So I get some of the punishment. I under why the statue was removed....no big deal. I understand the fines. I can understand why they stripped JoPa of 111 wins (that count right?) but also don't see what that does other than making an example to other current/future coaches that the NCAA expects more. I agree JoPa should have done more now that there is concrete evidence he was hiding stuff. But Sandusky had very little to do with the football programs success and the team won because of an excellent program. But I see why NCAA would make an example but I don't agree that it really does much. All what is said above is nothing to this.....why in the world would the NCAA punish the current roster for 4 seasons? They may as well just ban the football program altogether cause what's the point? Sandusky is gonna get locked up. JoPa is dead. So why punish the current football team? Are they trying to punish the other responsible parties that knew something was going on but didn't do the right thing?
it's all public posturing, it will take four years for all the lawsuits to work their course through the courts. This way the NCAA has an out when a story pops up relevant to the scandal. Keep in mind that the NCAA wants this to go away ASAP as it's taking money out of their coffers too. PennSt stands to lose what $100 million a year due to this mess?
I am just glad they let the existing players keep their scholarships whether they play or not (given they meet the academic requirements). It would be a shame to punish kids for something they had nothing to do with. For a lot of those players, football was the reason they got to go to college.
This is really a criminal matter and if Joe was still alive he might be facing some charges. I'm not really sure why the NCAA is involved.
The problem I have with it is that you are punishing a school and program for something that 99.9999999997% of them had nothing to do with. Its wrong, its fucked up, someone needs to be punished for it but there has got to be a better way than this.
here's where people are completely naive and it pisses me off. this doesn't hurt the current football players, other than inconveniencing them. they are all allowed to transfer to any school of their choice without having to sit out a year (granted they are wanted there). ANY football player at any major university (SEC, BIG 10/12, PAC 12, etc) THAT IS ON SCHOLARSHIP for football isn't there to go to school, they are there to play well and hope for a career in football (with the exception of a very few). and THAT is the point the NCAA is trying to make, school is more important than football. and there, i couldn't agree more. some schools have allowed sports programs to become revenue generators rather than extra-curricular activities. it has a lot to do with professional sports in America and how we praise (and overpay our athletes), leading colleges to become breeding grounds, but that's another story for another day..... but you're right, they should have just given them the death penalty because they basically did penalizing them in the post-season and allowing their players to leave. the school rolled over and admitted everything in the Freeh report and by taking down JoePa's statue they acknowledged that. PSU fans should be pissed at the school for rolling over, not at the NCAA
Sandusky had very much to do with the programs success. It was called linebacker "U". He was the recruiter and coach of the defensive side of the ball. These penalties are actually worse than the death penalty, these effects will last for at least 10-13 years
Has anyone seen this? http://www.amazon.com/Touched-The-Jerry-Sandusky-Story/dp/1582613575 Awkward name..... Anyways, the reason they took the wins from JoePa is simple. Had Sandusky been secretly murdering people, for over a decade, and JoePa knew about it and did nothing, he would be a felon. In essence, this isn't different from what was really happening. The NCAA is simply stating that the actions (wins) of someone, who was actively and knowingly committing a felony while competing in the NCAA, are null and void in the record books.
I'm not argueing the taking of wins. I'm arguing punishing a vast whole vs the one responsible. SLOWWRX hit what I was trying to say on the head.
ehhh. The death penalty given to SMU (in 1986) had effects that pretty much lasted until last year....quite a bit worse than what was given to PSU
I don't really care to comment on Penn St, as it's a very opinionated subject and at this point in time, everybody has made up their mind and most likely aren't willing to change their stance - therefor why even bring it up? that said, I will address what Jake said - and you are about as close to 100% wrong as you can be. I want to say this openly, but I don't want it to sound racist (I'm not racist - but I'm extremely prejudiced...different conversation, though). As somebody who was involved in Tech's athletics for most of my college career, I know a lot about the background of these programs and what actually goes on. One thing I've witnessed over and over and over - you can take the thug out of the hood, but you cannot take the hood out of the thug (that's about as PC as I can get...). Unfortunately in money making sports (and, btw, we're a capitalist society; if there's money to be made at something, we'll find a way. Don't bitch about the game, bitch about the system), you get a lot of the, for lack of a better term, 'thug-niggers' that come in and give all of Division 1 sports a bad name. Are there people there who don't have education in mind as the first priority??? Of course - but they are few and far between. Remember, NCAA athletes span more than just football and basketball. I'll break this out, because it's that important to me. It also holds true for multiple athletes I met in college. Were it not for division I sports, I would not have been able to go to college (combined with other incentives like HOPE and scholarships). Again - I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GO TO COLLEGE. This is true more often times than you would think. In regards to Penn State, they should not have taken away the scholarships. Removing 25% of the football teams scholarships is essentially the same thing as the death penalty. The reasoning behind the NCAA is unknown, but there are kids that could use those scholarships to get an education they otherwise wouldn't have a possibility to get. And I'm sorry, but if even ONE of those scholarships could have put a kid through college, it's WRONG to deny him / her that potential future because some sick fucktard likes petting little boys. edit - I would've still been able to go to college (mostly because I won't let anybody tell me I can't do something), but I would've come out with an ass load of debt, and I would've missed out on probably the best experience I had in college.
Bravo Drew bravo. This is what I'm arguing. The mentality that kids are playing just for hopes of a pro career is both correct and incorrect. Shoot EVERYONE that plays the game wants to be a pro. But all programs require those kids to keep a certain GPA and a certain attendance level. They FORCE you to attend college, do well, and graduate if you want to keep playing. Sure there are a select few that leave early cause they are that good (Cam Newton for example) but they are very few in comparison.
and Jake, I know you referenced football only, but I'm referring to both football and basketball above when I tell you that the kids that know they are going pro know before they go to school. 95% of these players know they are there for the education, and most do not take advantage of the system. Don't watch ESPN for all of your sports insider news...it's about as slanted as Fox
ESPN only talks about the top dawgs and nothing about the ones there to actually make a difference in their lives.