The delusion continues in Happy Valley

One of my shameful secrets this past year is how much time I've spent reading threads over at Blue and White Illustrated.  That's a Penn State Rivals.com website that is one of the teams most popular forums so it gives a good idea of their fan's opinions.

This past week there was a thread on BWI titled "Completely absurd that people are claiming 'of a sexual nature' is equivalent to MM having conveyed that he just WITNESSED criminal sexual assault".  I thought one person summed the whole thing up nicely essentially stating that "Previous accusation + naked + shower + 60 year old man + 12 year old boy = Police".

The responses are really sad as the fans just can't let it go and want to protect Coach Paterno.  Here are some of them:

• Paterno DID REPORT IT BY THE BOOK (i.e., PSU HR Manual) you blithering, obfuscating a-hole! Your full of crap that it isn't "relevant" -- MM went to Paterno to make an HR Report (Dr. Dranov's testimony confirms this quite clearly). He did not go to Paterno and allege seeing CRIMINAL sexual assault (i.e., it is impossible to allege WITNESSING criminal sexual assault without witnessing a sex act of any kind!). The people who screwed up "the investigation" were above Paterno and they absolutely had all THE FACTS they needed to make the correct decisions but still failed THEIR OBLIGATIONS! 

• The text comes from a transcript of testimony that was transcribed unprofessionally. Simply read the two sentences of Joe's statement regarding this matter. Where he seems to contradict himself. Then have the sense to understand the first statement was a statement of incredulity or you could say a interrogatory in the form of a statement. Joe did this all the time... repeating what he was asked...then giving his response. The transcriber should have typed....something to the effect...."It was of a sexual nature(?)" Then Joe's supposedly contradictory response.... not: "It was of a sexual nature(.)" then Joe's response. It's not that damn complex. 

• It is absurd for people to keep saying that "of a sexual nature" amounts to a de facto description of a CRIMINAL sexual assault (i.e., no internal investigation of the matter required????). Simply absurd.

• ["It seems to me that the only fair criticisms of Joe would be if he discouraged the administration from reporting the incident to DPW."] ---- Joe never changed anyone's mind. All Freeh would have had to have done was read Curley's 26 pages of Grand Jury testimony and put it together with the February 12th meeting that was documented between Curley and Schultz. Curley was asked over and over and over again in the Grand Jury as to how he came about making his decision, what it was based on, and who influenced him. Joe had nothing to do with it. 

• Anybody saying that Joe was part of some conspiracy and was part and parcel to this whole thing is wrong. No sense trying to convince them otherwise more than trying to convince somebody the world is not flat. The only thing anybody can say about Joe is that being who he was and what he stood for and his ultimately high moral character, we wish he would have followed up a little harder with C/S/S on what the end outcome was.

There are threads like this that happen at least once a week.  Penn State fans are more than willing to through the administrators under the bus but still protect Joe.  They blame the board and the governor more about the situation than the coach who was the face of the school for almost half a century and was the first person told of the incident.

If I look at this from an apologist angle I can understand how this happened.  All you have to do is look at the amount of national publicity Pizza-Gate got this week in Columbus to see why Penn State acted as it did.  Any top program is hesitant to release any information they aren't 100% sure because even small items becomes national news overnight.  As a result, a culture of protection that has been built up over decades at many programs that includes players, coaches, administrators, alumni, fans and local media.  If you view the scandal in that light it is easy to see what happened.  In 1998, Sandusky was accused of molesting a child but the DA investigated and the case was dropped.  Three years later Mike McQuery sees something that he thinks is of a sexual nature between Sandusky and a young boy.

When you face a harassment claim two things always muddy the issue, namely perception and reputation.  The facts are rarely as clear cut as the initial discussion and most times can be resolved behind closed doors with a quick investigation and quick disciplinary action.  One of the keys is most times it is kept entirely quiet.  Imagine if every time a Fortune 500 company had a claim like this it was put in the Wall Street Journal.  The reputation and stock price of that company would take a hit.  The managers and the employee involved would be forever tainted and never able to work again even if the process proved that it was all a misunderstanding.  That's why there is always a reluctance to speak in publicity situations.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying I agree with Penn State's actions I'm just saying that I understand how it could happen.  They were faced with a situation where a man who had worked with children for over 20 years and had already been investigated once and nothing was found and again faced with an accusation.  It is normal not to want deal with something like this because if nothing is found the accused, the victim, the whistleblower, the school, and the reputation of all involved is harmed forever and nothing you do can change it.

I want to restate that I know that Penn State made egregious mistakes.  In any organization the first thing you do is get Human Resources/Legal involved.  If it is criminal you get the police involved.  If it is less than that you investigate and document your findings.  Penn State did none of this because they wanted to protect the school and the reputation of a man that worked there from 30 years.  In hindsight their actions are certainly wrong and in some cases, criminal.

