Joe 'PA'
- Thread starter HOF
- Start date
Agreed.
The Freeh Report really shone a light on the fact that Paterno knew exactly what was going on and did very little to stop it.
He was an octogenarian with a one track mind. This was beyond his scope of logic, he ignored his civil duty for the sake of his coaching legacy. This is not the first incident, remember the molestation case under Ballard's watch at Maple Leaf Gardens.
I will let you know what I think when I make the time to read the report. Based on what I know so far, I have some concerns about the conclusions it draws.
On another note the NCAA really laid the blocks to Penn State, Holy Cow.
| [h=1]Penn State Penalized By NCAA[/h] (AP) The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Other sanctions include a four-year ban on bowl games, and the loss of 20 scholarships per year over four years.NCAA President Mark Emmert announced the staggering sanctions Monday at a news conference in Indianapolis. Though the NCAA stopped short of imposing the "death penalty" - shutting down the Nittany Lions' program completely - the punishment is still crippling for a team that is trying to start over with a new coach and a new outlook. Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive coordinator, was found guilty in June of sexually abusing young boys, sometimes on campus. The NCAA announcement came shortly after Penn State took down its famed statue of Paterno, six months to the day since his death from lung cancer. The university said leaving it up would be a "recurring wound" for Sandusky's victims. An accomplished defensive coordinator, Sandusky was convicted of molesting young boys over more than a decade. Emmert's moves were aided by the July 12 release of the report by former FBI director Louis Freeh and what it said about Paterno and the rest of the Penn State leadership. The investigation focused partly on university officials' decision not to go to child-welfare authorities in 2001 after a coaching assistant told Paterno that he had seen Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in the locker room showers. Penn State officials already knew about a previous allegation against Sandusky by that time, from 1998. The leaders, the report said, "repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse from authorities, the university's board of trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large." Sandusky is awaiting sentencing after being convicted last month of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years. Emmert had warned Penn State last fall that the NCAA would be examining the "exercise of institutional control" within the athletic department, and said it was clear that "deceitful and dishonest behavior" could be considered a violation of ethics rules. So, too, could a failure to exhibit moral values or adhere to ethics guidelines. The Freeh report also said school had "decentralized and uneven" oversight of compliance issues - laws, regulations, policies and procedures - as required by the NCAA. http://www.wben.com/pages/13788150.php?contentType=4&contentId=11093118 |
Joe Pa just became one of the greatest legends in American sports history, folks.
The winningest coach in NCAA football history. A great guy who really cared. The one "fatal mistake" that ruined everything. The disgrace. The scandal. Pulling down the old man's statue. Striking his name out of the record books. His sudden collapse and death.
This is Shoeless Joe Jackson all over again, but way, way better.
It's only just beginning, guys. The books. The movies. The "Restore Joe Pa" movement 20 years hence. It's Death of a Salesman all over again, except with football uniforms. It gets no better than this.
The winningest coach in NCAA football history. A great guy who really cared. The one "fatal mistake" that ruined everything. The disgrace. The scandal. Pulling down the old man's statue. Striking his name out of the record books. His sudden collapse and death.
This is Shoeless Joe Jackson all over again, but way, way better.
It's only just beginning, guys. The books. The movies. The "Restore Joe Pa" movement 20 years hence. It's Death of a Salesman all over again, except with football uniforms. It gets no better than this.
The punishment wasn't harsh enough, I would have allowed JoPa to keep but victories. Instead I would have banned Penn State from competing in all NCAA competitions for a full decade.
This makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. It was a group of individuals that committed the crimes not the institution or the students. They should rout out all those that were complicit but the sports programs contibute significant funds to the educational programs.
If you ban Penn State from sports - to be consistent- shouldn't you ban the the Catholic Church from holding masses?
The people that will suffer are the innocents - the students and the student atheletes. As far as the NCAA coming out with this to "change the culture" BS - well excuse me, are they not the ones that fostered the creation of this culture for so many years ? I know I am cynical but this is, to me, is more about the NCAA doing damage control and trying to ensure none of this "sticks to them".
Does anyone really believe that there are not 20 or more other head football or basketball coaches in the US that don't have the same kind of power or authority that Joe Pa had?
Also don't forget that the victims have yet to have their day in court which is where this should all be decided. I bet the lawyers are fighting amongst themselves to sign up the victims ( I know , cynical to a fault).
I have no sympathy for anyone other than the victims getting compensation and would feel much better if the NCAA actually came out and said that they would get all of the $60 million and not the double-talk explanation of where it would go - after administration costs no doubt.
Apprently, as pointed out earlier, the General Insurance underwriters are refusing to cover the university for liability. They say the university lied.
It's also revealed that the NCAA had threatened a total four year band had the university decided to fight the recently levied conditions.
It's also revealed that the NCAA had threatened a total four year band had the university decided to fight the recently levied conditions.
Given that it was some of the highest officers of the institution that covered everything up, it is on the Institution. Being an officer or director of anything means that you are that thing and not an employee of it.
As for banning the Catholic church, I would if it were possible. The complicity in the church's shame goes right to the top and has fpr generations. The fact that the vatican continues to protect Cardinal Laws from prosecution by granting him diplomatic status and hiding him away in Vatican city is atrocious. He's much worse than the monsignor recently acquitted.
Penn State and the catholic church both sufferred from the same problem, the decision makers at the top choose to protect their institutions' reputation and revenue streams rather than protect children which is the moral duty of any human being. At least, to some degree the current pope has improved things by instructing his people to give pedophile priests over to civil authority immediately and no longer citing clerical priviledge or the primacy of clerical courts in these matters.
And as far as moral duty, what institution or organization in the world places themselves at a higher moral standing than the church who are, after all, God's representatives and speak his word?
Just for this, they should be punished more severely than anyone else. Biggest hypocrites in the world.
I'm okay with the penalties. But this is a criminal matter. The real punishment has yet to take place.
The largest stakeholders in Penn State are the students. What are they being punished again?
Can't see how there's any dramatic impact on their education. The loss of their sporting entertainment is simply collateral damage.
Time will restore balance, yes this was a moral (although it still does not appear legal) failure. At the same time he stood for Academics over Athletics and through his actions made Penn State a much better University. At least on some level some of the NCAA's action is I believe payback for being a thorn in the side of the NCAA for years over the dominance of Athletics over Academics at most Division I institutions.
Despite what the NCAA would like to think you cannot change history with the wave of a pen, his record is what his record is.
Schools like Penn State get ten's of millions of dollars in revenue from the football program that are used to fund non-sporting parts of the school.
