Most of us have heard of the sex abuse scandal at Penn State and the coverup that took place by the coaches and administrators who knew about it and did nothing. If you have not heard of it, let me give you a brief summary.
As far back as 1998, an assistant football coach was sexually abusing young boys when he was entrusted to take care of them while they attended a football camp on the Penn State campus. One of the other coaches walked in on him abusing a boy in the shower and went to tell the head coach without stopping the coach right there.
Supposedly, that was the first incident. There is a long and sordid story I will not go into, but suffice to say, there was an extended period of abuse that lasted for many years and was not reported to the police.
Most reports on the networks and the Internet talk about the victims as being the Penn State students, the people in the community, the future Penn State football players, the athletes and fans. The broadcasters and writers talk and write about all the victims except the actual boys who were raped. They seem to be forgotten. I find it amazing!
Again, if you are not following the story, one of the sanctions is a sixty million dollar fine levied by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), the governing body of college athletics. That dollar amount equals the amount of money the football team brings to the University in one year!
The main outrage comes from the fact the one hundred twelve victories Penn State has won since 1998! That is what everyone in Collegeville is upset about. Unbelievable!
If you want to learn more about this story, just Google "Penn State sanctions" like I did. You can read and watch more videos to learn more than you probably want to know. The bottom line is: it is a sad chapter in American sports lore, and leaves an ugly mark for trusting adult coaches and mentors that it throws onto all the good men who parents used to trust.
I believe this story is far from over and Penn State deserves everything it gets!
As always, I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
4 comments:
By golly Mike ... we TOTALLY agree on something! You don't have to be a conservative or a liberal to agree with your Post. Sports are great ... many of us love them. Compared to kids however ...especially the vulnerable ones violated by Sandusky ... sports are meaningless.
Great Post!
Their new fight slogan, "We were, Penn State. We were, Penn State."
Hi, Mike!
I agree, Penn State is toast. Even recruiting has been affected with the loss of scholarships. I also see that the current students and athletes are being punished for what they have not done, and could not have known. So, I agree with the fine, but not with the bowl game sanctions, and not with the voiding of past wins - they could be expunged from Paterno's record without doing so to the players themselves. I would have simply punished the University with the fines and with prohibition entirely of recruitment for 4 years, never mind the scholarships, while allowing current players to seek to join other teams without penalty.
Elliot
Hi Elliot,
I appreciate your comment.
The comment you made about bowl game sanctions and expunging the wins from Paterno but not the players makes sense. Unfortunately, I don't know how the NCAA governing board works, but I imagine they have their reasons. I don't agree with many of their rules, and they aren't going to listen to my suggestions about what they should change, but they were forced to do something. This is a no win position for anyone. Unfortunately, the players are also victims in this debacle. At least they know they won those games.
They also could have given them the Death Penalty and eliminated the football program for one to four years. I'm glad they didn't do that. I think it's going to be a long time before Penn State becomes a football powerhouse again. But it will happen.
Thanks,
Mike
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