The worst part of all this is Bill O'Brien has done a fantastic job of keeping his team focused as they are now 4-2 and undefeated in the Big Ten.  It's the type of comeback story that Americans love but Penn State fan's focus on the past is making it impossible for anyone to root for their team.

I am well aware to paint all fans with a broad brush using posts from a website is unfair.  If this happened at Ohio State I know the lunatic fringe on the O-Zone website would be saying similar things.  For anyone who doubts that all you need to do is go back a year to the Jim Tressel scandal and see the posts regarding a simple case of him hiding/lying for his players when they broke NCAA rules.  It took almost six months before the majority of posters accepted the truth but even today there is the occasional thread that claims that "Tressel took the hit for the university" or my personal favorite "Tressel is still working with the FBI in a sting operation and saying more would hurt an ongoing investigation."

This level of delusion happens at all big programs and it is what causes some fans to go too far and do things like poison your opponents trees.  It's just sad to see what is happening in Happy Valley and I've got to force myself to stop reading the BWI website as it is not fun to watch them continue to mire in their delusion.

Penn State penalties

Today a report on CBS said, "Emmert pleased with Penn State's response to sanctions". My whole feeling on Penn State has been pretty clear but one thing I haven't spoke about is the penalties.

One particular comment from Emmert annoyed me,

"As a criminal investigation, it was none of our business," he said. "And if, back in 1998, Penn State had heard about it and put a stop to it, it would have never been any of our business. When they didn't do that, it became our concern."

I have a problem with that statement.

I don't think there's any question the administrators at Penn State covered up a pedophile but the one thing I just don't understand is how Emmert feels the university's responsibility goes back to 1998. The police were involved and dropped the case. A year later Sandusky left their employment. Some may conclude from that the university strong armed the local DA and forced Sandusky to retire but there is no proof. Yet the NCAA dates their crimes from that date.

A real crime was committed and it occurred in 2001. Key administrators knew about Sandusky's past and any slight suspicion should have set off alarms. Instead it was never reported and the guilty will be prosecuted.

As a fan of Ohio State, I am very aware of the passion Penn State fans have for their team. I am surrounded by fans with similar types of fans as is Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma and countless others. College football is based on the passion of fans and if you penalize one then shouldn't you enact legislation to penalize them all? Instead they make periodic examples to try to control the beast as the monster that has become college football pays the bills for NCAA athletics.

I do think Penn State should have gotten penalized but something more like vacating their wins since 2001 and a 5 year probation which would be the time they had to enact the proposals in the Freeh report. Instead they got penalties that will cripple the program and take it out on the current athletes that were in elementary school when the crime occurred.

The worst thing about this whole ruling is by doing it many think they are getting tough when in fact, college football is as out of control as ever. Money does that and until the college presidents accept that college football has grown to big and is now a professional enterprise, then then we will continue to see hypocrisies like penalizing Penn State back to 1998 to give the impression they are actually in control.

My solution to Penn State leaving the Big Ten

Ever since Penn State joined the league I've heard them complain that they aren't a good fit in the conference.  That their 'East Coast' mentality doesn't mesh well with the Midwest.  I know they say that as a slight as somehow the east coast is better than the Midwest but I think they are forgetting one big factor.  They aren't on the east coast.

It's 230 miles from Penn State to New York and 200 miles to Philadelphia.  They are an East Coast school like Columbus is on Lake Erie.  I remember back in school my teacher explained the East coast culture as the area that stretched from Boston to Washington DC.  She had a specific name for it – the Megalopolis.  The area was one continuous city and as of the 2000 census had 17% of the country’s population squeezed into 2% of its land mass.  The population density was over 900 people per square mile. 

This area had the nation’s government and financial capital along with many of the cultural trendsetters.  The packed in nature of the megalopolis created a situation where conflict and compromise were part of everyday life as people literally lived on top of one another.

Let’s compare that to Penn State.

Note that the East coast megalopolis is evident in this picture too.  I’ve included the Big Ten geography as well so you can see how it looks.  From Pittsburgh to Cleveland, Columbus to Cincinnati, west to St. Louis and Kansas City, north to Detroit and Chicago, and even further to Milwaukee and Minneapolis, the Midwest has some of the greatest American cities.  Despite the decline of the industry many have remained and eventually will turn their economies around.  Work ethic is the cornerstone of the Midwestern mythos.

 

Note that between the start of the highly populated purple area in Pittsburgh and the eastern megalopolis there’s a large green area with one blue dot in the middle of Pennsylvania. That blue dot is Penn State.

Fans of the school complain they don’t fit into the Big Ten and they are right.  But they don’t fit in the east either.  People from east and Midwest go to Penn State but they aren’t truly part of the culture.  The culture is made by the people that live in that area and there culture has a different name.  Appalachia.

