulane Killed its Men's Basketball Program after it was found that the Players were shaving points on their own Games, in exchange for money and cocaine from a bookie.

The NCAA didn't make them, they did it on Principle
The entire coaching staff quit en-block

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-04-10/sports/sp-7596_1_guilty-plead-shaving

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulane_Green_Wave

How much worse is it to have tolerated Felony Pedophilia for Years

[GJones2]

If Joe Paterno had been a serial killer, he would have been liable for the criminal penalties for that, but as long as it didn’t give his team a competitive advantage, I don’t think the NCAA should be involved. The NCAA makes itself the judge of too many things (for instance, deciding whether mascot names are politically correct enough).

[GJones2]

> the locals saying they never knew what was happening with Sandusky, sounds a lot like German residents outside Concentration Camps who “never knew what was going on”

I live outside an American military camp but don’t know what’s going on inside (for instance, whether the trainees are being trained properly). Neither do I know what’s happening, in secret, in neighborhood schools and churches. I don’t believe that 99% of the Penn State fans, students, or football players knew what Sandusky was doing.

[rwilson99]

Every single student athlete at Penn State should have the opportunity to opt out of their scholarship and immediately transfer to the school of their choice without penalty.

[EVO X]

Playing Sgt. Schultz gave him a competitive advantage and allowed him to to keep his job. He was 5-7 in 2000 and 5-6 in 2001. If the story would have broke back then, it is likely he would of been forced to retire.

[GJones2]

You mean Paterno himself. It didn’t give his school’s team a competitive advantage. (In fact, from what you’ve said it appears the team would have been better off without him.)

[muawiyah]

Way back in the 1960s the NCAA put Indiana University on total probation for 4 years such that no athletic competitions would count as IU wins (if they happened to win).

That penalty was imposed because several football players got cash payoffs from boosters.

Now we have a school that turned over their premiere athletic program to pedophiles and their enablers.

So, how do you punish a school for allowing that to happen?

What is proportionate to the IU penalty?

[Chode]

if they don't and if opposing teams refuse to play them, then what??? like that would ever happen...

[EVO X]

If the story would have broke, it is likely that it would have huert his recruiting and general donations to the school..

[Third Person]

Penn State needs to be shut down based on their hubris and denial alone.

[voicereason]

A whole lot of people knew about the goings on at PSU but did nothing, because their sports were more important than those boy’s welfare. The university should pay the penalty. Maybe colleges and universities can then focus on the reason they are supposed to exist...education.

[GJones2]

The cover-up didn’t give them a competitive advantage, but I agree that it prevented them from being put at a disadvantage.