What NCAA rules were broken?
Don’t waste your time.
FR is no different than the entire media on this point, which seems to be engaged in a massive battle to see who can overreact the most.
If everything we’ve read is true, then the “guilty parties” at the university are either a) dead, b) in prison, or c) currently facing trial. The people who will be punished by the NCAA for a situation that did not involve any actual athletics programs are a) the residents of State College, b) students and student-athletes who were mostly in middle school when this happened, c) small business owners in State College, and d) Penn State alumni, all of which had nothing to do with the actual crime.
The NCAA referred to their punishments as “unprecedented” because they have thus far ignored all of their standards (investigations and hearings) and are accepting the Freeh report as basis for sanctions. They’re also possibly acting well beyond their actual authority, which can only be done with the willing acceptance of the University.
Make no mistake, the mob rules at this point. George Zimmerman has no chance. The reaction of many people, including the vast majority of FR, to this topic makes the reaction of the NBPP in Florida look reasoned in comparison.
The worst: Lack of institutional control. It shows that the administration has let the football program hold too much sway. It’s the one “sin” every school tries to avoid being charged with because if they can’t control their own program then the ncaa says “too bad, you can’t play in our sandbox... come back when you decide how to play by the rules”. Indiana University was bending over backwards a few years back when, after stupidly hiring a basketball coach, Kelvin Sampson, who already had been charged with crimes against the ncaa while at Oklahoma, was caught making illegal three-person phone calls to recruits. IU, on their own, gave up scholarships and restricted their ability to recruit. They did this ahead of ncaa sanctions to try to show some level of “we’re sorry”. They still kicked our butts but it could have been worse if we hadn’t shown remorse. The funny thing is that the same “sin” IU was punished for then is now legal with the ncaa. Pennstate has shown their “remorse” by only now deciding to take down the statue of JoeFlaw, the day before the sanctions. I think it’s going to be a lot too little way too late.