NCAA Priorities Out Of Order

If Penn St. and the NCAA had read my blog 8 months ago, they'd have all this mess behind them already. Instead they drug it out til the bitter end, making investigators spend time and money to find the truth. The truth in this case stinks and should've been dealt with long ago. You don't have to be a genius to see how this was going to play out (Even though I did see it) What happened to common sense in America? When did college sports become such a big deal? When did any sport take priority over the safety of a child? -Dr. J
 



Dale Hansen of WFAA in Dallas took a while to do it, but he finally got the message, out...

That child abuse scandal at Penn State, which so many loyal to that university wanted to believe was only a Jerry Sandusky scandal, are being told now the scandal goes from the university president to the legendary football coach, Joe Paterno.

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh, after an eight-month investigation, 430 interviews, a review of more than three-and-a-half million e-mails, documents and notes, said university officials, the president, athletic director and Paterno himself covered up the child abuse to protect the football team.

Freeh said Paterno was an integral part of the decision to conceal what they had known for more than a decade, and allowed Sandusky to continue preying on young boys.

The family of Joe Paterno said it's impossible to accept that he or the university would protect a child predator to protect a football team.

But what other possible explanation can there be? A misunderstanding?

No.

Sanduky was allowed to retire in 1999, was paid a nice check to go, and no one believes he wanted to quit.

He continued to be a part of the Penn State family, brought boys on campus, sexually abused those boys on campus, and Paterno covered it up.

This is another part of the tragedy; Someone thinking that protecting a pedophile would protect the integrity of the program you had worked so hard to build.

Paterno and the others sacrifice the kids; nine- and 10-year-old boys who didn't have a voice, who didn't know where to find the help they needed. And when someone could have stopped the abuse and stopped Sandusky, they didn't... to protect a football team.

There's no shame in learning that a man you thought you knew, a man you trusted and respected, was not the man you thought he was. We do tend to blame the people in charge for the faults of the people they hire, but it's an argument made with a simple mind.

The only real blame and shame that anyone shares in the Sandusky scandal is their role in the cover up.

There's a statue of Joe Paterno on the Penn State campus, and now many people think it should come down. If only he had reported the monster he considered a friend, we would have built another one.

There are people saying now that Penn State's football team should receive the death penalty that SMU did.

The NCAA is quick to act when you pay a player, buy him a car, find out he got free tattoos for a jersey (another cover up that didn't work, incidentally). But a university that protects a pedophile?

Well, the NCAA doesn't know how to handle that.

Joe Paterno received his death penalty from lung cancer in January of this year. His legacy, and the reputation of Penn State, will die a slower death.

It really is true what the English philosopher Edmund Burke said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

And these supposedly good men did nothing.

Joe Paterno spent 61 years of his life at Penn State, the head coach for 46. He won a record 409 games and two national titles, and it's not nearly enough to make up for what he did protecting Jerry Sandusky.

A retired Penn State professor said this report doesn't negate all the good things Paterno did.

Yes it does, sir. Yes, it does.

Wow.
Well said Dale.
I was skeptical about Hanson for years until he revealed (on air) his own history of child abuse.
That takes balls...

Apparently, Dale and I aren't the only humans who agree. Today, The Chicago Tribune has called for a Two Year Death Penalty for Penn St..

8 months ago I wrote this:

Dear Penn State, I applaud you for working with the NCAA in doing the right thing by suspending the rest of your football season. By doing so you not only honor the victims, but you've taught a valuable lesson to us all about leadership. Now the healing can begin for your campus as you move forward to bring justice to those at fault, rebuild your once esteemed program and return it to prominence. I wish you all the best in your efforts. (This would have been my post if our society frowned on moral turpitude...)

Priorities?