 

Appalachia is the name given to the area dominated by the Appalachian Mountains and is mostly rural in nature.  Historically “endowed with abundant natural resources, Appalachia has long been associated with and struggled with poverty. In the early 20th century, large-scale logging and coal mining firms brought wage-paying jobs and modern amenities to Appalachia, but by the 1960s the region had failed to capitalize on any long-term benefits from these two industries.” ¹

Popular culture has made fun of this area and it’s historically backward ways.  Pennsylvania and Penn State specifically have avoided being lumped in with the states to their south main due to their proximity to the major urban centers like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

The recent Sandusky scandal has changed that to some degree.  Where many saw Penn State as a great institution that happened to have a great football team, now many are seeing the school as full football crazy lunatics.  The truth is most of the people that go to Penn State are great citizens.  Penn State fans on the other hand suffer from the fact that live in that area is difficult economically and Penn State football is one of the true joys they have in life.

Living in Columbus and being close enough to Appalachia to be able to take a day trip on my bike there, I know full well the dangers of a fan base that takes the game too seriously.  What Ohio State and Columbus have to keep us in check is a media glare that shows our idiocy which creates good local debate.  That doesn’t happen in State College.  Add to the mix a coach that is deified by many and you have a situation ripe for abuse.

But I digress.  Penn State has said they want to get out of the Big Ten and many feel the ACC would be a good fit.  While it might be better than the Big Ten they are missing the point.  What I propose instead is the Appalachian Conference.  This conference would be made up of schools that would make them feel right at home.

Penn State, West Virginia, Marshall, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, Middle Tennessee State, and UAB.

12 Teams.  All in Appalachia.  Let the couch burnings begin!

(This post is somewhat in jest as I’ve met many people in Appalachia and they are great people that live in a difficult area of the country to make a living.  Most aren’t like what we’ve seen portrayed in the news at Penn State but I would argue that fans that live in Appalachia have a higher percentage of idiots than fans in other parts of the country.  I include Ohio State in that designation as we’ve always been a little crazier than the rest of the B1G).

¹ – From Wikipedia entry on Appalachia

Is the BTN biased against Penn State

I saw an article on Black Shoe Diaries that claimed that BTN had a bias against Penn State. Regardless of the fact that now is a good time for the BTN to focus on other schools the proof is based on the following spreadsheet.


Ohio State

37 Football (74 hours)
32 Basketball (64 hours)
3 Tailgate 48 (3 hours)
4 BIG Championships (8 hours)
8 Icon (4 hours)
1 School Days 6/19, 7/10, 8/1
Total = 153 hours (6.375 days)

Penn State

11 Football (22 hours)
5 Basketball (10 hours)
1 Misc (30 min)
7 BIG Championship (14 hours)
2 Icon (1 hour)
1 School Days 6/20, 7/11, 8/2
Total = 47.5 hours (1.97916 days)
Football – 6 Wins, 5 Loss; Basketball – 1 Loss, 4 Wins; BIG Championships– 7 Losses

 It included all the schools but Ohio State had the most time. If you look at the schedules the difference is Ohio State 153 hours to Penn State's 47.5, a difference of 105.5. That seems a clear indication of bias. The B1G hates Penn State it is obvious.

A deeper look at the details tells a different story. If you add the football games to the basketball games you get a total of Ohio State 138 hours to Penn State's 32, a difference of 106.

Why is there a difference?

 Because right now beating Ohio State in football/basketball is a bigger deal than beating Penn State. On Nebraska's team day you can see last year's Ohio State game. Purdue will show a basketball game and the "Get Used to it" loss from 3 years ago. Do you really think Ohio State fans want to see those games again? They were tough enough to deal with the first viewing.

 These games are a treat to whichever school is being shown and Ohio State gets shown more often. Frankly if there is any bias it anti-Ohio State.

JoePa and the CNN AC360 emails

I've been thinking about writing a followup to the article I wrote last fall when the Grand Jury indicted Jerry Sandusky. A week after I wrote that I predicted riots and a few days later it happened as the fans showed their support for their fallen coach.

I understand supporting a leader of a place you love and since then I've thought many times of doing a followup. I've read all the articles but at some point I just couldn't do it anymore. It was obvious that Sandusky was guilty after the 1st testimony. Dan Wetzel at Yahoo did a great job covering the trial and I'd expect he is still taking a shower to wash off the stench. This was my feeling at the time:

I'm sure I can read his reports anymore as the whole thing makes me so mad and I know the rest of the trial is going to be more of the same. No Buckeye fan wants to give Wetzel props because his article last March that pushed Ohio State into a fiasco of a press conference. Despite that I have to admit he is doing a nice job on the Sandusky trial.
Mike McQueary Testimony
Victim 1 Testimony
Day 1 Recap with Victim 4 Testimony
Opening Statements

The big question in the aftermath was what would happen to Spanier, Curley and Schultz. With JoePa dead there was little that could change the perception as 'dead men tell no tales'.

I made a joke a few weeks back that JoePa's saving grace might be that it was well known at Penn State that he never used a computer or email. Little did I know how wrong that would be. A few days before the trial someone leaked a statement that the prosecution had been given a document that was a clear paper trail that Spanier, Curley, and Schultz knew more than they were saying publicly.

