PSU 7/18

Submitted by JeepinBen on

Here's today's PSU thread. Sick of it? This should be the only thread today and you can avoid it. I'll try to update the OP if/when actual news comes out.

That said, I thought this was a very interesting article: bit.ly/OaEcfd

The Author suggests that PSU make it's football program a separate Non-Profit, with all available monies going to a victims fund/preventing future child abuse. While that would show that PSU is actually caring about the victims (for once. I do wonder if they'll announce what they plan to do with the statue before they announce what they're doing for the victims) I wonder the actual feasibility. Did PSU even make money on sports? The Football program already kind of is a non profit, funding that thing called every other sport at Penn State.

Interesting idea, I don't know if it can go anywhere however.

LB

July 18th, 2012 at 1:37 PM ^

let criminal offenses be called what they are, and not be mixed with the same actions taken against violent and prolonged stretching.

I've changed my mind - gut the program. Let the school, the alumni and the students bask in a decade of watching the football team get their heads handed to them every week. That will leave the program with a legacy people can remember.

CRex

July 18th, 2012 at 2:17 PM ^

 

From the federal government's report:

The football program, in particular, opted out of most of the University’s Clery Act, sexual abuse awareness and summer camp procedures training,” the report reads. “The Athletic Department was perceived by many in the Penn State community as ‘an island,’ where staff members lived by their own rules.”

That's another nail in the coffin right there.  

Also EMU previously held the record for fines (357,500) over failing to notify the campus community about that 2007 murder.  

Source.

mGrowOld

July 18th, 2012 at 2:51 PM ^

I have read many times that the human brain, when confronted with facts that conflict with long-held and cherished opinion will simply discount the facts instead of changing the opinion.  Well if ever anyone needed proof of the accuracy of that statement they only need to look at PSU right now for absolute vindication.  Rather than accept the fact that St Joe of PSU was NOT the man he protrayed himself to be and be angry at him for fooling them they are turning on the messengers and shutting their minds off to the truth.

CRex continues to bring facts to the arguement.  Facts that the PSU faithful will have an increasingly hard time ignoring.  But they'll try......

Burn it down.

Needs

July 18th, 2012 at 3:00 PM ^

Stewart Mandel echoes much the same sentiments in this mea culpa about Paterno.

 

 

The deification of Paterno began long before I started covering the sport, and in fact before I was even born. The notion that he was morally superior to the typical coach was never something I personally witnessed. The man I observed over the last 12 years of his life was stubborn, surly and defiant of anyone who dared question the way he ran his program, in particular the way he disciplined his players, despite a rash of issues in the 2000s. At the same time, he was also increasingly senile, and in the early stages of the story I figured that might explain some of Paterno's inaction regarding Sandusky.

Now, of course, it's crystal clear that Paterno knew exactly what he was doing. Maybe he didn't comprehend just how disturbed Sandusky was, but he had two clear warning signs and still chose to keep the matter in-house. The coach I observed would absolutely have been power-drunk and paranoid enough to put his program above the safety of children. At some point over the years I must have internalized the mythology that Paterno was nobler than the typical football coach, despite myriad evidence to the contrary. I deeply regret that.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/stewart_mandel/07/18/penn…

I think both examples here speak to the power of narrative to overwhelm even observed experience. The stories told about Paterno within the broader context of college football overwhelmed that which Mandel's experience told him to be true. An even more extreme version of that is going on with PSU fans vis a vis the Freeh Report. They literally can't believe it because it completely contradicts the stories they've lived by.

UofM626

July 18th, 2012 at 4:24 PM ^

Hope they get into trouble and not the Death Penalty. If so them of course OSU will benefit again and look like Meyer is doing awesome at recruiting



Pfffft

Roachgoblue

July 18th, 2012 at 5:34 PM ^

They don't give a flying flip about the victims. I don't understand how much more they could show us that. Maybe they need to go shoot all of the victims to prove it to the stupid media. The Penn State program is trash. Kick them out of the Big Ten!

vablue

July 18th, 2012 at 5:59 PM ^

How would a ban this year affect everyone. A ban this year would mean those players would realistically not be able to transfer. They have 6 weeks, and even the few that could find a new scholarship would have trouble making an impact. Also, imagine what that would do to the big ten schedule especially for Michigan. A couple of other teams in the division would essentially get a free win and a bye week.

Plus, with a program of this stature the financials implications for all PSU sports would be devastating. I would think this all would have to be factored into a decision rather than just going with the gut reaction to give them the death penalty.

vablue

July 18th, 2012 at 9:41 PM ^

I think you could argue the death penalty for next season would do far more damage to their football program and have far less collateral damage. Not playing next year would eliminate any possibility of a 2013 crecruiting class. It would also give the current PSU players plenty of time to find a new program. This would have the effect of both being fair to current players and also destroying PSU's future roster. In addition, it would give PSU a year to prepare financially to pay for the rest of their athletic department without football income for a year, no small task.