By: Curt Popejoy
We all knew it was coming. We weren't sure how big the
hammer would be, but we all
knew the NCAA was going to swing a big one. And a big one it was.
This week the NCAA gave the Penn State football program everything it could short of
the true "death penalty" in college football. These sanctions are in response to the
scandal involving Jerry Sandusky and the cover up of events by specific staff at Penn
State for more than a decade.
Here's A quick rundown of the sanctions.
-$60 million fine
-4 year ban from postseason play
-Vacating all victories from 1998 to 2011
-Loss of a number of scholarships over the next 4 years (10 this year and 20 per year in subsequent years)
What this penalty means is that the Penn State football program is going to lack the
resources to field a competitive team for the foreseeable future. At least a
decade.
4 years without a bowl game and such a limitation of scholarships means new head
coach Bill O'Brien is going to be working from a bare cupboard. NCAA President Mark
Emmert was direct and forceful and matter of fact in handing this down and made it
very clear that he considers this case unique and the punishment had to fit. He said it needed to be more than punitive. It had to be so severe as to force the University to seemingly change their entire culture. But I don't for one second believe that the members of this university outside of those involved in this cover up would have condoned this.
But did it fit? I have no alliances to Penn State. Not even really a fan of the
team. But this penalty seems beyond misguided. Unless I am missing something this
entire scandal centered around 6 or 8 total Penn state staffers. And from 1998 to
2011 hundreds of student athletes practiced together, played together, won and lost
together and lived their dream as Nittany Lions with no knowledge of what this
handful of men were involved in. Thousands of other Penn State students went through
the program and lived and died for Penn State with no knowledge of what was
happening. And for that you strip them of everything that was good about their
college experience? This is grossly misguided, arrogant and an affront to my
sensibilities.
Those people had no part in this. There's no good comparison to this in the real
World. It's absurd, and does nothing to "punish" those who did this. One is dead,
one is in prison forever and the others lives are ruined. Would they kill off the
math department for a decade if this had happened with them?
As much of an outrage the scholarship cuts are, and trust me they are, it's nothing
compared to the vacating of the wins. I understand that everyone is upset and they
are applying so much emotion to this, but so am I.
And what of the current players? I know they have been given clearance to transfer
this year without penalty, but we are less than 40 days to the first games. A
transfer this season would be very difficult and not at all fair to these players.
Again you are punishing those who had nothing to do with any of this. At the very
least these players should be allowed to transfer this year, but if they feel like
it's too short of notice to do so properly, they should be allowed to play this
season at Penn State and then transfer next year without penalty as well.
How exactly does crippling a program for the next decade teach a lesson to those
involved in this? Of course that is rhetorical, because it doesn't. This is little
more than a lynch mob, and serves nothing to bring any justice to anyone hurt by
this.
You want to punish the university? Fine them. Put them on the strictest of
probation for the next ten years. Force the University to assist the families of the
victims in every way including legal. But it is unconscionable to punish the 99
percent who had nothing to do with this whole thing while those few that did will
never be touched by it.
The NCAA got this wrong, just like they get so much wrong. They tried to send a
message to know one who is listening. It does do my heart good to hear so many media professionals on big networks who are speaking out about how excessive these
penalties are. Not to mention the fact that Paterno's name is mentioned 10 times as
many as any of the other guilty parties involved. If I didn't know better, I'd think he's the one sitting in prison for the rest of his life for molesting children.
For everyone who’s cheering for this, keep in mind, something like this could happen at your school and this should prompt the NCAA to act more quickly and severely on criminal actions within an athletic program even if it does not pose a competitive advantage, even if in my opinion it is beyond their purview to do so. I hope you will be cheering then.
knew the NCAA was going to swing a big one. And a big one it was.
This week the NCAA gave the Penn State football program everything it could short of
the true "death penalty" in college football. These sanctions are in response to the
scandal involving Jerry Sandusky and the cover up of events by specific staff at Penn
State for more than a decade.
Here's A quick rundown of the sanctions.
-$60 million fine
-4 year ban from postseason play
-Vacating all victories from 1998 to 2011
-Loss of a number of scholarships over the next 4 years (10 this year and 20 per year in subsequent years)
What this penalty means is that the Penn State football program is going to lack the
resources to field a competitive team for the foreseeable future. At least a
decade. 4 years without a bowl game and such a limitation of scholarships means new head
coach Bill O'Brien is going to be working from a bare cupboard. NCAA President Mark
Emmert was direct and forceful and matter of fact in handing this down and made it
very clear that he considers this case unique and the punishment had to fit. He said it needed to be more than punitive. It had to be so severe as to force the University to seemingly change their entire culture. But I don't for one second believe that the members of this university outside of those involved in this cover up would have condoned this.
But did it fit? I have no alliances to Penn State. Not even really a fan of the
team. But this penalty seems beyond misguided. Unless I am missing something this
entire scandal centered around 6 or 8 total Penn state staffers. And from 1998 to
2011 hundreds of student athletes practiced together, played together, won and lost
together and lived their dream as Nittany Lions with no knowledge of what this
handful of men were involved in. Thousands of other Penn State students went through
the program and lived and died for Penn State with no knowledge of what was
happening. And for that you strip them of everything that was good about their
college experience? This is grossly misguided, arrogant and an affront to my
sensibilities.
Those people had no part in this. There's no good comparison to this in the real
World. It's absurd, and does nothing to "punish" those who did this. One is dead,
one is in prison forever and the others lives are ruined. Would they kill off the
math department for a decade if this had happened with them?
As much of an outrage the scholarship cuts are, and trust me they are, it's nothing
compared to the vacating of the wins. I understand that everyone is upset and they
are applying so much emotion to this, but so am I.
And what of the current players? I know they have been given clearance to transfer
this year without penalty, but we are less than 40 days to the first games. A
transfer this season would be very difficult and not at all fair to these players.
Again you are punishing those who had nothing to do with any of this. At the very
least these players should be allowed to transfer this year, but if they feel like
it's too short of notice to do so properly, they should be allowed to play this
season at Penn State and then transfer next year without penalty as well.
How exactly does crippling a program for the next decade teach a lesson to those
involved in this? Of course that is rhetorical, because it doesn't. This is little
more than a lynch mob, and serves nothing to bring any justice to anyone hurt by
this.
You want to punish the university? Fine them. Put them on the strictest of
probation for the next ten years. Force the University to assist the families of the
victims in every way including legal. But it is unconscionable to punish the 99
percent who had nothing to do with this whole thing while those few that did will
never be touched by it.
The NCAA got this wrong, just like they get so much wrong. They tried to send a
message to know one who is listening. It does do my heart good to hear so many media professionals on big networks who are speaking out about how excessive these
penalties are. Not to mention the fact that Paterno's name is mentioned 10 times as
many as any of the other guilty parties involved. If I didn't know better, I'd think he's the one sitting in prison for the rest of his life for molesting children.
For everyone who’s cheering for this, keep in mind, something like this could happen at your school and this should prompt the NCAA to act more quickly and severely on criminal actions within an athletic program even if it does not pose a competitive advantage, even if in my opinion it is beyond their purview to do so. I hope you will be cheering then.
1 comments:
It is overkill, This is ridiculous and NCAA Should be boycotted until the punishment fits
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