As it turns out, as the DA was finishing up their case against Sandusky, the Penn State Board of Trustees hired former FBI director, Tom Freeh, to lead an independent inquiry to clean up their own mess. That's what was leaked to the press before the trial. Tonight CNN''s Anderson Cooper had a show where they released the 4 incriminating emails.which tell a much different story than we were lead to believe.

CNN doesn't have a summary up of their show but NBC in Philly has a good recap.

Essentially the 4 emails went like this.

• Email 1 - Recapped a meeting from Schultz to Curley had where they confirmed the plan was to contact the 2nd mile organization along with children's services about sandusky. 
• Email 2 - From Curley to President Spanier that said - I am having trouble with going to everyone, but the person involved. I would be more comfortable meeting with the person…tell him about the information we received 
• Email 3 - From Spanier to Schultz - I am supportive. The only downside for us is if the message isn’t “heard” and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it. But that can be assessed down the road. 
• Email 4 - From Schultz to Spanier and Curley stating that he would contact 2nd mile regardless of the conversation with Sandusky. 

Nothing was ever sent to any outside organization.

The 2nd email is the one that is getting all the attention for this quote:



This states in writing that after talking with Joe Paterno, Curley decide not to press the case forward. This is the same Joe Paterno that stated without question that he didn't know anything about the details of this case. Assuming these emails are confirmed by Curley/Schultz, this email proves that JoePa lied. Not only was he involved but he could be viewed as the ringleader of the cover up.

The more troubling part is the quote that isn't included in the picture.

I would be more comfortable meeting with the person…tell him about the information we received…tell him we are aware of the first situation.

The first situation is the 1998 allegations that were dismissed. On a positive note for them, the way this is worded leads me to believe that that Curley and Schultz were unaware of the 1998 investigation before 2001. When exactly did they find out? It's hard to know that until they are questioned and it is proabable we will never know. I do know it would have been easy for Schultz once he was told of the allegations by McQueary since the 1998 investigation was in his department. Another possible source is they found out when Curley/Schultz met with JoePa. When the 3 of them sat down, they realized the PR backlash if this went public so they backed off.

That leads to the last part of President Spanier's quote in the 3rd email.

The only downside for us is if the message isn’t “heard” and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it.

At this point they all knew about the 1998 incident. They all knew what McQuerary was alleging in 2001. They decided to do nothing. Spanier. Curley. Schultz. Paterno. They are all guilty and they make the statement that the ONLY downside is if Sandusky doesn't stop molesting kids then they are vulnerable for covering it up.

I got into an argument with a guy on the ESPN forums that claimed this proved nothing. My response was a bit sophomoric but I think it is understandable given this shocking nature of these revelations:

Seriously? You can't be serious.

 I can't believe people are still defending JoePa. He was told that something of a sexual nature occurred. It's in his Grand Jury testamony. He said he did nothing as it was for the higher ups to decide what to do. Now we hear that after talking to "Joe", the higher ups changed their mind about going to Childrens services and doing any type of investigation?

I'm not saying JoePa is evil. More likely he was naive. It doesn't matter as he's at the heart of this mess now and his imagine is forever tarnished. It should. All signs point to him enabling his long time assistant to get away from prosecution from crimes in 2001 and if this would have happened many other kids would have escaped Jerry's clutches.

That's the bottom like. If you read the statement Curley and Schultz recently released:

...if we were going to do this case, we had to have the best possible case to go against somebody like Mr. Sandusky who was…loved by everybody…carried out of the football stadium on the shoulders of his football team…For Curley, Schultz, Spanier and Paterno, the responsible and ‘humane’ thing to do was, like Governor Corbett, to carefully and responsibly assess the best way to handle vague, but troubling allegations. Faced with tough situations, good people try to do their best to make the right decisions.

There are times in life where good men need to stand up or the innocent get hurt. Not one of these men followed up after the events. They didn't want to know the truth. Sandusky molested at least 4 others after 2001. It wouldn't have been that hard for them to see that he hadn't changed his ways. He was doing it on their campus and at their bowl games. They make it sound like they were afraid to proceed because Jerry Sandusky was the most powerful man in Pennsylvania. That was patently false. The most powerful man in Pennsylvania was involved in the case and these emails prove to me that Joe Paterno decided to protect his friend and his university at the expense young children. Frankly at this point its a good thing he's dead because I couldn't handle another set of excuses from a hero of mine that I no longer recognize.

Does it make sense for Penn State to join the ACC?

I've written in the past my feelings about Penn State and I'm quite aware that my feelings about them have gotten increasingly negative over the years.  It hasn't always been that way.  My earliest memories of Penn State is the beating they gave Woody Hayes' last Ohio State team in 1978 and the movie about John Cappiletti and his brother Joey.  In all honesty thought I really never gave them a lot of thought until they joined the league in 1993.  I distinctly remember looking forward to meeting them in our first game and on the day of our first meeting I made a point to go out of my way to meet with Penn State fans to welcome them to the league.  Even though the brass at many of the universities weren't thrilled with the idea, the fans seemed to be excited to be in the league.  I particularly remember sitting with a couple at the Ohio State skull session and figured if they were representatives of the normal Penn State fan that we had done well getting them to join.

