Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Guilty of 45 of 48 charges! I was really getting worried and concerned about our justice system, because it seems like it is so hard to get people convicted.

That's really, really inaccurate, but in this case, the verdict certainly seems just. I hope it brings some closure for the victims and the community.

What's inaccurate?

That it's too difficult to get people convicted.

Maybe we are talking about different things? It is very difficult to covict child molesters because they usually have to rely on the testimony of children with no physical evidence. There is such a high rate of childhood sexual abuse and I am pretty sure most abusers aren't punished for their crimes. I know mine wasn't. So yes, it is very accurate for me to say it seems like it is hard to get convictions.

I understand. I thought you were saying that generally, for all crimes, it is too difficult to get a conviction.

Sorry to derail!

That's okay. And yeah, I don't think that for all crimes.

More (new?) evidence that Paterno not only knew, but also talked officials out of going to the cops.

They just took down the Paterno statue. They say they're leaving his name on the library. (Which makes sense -- I'm not sure whether they could take his name off the library without also giving back the several million dollars he gave to build the library.)

Larisa, doesn't the NCAA announce tomorrow what kind of sanctions Penn State will face?

Yeah. Most people seem to be speculating that it'll be at least a year suspension, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

As usual, don't read the comments unless you want to be angered & upset. Some are positive but there are still idiots whining about how the sanctions will hurt football players. Don't these people realize Sandusky and the University officials who protected him are to blame, not the NCAA?

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... ating-1998

I'm sure most of the players will find new schools. I think the sanctions are great, but the current football players aren't at fault, so even though the scope of their problems isn't on a par, I do feel a little bad for them.

It is unfortunate, but the players will all be ok. Sandusky's victims, not so much.

I just can't comprehend that such a culture of evil was able to flourish there for so long. I think Paterno was possibly more evil than Sandusky. I hope some of the others involved in covering up see jail time.

Sure, it would suck to be a football player there and have this affect your career. But what's the alternative? No punishment, no sanctions? That's not how to world works.

Plus it seems that the NCAA actually helps scholarship players find new ones.

Do you think this will help prevent future coverups? I admit to still just being stuck on disbelief that many adults allowed children to be victimized when they could have prevented it. My brain can't process that as being possible.

I think they should have also revoked tv air time for them.

I would think that such a large penalty is supposed to help prevent future cover ups. But there is all sorts of reprehensible behaviour surrounding college sports (particularly football/basketball) that lots of adults either do nothing about or facilitate. Money, power and greed. I'm not sure any sort of fines and bans could really clean up the mess that college sports have become.

Maybe burning down Penn State and salting the earth might help a little. But I agree with pandacookie that college sports have become too corrupt from all the money and power associated with it.

I take Mark Emmert at his word that he hopes the severity of the sanctions will spur a cultural shift within college sports. I'm not saying I believe it actually will... Nothing can undo the damage to Sandusky's victims and the NCAA and Big 10 can't just fix it with sanctions. But they've done what they can do. This will cripple Penn State's program for a very long time because no good players will commit to a school that's bowl banned. Motivation to avoid these kinds of penalties isn't a good reason for coaches, ADs, programs, and schools to do the right thing, but even if the right thing gets done for the wrong reasons it's still better than the alternative.

Yes, I can certainly see how that would help.

I was a little shocked at the $60 million dollar fine, until I read that it represents the amount of revenue the football program generates in a year. At the very least, I hope the actions taken by the NCAA send a message to all athletic organizations that covering up child abuse so they can keep playing and making money off a game is reprehensible.

Most of the money stays in the sports programs too. I saw that at VT. The football program generates insane amounts of money, but it doesn't help the academic side much at all. Beamer makes over $2 million a year.

This whole case has been disgusting and, like lavawitch said, I can't even wrap my brain around the idea that other adults were aware of what was going on.

However...

I can't help but wonder about the widespread effects of the sanctions. I have no idea what else the NCAA could have done (and I'm happy they did something sever that made an example of the school), but I do feel bad for the players and other innocent people associated with that program. There are a shiitake ton of ripples associated with these sanctions. I worry the focus will shift from the guilty people and the culture that lead to such a horrific history of abuse to the future of the school and the program - around which a lot of the school community was structured. I wonder how many jobs are associated with that program. Yes, I know this is about the abuse and punishing the school that let it happen, but the NCAA has made it about so much more. Just not sure how the sanctions sit with me. :/

Maybe the focus will shift to something more important than football. They didn't demolish the football team, Penn St. will still be playing and eligible again for bowls in 4 years. I honestly can''t think of any way for the NCAA to react other than hitting them where it hurts, which is money and power. Some non-profit restructuring, salary caps, limits on alumni donations and involvement might be good too, but any action they take would have ripple effects to people not directly involved.

True. Like I said, I have no idea how else they could have punished them.

I'm just sifting through all the "this is unfair" griping on FB and trying to see the other side. I don't really give a shiitake about football and used to be irritated when I worked at my alma mater in fundraising and alums would always want to donate to the sports rather than the academics ("they get state funding anyway.") Maybe the focus will shift to community outreach or academics. I don't know. My only worry was that people will grumble all the way through the four years feeling like it was "unfair" and missing the whole point because the sanctions were just that "drastic" - as the headlines say.

Whoa...just realized the fine will go to programs that support victims of sexual abuse. That is awesome.