Penn State Football Takes Major Hit

The NCAA didn’t slam the Penn State football program with the death penalty Monday. It just seems like it.

Penn State will be crippled for the next four years specifically. The long-term ramifications could also become major.

Penn State must pay a $60 million fine. The Lions will also be absent from bowl games for four years. They will lose about 40 scholarships. They must also forfeit all victories from 1998-2011.

Usually, I think that win forfeiture is a non-issue but not this time. Coach Joe Paterno’s all-time victory total suddenly dropped from 409 wins to 298. This means Paterno is no longer the top winning coach in collegiate football.

Some say the current football players or coaches shouldn’t pay for the past sinners of Jerry Sandusky’s conduct and the cover-up. But, it the ‘ole one pays, they all pay scenario. Remember when you were in grade school and one kid got in trouble? Then the teacher determined all kids would miss recess that day. Same thing with Penn State.

The players do actually have an out. They can transfer to another school and play right away.

The NCAA has never punished a school for a non-rules breaking issue. Penn State is the new poster child. The message is clear: don’t ever become involved in a situation like Penn State.

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Jerry Sandusky Verdict

Former Penn State Assistant Football Coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse Friday night. Sandusky will be in prison a long, long time unless he dies of natural causes or takes his own life.

Justice was indeed served, but like always in these cases there were no winners.

The victims were violated and will probably live with those consequences their entire lives. Sure, Sandusky will pay for his crimes but the victims’ innocence is permanently scarred.

It’s sad for Sandusky too. What was this guy thinking? How could something so terrible cloud his mind and result in action? He will have plenty of time to ponder that in prison.

And what about Sandusky’s family? It suffers on two sides: what happened to the victims and betrayal from a husband, father and grandfather.

Penn State will also continue suffering. The once proud university has already been brought to its knees. Now, the focus will probably shift on the university officials who are accused of covering up the Sandusky scandal.

Yes, the verdict resulted in some closure. But, I sense this story and the fallout are far, far from over.

What about Joe Paterno's Legacy?

Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno’s death raises the huge question of what legacy the man leaves behind.

A few months ago this was a slam dunk. Paterno was Penn State. He had led the Lions to a truckload of victory over decades. He ran a pretty clean program. His players graduated. He and his wife, Sue generously gave their financial resources back to Penn State. But then the sex scandal hit last fall accusing one of his longtime assistants, Jerry Sandusky, of allegedly molesting boys.

Paterno was cleared of any wrongdoing in the case. At this point, other than the victims, Paterno had seemed to suffer the most. He was fired and couldn’t depart on his own terms. Then he developed lung cancer. The disease didn’t take long. A couple months and Paterno was dead.

Some say JoePa could have done more to stop the sex scandal. Some say he should have been more proactive going to the authorities. People are upset it was covered up over a 10-year period.

Paterno wanted to tell more of what he knew about the story. But he ran out of life.

Some say, people should judge Paterno on his whole career. The problem is that most people have short memories. They only remember what happened recently.

And the recently was bad, really bad.

But maybe one day, public opinion about Paterno will turn more positive. Folks will forget and give the ‘ole coach some grace.

However for the time being, Paterno’s legacy is in doubt and definite sides have been drawn.