Fast forward 18 years and it seems to be a common thought in Happy Valley that they want to leave the league.  Certainly the Sandusky situation didn't help and the Big Ten official resposne just threw gas on the fire. But the feelings go back further than that and I've always felt that the main issue for Penn State is they are just a bad geographic fit with the rest of the league.   It seems odd to say that in a day when Boise State is in the Big East but that is why leagues like the Big East are continually in flux.  A solid league has teams that don't mind looking out for fellow league members and somewhere that went awry in regards to Penn State.

That got me to thinking about their options.  The Big East might have been a good option a year ago but it was aways a long shot as they'd need to get a few ACC teams to create a good league.  The exit of Syracuse and Pitt has weakened the Big East to the point that it is no longer viable.  Contrast that with the ACC.  In the past 10 years they ACC has picked up quality northern teams in Virginia Tech, Boston College, Pitt, and Syracuse. They are currently sitting at 14 teams and while I think 16 is a bit unwieldy, here's how the league would look if you added Penn State and Connecticut

North
Penn State
Connecticut
Boston College
Syracuse
Pitt
Maryland
Virginia
Virginia Tech

South
Miami
Florida State
Clemson
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Duke
North Carolina St.
Georgia Tech

If I were an Penn State/ACC fan, I'd drool at that league and it actually might make more sense than the current 14 teams as it lines up perfectly as two "leagues" of 8.  I could see this league not caring about getting interaction between the Northern and Southern teams so the league games would only be the 7 divisional games leaving schools free to play 5 out of conference or rivalry games.  The two divisional winners would meet in the championship game to represent the league in the BCS.

The problem of course for Penn State is that they'd almost definitely lose money on the sports side of things unless they got some sort of consessions from the league.  That ignores the possibility that the school could lose millions of dollars in grants if they left the Big Ten's academic consortium.  There are other schools that do things because they feel it is right for the university despite monetary loss (Notre Dame).  Is it possible that Penn State could do that as well?  Anything is possible and the fact that the ACC culture would be a better fit for Penn State might mean that the decision makers decide their forturnes are better found elsewhere.

Penn State - The Black Sheep of the B1G

I distinctly remember when Penn State got the invite into the Big Ten in 1990.  The B1G has always been a conservative organization but adding the Nittany Lions caught the nation unaware.  Things were a lot less politically correct back then and as the presidents did this without athletic department input, this set off a battle in the press between the presidents and the AD, most specifically Bo Schembechler at Michigan.  The person caught in the middle was Jim Delany, the newly hired commission for the Big Ten.  It was made quite clear to the Nittany Lions that they weren't wanted, the most obvious sign was the fact that the ADs refused to change the name from the Big Ten.  Over time passions cooled and rivalries were built.  Long time ADs retired and Jim Delany gained more power which made the B1G a much more welcoming place but the die had been cast.  Penn State had taken into its culture a feeling of persecution and self pity about any slight that came from their fellow members.

Like any school with a proud tradition, Penn State has an overdeveloped sense of their value in the grand scheme.  There is no doubt that they bring great value to the league as they along with Michigan and Ohio State are the only schools to contribute to the league the full share of gate revenues ($4 million per year).  When you consider that the average for the other schools is about half that amount it is fair to say that Penn State contributes double the value to the B1G of an average school (including TV contracts).  The administration knows this and has been frustrated for years that they don't have a true rival.  Some even have thought that Joe Paterno set off the latest round of conference realignment when he made a comment in 2009 wondering why they didn't add a school.  Many thought at the time he was looking for a Syracuse or Rutgers so they would have a season ending rival.  Instead the league ended up with Nebraska as no team from the East brought in anywhere close to the value needed to make financial sense.  When the time came to split the league into 6 team divisions, everyone knew that they couldn't put 3 of Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, and Penn State in the same division.  Most figured that since it was obvious that Ohio State and Michigan would be in the same division that Penn State would be put into the Western Division.

Penn State balked at that and I can't say I blame them.  Not only didn't they get a natural rival but they were being asked to travel 1000 miles for the closest in division rival.  Over time Penn State has realized that the only natural rivalry they can ever possibly have is with Ohio State but the thing is the Buckeyes don't really care that much about them due to their long time rivalry with that school up north.  I've felt for a long time that when it became obvious what they were being asked to do the Penn State brass blew up and threatened to leave the conference and join the Big East.  If that happened it would have given the Big East a ton of credibility that they lost when Miami/BC/VaTech left for the ACC.  The B1G couldn't allow that so they appeased Penn State.  The result was Ohio State and Michigan were split and the league was proposed that Penn State be inserted as the last game of the season.  Ohio State and Michigan fans joined up to kill the second part of the plan though I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the proposal.  Instead Penn State had to settle for being Ohio State's next to last game.

