Raeden Zen's Blog, page 526
July 19, 2012
July 18, 2012
Rant of the Day
Penn State.
Death penalty (or just death).
Cult.
Fanatics.
These are the words I’ve heard over and over again with regard to my alma mater.
It has led me to do a lot more thinking since the weekend (surprise!) and for the first time I believe there is a good chance the NCAA may shut the team down. Penn Staters, ultimately, are giving them no choice.
Let’s go over what we know.
Those of us who follow college football, and Penn State in particular, fully understand the power of the football programs over schools, and winning football coaches more specifically. As soon as this scandal broke last November I said to myself, “Holy shit, please tell me they all didn’t know. Please tell me Joe didn’t know.” (Even though I knew, I just knew that he had to have known.) I think we all said this one way or another. I was at the Nebraska game, and we all said there’s no way Joe would have covered up for Sandusky.
But, as is clear now, their were lengthy discussions internally regarding the 1998 incident while the decision was made to not report the 2001 incident. Worse still, Sandusky kept his access to the football program, the carrot by which he used to lure the most innocent in our society.
I think Penn Staters need to repeat this in their heads and stop reacting the way they’ve been. OUR FORMER STAR DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR USED OUR PROGRAM AS BAIT AND NO ONE, INCLUDING GRAHAM SPANIER AND JOE PATERNO DID ANYTHING TO STOP HIM. Repeat it 10 more times so that you stop guarding statues, posting insane comments on Twitter, and otherwise forcing the NCAA to make an example of us.
The USA wants to see that we understand how bad this is. The country is mortified by the raping of children within our football program, the cover-up, and the behavior of much of the PSU community in reaction to it.
To be sure, Sandusky’s actions, and the senior leadership’s inaction, doesn’t define the students, alumni and State College community. That said, Penn Staters, allow me to bring you to reality:
THIS IS THE WORST SCANDAL IN SPORTS HISTORY. IT DOESN’T MATTER IF WE DIDN’T VIOLATE RULE #10B-1 OR RULE #10B-2 OR WHATEVER. CHILDREN WERE RAPED UNDER THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT’S NOSE BY A CURRENT AND FORMER FOOTBALL COACH, IN FOOTBALL PROGRAM FACILITIES, AND THE MOST SENIOR LEADERSHIP AT THE UNIVERSITY ALLOWED IT TO GO ON AND ON. IT DOESN’T GET WORSE THAN THAT.
Here’s what I think we need to do to keep our football team, and maybe, just maybe salvage some good out of the ugly that is Penn State University and what’s left of the football program:
1. Get rid of everything related to Joe Paterno. The statue, the ice cream, the name on the Library, everything. Yes. Get rid of it all.
2. Forfeit all games from 2001-2011. Yes. That means the meaningless record for which Joe gave up his dignity is gone. Largely symbolic but it has to happen.
3. Start a foundation devoted solely for managing funds to be donated to victims of child abuse. No, it can’t be headquartered in State College. (C’mon, it should be obvious.) Set it up in Philadelphia, or New York, or wherever. Run the football program as a non-profit with all proceeds beyond expenses to be contributed. That could equate to $10-$20 million per year to the foundation, depending on the success of the program. In 10 years, that could reach $100-$200 million plus annual returns less donations, and that’s not chump change.
4. All trustees who were at PSU during the scandal years needed to resign yesterday. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but yesterday. (Why are you still here??)
5. Graham Spanier needs to be in hand cuffs. Again, this should have happened yesterday. (Why is he still a tenured professor on leave of PSU??)
6. Give up scholarships. I’m not sure how many, but make an offer, maybe something like 5 per season for the next five years.
7. Don’t riot! PSU is going to get a punishment for this heinous crime. Students, do us all a favor and drink in your dorm rooms and at the frats. Don’t bring it to Beaver Canyon. (You have made your degree worth less than it already may be with your actions last fall and unfortunately the University isn’t offering a blue light special as a result of their incompetence. You’re still paying $50-$100 k for that piece of paper and you may end up working at Starbucks.)
8. Pay the victims whatever large sum they ask. They can’t get their lives back. There is no price on that. PSU has a $2 billion endowment. PAY THEM HUGE. If they ask for $100 million, tell them you’ll give $150 million.
9. If by some miracle any of this is followed, offered, or if somehow it isn’t and the NCAA allows us to keep our football program, play the non-conference schedule to an empty stadium. Yes, an empty stadium. And without tailgates (gasp). In Europe they punish renegade soccer teams and fans with “ghost” games. PSU needs to do the same to acknowledge it understands the severity of its (in)action.
10. Stop acting like the Freeh report is some sort of attack on the program and University. When you fuck up as badly as PSU did, it needed to hire an independent investigator, and Mr. Freeh is one of the best. He’s not a Buckeye out for revenge. His FBI investigators knew what to look for and found the goods that the State’s investigators could not. So be it. It was a cover-up. Now we have to pay.
I know Penn Staters probably hated me before they reached #1 but someone needs to say it and it may as well be me. I hope more and more start saying these things in the days and weeks ahead, or the NCAA hammer is going to fall, and fall hard.
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