There are lots of things in the wind concerning the state of the Penn State football program. The NCAA has asked PSU officials to respond quickly to several questions regarding their "Institutional Control" over the football program from about 1998 to present. It appears the the university had no control over Joe Paterno and their program especially when it came to player and coach discipline. On a PBS talk show hosted by Travis Smiley, NCAA President Mark Emmert said,
"I've never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall
conduct and behavior inside a university and hope never to see it again.
What the appropriate penalties are, if there are determinations of
violations, we'll have to decide. We'll hold in abeyance
all of those decisions until we've actually decided what we want to do
with the actual charges should there be any. And I don't want to take
anything off the table." He also noted that this is much more than just a football scandal which leads you to believe that the NCAA may drop the hammer on not just the football program, but the entire school.
So, what exactly is the "Death Penalty"? Back in 1987, the NCAA found that Southern Methodist University had made under the table payments from the 1970's right through to 1886. The violations were so wide spread that the NCAA suspended the SMU football program for the entire 1987 season. That means no games, no recruiting and no money. It is a death blow to a major college football program. SMU opted to sit out the 1988 season because they felt that they could not field a viable team.
Over the next 20 years, SMU would only have one winning season and did not make a bowl game until 2009. This has been the only time in history the NCAA suspended a team for an entire season.
Also, The Chronicle For Higher Education reports that an unidentified Big Ten "leader" said the
conference could revoke Penn State's membership in the wake of the child
sex abuse scandal that has shaken the football program. Currently, the
Big Ten's 12-member Council of Presidents and Chancellors must approve
any decision to suspend or expel one of the league’s schools. The Chronicle also reported that the Big 10 has no plan in place should the NCAA deal the "Death Penalty" to the Penn State football program. It is hard to believe that they do not have a plan in place should the hammer come down in Beaver Valley. Does this mean that they know something that we don't? Could it be that PSU will not be dealt the mortal blow?
The question here is should Penn State be dealt this "Death Penalty"? Many people think that the current student athletes should not be punished for the mistakes of others in the past. This argument does have some validity, however if we all thought this way no punishments would be handed down. I think it is time the NCAA grew a set and drop the hammer on Penn State. Big Nose Paterno ran this football program like the secret society of the Free Masons. He knew about what Scumdusky was doing to those young boys and decided to turn his head for the sake of the program. It appears that he also convinced the college officials to turn their heads as well. This "locker room" mentality has led to what may be the end of what JoePa cherished the most. I would say he committed the ultimate Paternover in the end zone of life.
Comments
Post a Comment