Of course there is a lot of supposition in that paragraph but Penn State has complained about their treatment for the last twenty years.  The fact that everyone in the B1G toed the line on the division split struck me as odd and it always felt like something was hidden.

One thing I have seen over the last twenty years is you don't want to mess around with Jim Delany because he will not hesitate to go a different direction if he doesn't get his way.  A good example is when he wanted to renew his college football contract with ESPN and they decided to play hardball and basically told him ... "where else are you going to go?"  That comment will end up costing them billions as he decided to form his own football network with FOX which forced ESPN to pay a premium to still get B1G games but also pay many times their worth for the contract for every other conference for fear everyone would form their own network and cut ESPN/ABC out entirely.

Penn State has been a pain in Delany's side since they joined and if it weren't for the football money they bring I doubt they'd still be a member.  Now the same Penn State leaders that made his life tough are now gone due to their part in the Sandusky scandal.  Today Delany's office released a press statement that has strongly admonished Penn State for its role in the scandal and unlike the recent troubles at Ohio State and Michigan it was clear that the B1G office is going to be working with the NCAA to penalize the school instead of working actively to protect them.  The statement was worded so harshly that some Penn State fans are hoping to leave the B1G.  The problem is the Big East imploded over the last year and it really isn't an option for Penn State anymore.  The only place the could go is if the ACC wanted to goto 16 teams.Perhaps that's the best course as it seems the Penn State experiment has been nothing but grief for the last 20 years.  The only thing this needs is for Swarbuck at Notre Dame to send a back channel message that they see the writing on the wall for the Big East and are ready to join.  A swap of Notre Dame for Penn State would be a huge win for the B1G and Penn State would get what many have claimed they've always wanted.  Out.

Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

Penn State Riots

I called it yesterday and although it happened a bit earlier than I expected, the Penn State students took a bad situation and made it worse.  As you can see from the picture on the right, last night the Penn State students took to the streets and left a path of destruction in their wake.


The catalyst was a press conference at 10pm EST last night where the Penn State Board of Trustees fired Joe Pateno ending his 62 year run on the sidelines for the football team.  All day was known that the Board was meeting last night where it was expect that the University President, Spanier, would be fired and that they would also address Paterno's future as well.  Paterno made his opinion known mid-day when he released a personal press release that stated he was going to step down at the end of the season but would coach the rest of the games.  A key component of his statement was,

Penn State students take over

At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can.

While his stated goal was to make it easier for the Board, in effect this statement told the public what he wanted and dared the Board to defy him.  He got his answer a few hours later and the students hit the streets.

I wholeheartedly agree with the Board's decision and I'm pretty sure a large majority of Americans agree.  This morning ESPN reported that Joe wants to meet with the press and get his side out.  The ESPN sources said his message was that "Paterno recalls McQueary "vaguely" referencing "fondling" or "touching" or "horsing around" by Sandusky and a youth. But Paterno never had the understanding that McQueary had witnessed a "sodomy" or "rape.""  The sad thing is his statement to the Grand Jury also said that he could tell that was McQueary traumatized by what he saw and it was bad enough that JoePa thought it necessary to tell his boss..  I'm not sure how he believes clarifying that is going to improve his situation as I'm pretty sure everyone understands what he is saying but doesn't agree that passing it up the line to his superiors and never following up was an appropriate response.

The Board did the right thing.  They failed in a couple of other ways.  


First they fired JoePa on the phone.  I understand their reasoning as the timeline was short and visiting his home in person would have turned into a media circus.  Still, they should have seen this issue coming and asked him to attend the meeting so they could let him know what was going on either way.  I'm sure they thought of that and figured that would turn into a circus as well.  They are probably right but it doesn't seem proper to end a 61 year career with a phone call.


Another issue is that they didn't alert the local police of the press conference and instruct them to be on heightened alert in case of a student outburst.  Perhaps they didn't do this because that action would be stating that Paterno might be fired and they didn't want to tip their hand.  The lack of preparation had consequences as after the announcement the students hit the streets en masse and the police scrambled to get the situation under control.  It took a few hours as the student mob got so large they had to call for reinforcements from neighboring counties before they felt they were able to act.  In the meantime, television vans were overturned, windows were smashed and general lawlessness took over the campus.  This went on for about 3 hours until the police took action and took back the streets though it might also be true that the students got tired and went to bed.


The actions of the students have brought shame on their university and shown the world that the insular world in Happy Valley can be just as violent as any other campus.  I really feel for the football team in this situation as they have worked hard and performed well on the field.  Now they will be going into a big matchup with a new coach and will be cheered on by 100,000 angry alumni.  As a Buckeye fan I am rooting for a loss but I hope their fans respect their team enough to be on their best behavior before and after the game.  


Either way, I hope the Board of trustees have learned their lesson and bring in a large force to control the drunken masses.  Else, they risk a repeat of last night's sad events.

Call out the Guards at Penn State

Upset students + Alcohol + Cameras = Chaos

Good thing it is a noon kickoff as most students won't have as much time to party before the game. This might just move the chaos to Saturday night once the students wake up from their morning binge.

Ohio State has had a bad rap for student behavior in the past but some of that is because it is located in the middle of a large city with numerous news teams always looking for a story. Penn State is hidden in a valley far away from prying eyes without a lot of press. Students at the school take pride in their ability to consume large amounts of alcohol as evidenced by being voted a top 10 party school the last 3 years attaining #1 in 2009 (FWIW Ohio University has been #1 the last two years). "This American Life" did a radio program on it a few years ago and how ineffective the administration has been in trying to curb the culture of binge drinking at Penn State.

This weekend the students won't be secluded but will have the glare of the national media all over campus. I hope the Board of Trustees realizes they need to call out extra police to keep them under control or they could have another PR disaster on their hands.

Link: http://onwardstate.com/2009/12/24/life-after-this-american-life/

My take on the Penn State scandal

I first heard about the investigation of Jerry Sandusky in an ESPN report last spring. At the time the story got little press which I thought was a bit odd considering the nature of the charges but this did come out about a month after the Tressel charges. The media circus was full go around the Ohio State program at the time and this story got little coverage. That changed last Saturday when the Pennsylvania State Attorney's office released a report that charged Sandusky with 40 criminal counts and also charged Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz of perjury. The official report from grand jury is a graphic depiction of a serial child molester that is difficult to read without anger. Late yesterday the Penn State Board of Trustees had an emergency meeting and afterward it was revealed that both Curley and Schultz resigned and are expected to turn themselves over to the authorities today.

I'm sure these charges came as quite a shock to most Penn State fans that don't obsessively follow every story about their team. Even the hardcore fans had to be floored because even though there have been snippets of information on the case, there wasn't any sign from the Attorney General the case had much merit. That all changed on Saturday and the reaction has been emotional on all sides.

We don't have all the facts yet and as this is only a grand jury finding I'm sure much more will be brought out in the next few months. Even so here is the timeline as I see it:

• 1969 - 1998 - Jerry Sandusky is hired by Joe Paterno and the two lead the team to multiple undefeated seasons and national championships in football. Sandusky is the defensive mastermind behind these teams and seen as the heir when Joe Paterno retires. 
• 1977 - Sandusky founds the Second Mile which began as a foster home to troubled boys and grew to a statewide organization that helped boys from dysfunctional or absent parents. It's mission was to "help children who need additional support and would benefit from positive human interaction." 
• 1998 - Sandusky is charged in Centre County (county where Penn State is located) with molestation but the charges are dropped when the county Attorney General, Ray Gricar, decides there is not enough information to prosecute. 
• 1998 - Sandusky's pay is cut in half but he continues to coach at Penn State. I'm sure Paterno would claim there is no relation between this and the charges of molestation but the timing seems odd to me. 
• 1999 - Apparently not getting the hint, Joe Paterno forces Sandusky out. His retirement package includes a pension, an office in the Penn State athletic offices, and the right to use the campus hotel on visits to the university (This is a pretty normal package for an exiting coaches. Earle Bruce/John Cooper at Ohio State have similar arrangements). 
• March 1, 2002 - Mike McQueary, a former QB and grad assistant on the Penn State football enters the locker room at the Lasch Football Building about 9:30 pm to get some game film and hears noises coming from the showers. He sees Sandusky with a boy about age 10 pinned against the wall having anal intercourse. McQueary left the scene distraught and calls his father who tells him to leave the scene and come to his house to discuss the situation. 
• March 2, 2002 - McQueary reports the incident to Joe Paterno the next day. 
• March 3, 2003 - Joe Paterno informs the Athletic Director, Tim Curley, of the incident. 
• Approx 10 days later - McQueary is questioned by Curley and Schulz and he is told that they would look into it. Joe Paterno is not present at the meeting. 
• A few weeks later - McQueary is told that Sandusky's keys to the university locker room have been taken away and the Second Mile foundation has been informed of the incident. 
• Also - Curley informs Penn State University President Graham Spanier of the incident and actions taken. Spanier approves Curley's method of dealing with the matter though no police agency is ever told of the situation. Schultz's job responsibilities include the campus police department though he is not engaged in the day to day running of the office. He doesn't bring it to attention of the campus police as was done in 1998 and no report is ever filed. 
• April 15, 2005 - Probably totally unrelated but oddly the DA in charge that dropped the 1998 incident for lack of evidence disappears after leaving work and is never heard from again. The only thing that is found is a laptop which has been thrown into the Susquehanna River near where is car is found. No body is ever found and he is declared legally dead in 2011. 
• 2005/6 - Sandusky meets an 11 year old boy designated at Victim 1 through the Second Mile program and over time becomes close to him. They attend many events together and eventually it leads to Sandusky performing oral sex with him more than 20 times in the next few years along with other sexual acts. 
• Early 2008 - Victim 1 is seen by various faculty at his school engaged in "suspicious activity" with Sandusky. School officials become aware of potential abuse when Victim 1's mother calls to report it. School officials forward the information to the authorities as mandated by law. 
• 2008-2011 - Investigation into Jerry Sandusky by local and state authorities leading to the Grand Jury finding released on Saturday. 

The story seems ready made for Hollywood if the subject matter wasn't so disturbing. A few thoughts:

• Some people are outraged that McQueary didn't intervene during the 3/1/02 incident. While he was a 28 year old man at the time, he witnessed a disturbing act by a man he'd grown up admiring. I think it is reasonable to think any person in that situation would be traumatized, retreat and get advice from a mentor on how to proceed. While we all would like to think we'd be a hero in the situation none of us really know how we'd react unless we were there. 

• I have seen a few comments similar to "Gays are perverted people and this is where their lifestyle leads" in regards to Sandusky. Ignorant comments like this piss me off as their is a big difference between homosexuality and pedophilia. Most pedophiles get sexually excited only by young children and the vast majority consider themselves heterosexual. It drives me nuts when people use an incident like this to falsely categorize a segment of the population they don't like. 

• Joe Paterno released a statement saying we all were fooled and that he met his responsibilities. He also said he was shocked by the revelations in the Grand Jury report. I'm not sure how we are expected to believe this as 1) Sandusky was his right hand coach for almost 30 years, 2) he had to have known of the charges in 1998 as they weren't exactly a secret in State College, 3) he essentially fired his heir apparent Sandusky the next season but never disclosed the reasons, and 4) he admits he was told by McQueary that suspicious activities occurred by Sandusky in the shower of their locker room and McQueary was traumatized by the event. Are we to believe after knowing all this Paterno never followed up or asked any questions? The person that witnessed the incident (McQueary) was one of his best players in the 90s and now is his Wide Receiver Coach. Are we to believe the two never talked about it again after he discussed it with Paterno on March 2nd? Or that he never asked the athletic director what happened with the case at a university athletic department he virtually ran and was well known for his no nonsense beliefs? Sorry but that isn't remotely believable. 

Three thing were damaged by Sandusky's actions and the subsequent decisions by Penn State:

1. Victims - My heart goes out to all of them and hope they can work their way through the residual damage caused by Sandusky. Words don't do this situation justice and I won't attempt it. 
2. Legal - Sandusky has been charged and will eventually spend the rest of his life in jail if he doesn't kill himself first. Curley and Shultz have been charged with apparently trying to cover up the incident and no doubt they are going to spend some time in jail and pay large fines. I do feel an odd sense of sympathy for them as they were put in a terrible position by Sandusky. They had two terrible options. They could turn Sandusky in and see their university endure a scandal that would cost it millions of dollars and see its reputation dragged through the mud. Or they could cover it up and hope Sandusky stopped his actions while they prayed none of his former victims came forward. They chose to do the latter. I don't in any way agree with their decision but anyone that has been in a large organization can tell you that there is enormous pressure to do whatever is necessary to protect it and sometimes lines are crossed. They chose poorly and now they will goto jail while the university will still need to pay out millions in punitive damages. 
3. Reputation - I touched on this in the last point but Penn State will forever be linked to this scandal. Twenty years from now you will still be seeing opposing fans called them "Ped State" and this has to be grating for the thousands of players/alumni/fans that did nothing wrong and only bring credit to the school. That is forever lost due to the actions of a few men. 

I want to end with a thought. A year ago I wrote an article about Jim Tressel and how grateful I was that he was the coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes. He is a moral man that was a great leader of young men that also happened to have the ability to win football games. Over the next six months the Tressel regime came to an inglorious end due to one bad decision. Something similar happened with Woody Hayes about 30 years about so it is safe to say that Buckeye fans are intimately aware of the fragility of their hero's reputations.

Everyone loves heroes. Whether it be Wyatt Earp, George Patton, or Knute Rockne we like to look to these men as models to which we can aspire. We place our values on them and build them up to a level that no man can possibly achieve. That doesn't stop us.

One of the best things I have ever seen on television is a show called "Friday Night Lights". It's the story of a small town in Texas that is filled with amazingly human characters that happens to have a good football team. The characters in the show are constantly making mistakes but they can always count on their football team to bring them relief. As for the team, many of the players find themselves in trouble but you can always count on "Coach Eric Taylor" to get involved and resolve the situation with integrity. He's the rock for the whole community.

That's what we expect of our heroes and whether they want it or not football coaches are revered in our society. They are molders of young minds and in today's age of electronic warfare, they lead their men in to combat. This appeals to the human psyche on a primal level. We want to believe these men are perfect but in truth that is an impossible bar to reach. They are human and as we have seen, they make human mistakes.

We will probably never know the full truth of what Joe Paterno was thinking on March 2, 2002 but one fact is clear. He failed the hero test and this incident will forever be linked to his legacy. That saddens me as the world needs more heroes and it lost one of its brightest with the revelations over the weekend.