<p>One good thing I have read is that PSU will accept the sanctions.
All too often we hear people(especially athletes) say they will accept responsibility for wrongdoing- but then file grievance or legal papers to stop or minimize the punishment. That, imo, isn’t accepting responsibility.</p>
<p>Similarly, when someone says- can’t we just move on? What they really mean is they have done wrong and they want others to go on, pretending it didn’t happen.</p>
<p>Everybody didn’t know about Sandusky in 1998…just enough people who should have known better.</p>
<p>All of the ex-football players going on ESPN and saying that they don’t feel that this is a “football problem” that the NCAA should be involved in really do not have a clue.</p>
<p>If i heard correctly, when a reporter asked if future evidence came out that may change for the positive would the punishment be altered, Emmet stated we will deal with what is in front of us, not hypotheticals. So what happens if it is worse?</p>
<p>If further damning evidence comes out that it was known while Sandusky was there, perhaps those wins will also disappear. Yes, silly, but for true die hard football fans, any record vacated will matter to them.</p>
<p>Paterno family has released a statement in response to the NCAA actions, saying it “defamed the legacy” of Paterno.</p>
<p>They also point out that the NCAA did not follow “due process,” by which I think they mean the NCAA didn’t do its own investigation but relied on the Freeh report. </p>
<p>The NCAA didn’t single out any individuals for condemnation in the announcement of sanctions. Too timid to slam their colleague Spanier? Why has he not been indicted yet?</p>
<p>I agree, vacating the wins seems senseless. For that matter, so does the $60 million fine. PSU doesn’t need to be forced to donate to child abuse charities. PSU has already made strides in this area, and would probably have donated that anyway, over the course of 5 years, by way of new fund raising in that area. </p>
<p>As far as the football sanctions, those were the only ones that made sense to me. The purpose, IMO, is to change the importance of the football program. While I understand there are a lot of PSUers who don’t give a fig about it, there are a lot who do. Undoubtedly that was the cause of this whole mess. I don’t know what effect those sanctions will have on the importance of football at PSU. Will they be enough to give it the time out that it needs? Possibly.</p>
<p>Taking away wins is ridiculous…i love college football, and KNOW the games PSU won,whether or not they have been erased after the fact…as a gambler, i want my money back on thise games i bet and lost involving PSU. ;). I am calling my bookie</p>
<p>^was thinking the same thing janesmith</p>
<p>taking away the wins is not really going to affect PSU in anyway, but it WILL affect the Paterno legacy. Paterno will never go on trial, so they may have felt that this was the only way to impose some type of punishment on saint paterno that would have a lasting effect. Also- PSU could agree on the vacating of all wins from 1998-2011. If they did/do decide on sanctions directly against Paterno, they may have to go through “due process” as the family is claiming, and let them have a hearing /appeal/ whatever. So they were able to accomplish what is probably the maximum punishment they can/will do with this one action that can’t be appealled or fought. </p>
<p>Just a guess on my part…</p>
<p>As far as everyone else is involved, they said in the press conference that they withheld individual sanctions until legal actions were completed. </p>
<p>I actually think that the NCAA is doing a smart thing by allowing the outside agencies untangle this mess. NCAA should not be the ones who decide who did what criminal actions. Instead, they are going to hand out sanctions based on the findings of the professionals that SHOULD be making those decisions. So they are not done…and that is what they said in the press conference too…</p>
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<p>
Public opinion aside, there seems to be surprisingly little actual evidence on either Spanier* OR Paterno - a couple of emails CC’d to Spanier, a couple of second-hand references to conversations with Paterno. It is highly doubtful that either would have stood up in a court of law unless someone somewhere is sitting on something for trial.</p>
<p>Spanier also makes one very good point - his security clearance was recently renewed, and those clearances are very easy to lose. If they are uncertain, they turn you down - not knowing his precise clearance it is hard to say whether or not he has taken a polygraph, but his continued clearance is a very strong statement of support from the US government that he is a trustworthy individual.</p>
<p>And this may be why he has not been named - the NCAA cannot touch a dead man and is probably afraid that if the go against Spanier they will tackle someone who is willing to actually fight back against the allegations. They don’t want a trial, they don’t want facts and reason and truth, they want a quick resolution and strong revenues.</p>
<p>*: Please note that I have not studied Spanier’s involvement, and am basing this statement on his rebuttal and what I remember from the Freeh report off the top of my head. My perception of Spanier has been very low, but I cannot recall a great deal of actual evidence right now.</p>
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That’s a good point. </p>
<p>I think the NCAA and Penn State agreed to accept the findings of the Freeh report in order to move ahead and stop dragging this thing out. How many investigations are necessary? Obviously, the Paterno family feels Pa was thrown under the bus here. You know, to a degree, they could be right. There’s been focus on no one but Paterno ever since the report came out. Bring down the statue, vacate all his wins, take his name off buildings. Nothing about Spanier though.</p>
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<p>That’s one part of it. The repeat violation rule (mid-80’s) requires a report, i.e., if additional major infractions are found while on probation, the death penalty must be imposed or the ncaa must explain why it did not impose it.</p>
<p>According to our good friends at Wiki, the ncaa has always had the ability to ban a school from participating in a sport. To me, the death penalty was a no-brainer. They obviously chose to take the financially-savvy way out.</p>
<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penalty_(NCAA[/url])”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penalty_(NCAA)</a></p>
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<p>Obviously written by a PR person and not an attorney as you can’t defame the dead…</p>
<p>Here are the key parts of the Paterno family statement.</p>
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<p>But that’s the point isn’t it? The sanctions are not (primarily) in response to what Sandusky did, but to how the administration failed its moral, legal, and human duty–how Paterno, Curley, Shultz, and Spanier allowed more children to be victimized–for 14 years.</p>
<p>little evidence on Spanier??</p>
<p>he agreed to forgo reporting Sandusky, in writing. He lied, claiming he never was told about sexual abuse. seriously? and he was the President of the university. there is no excuse for him.</p>
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Yeah, I think I agree with that. It’s a little saddening that money won. Again.</p>
<p>Clearly the PR person didn’t listen to the follow up questions after the announcement, Emmett said this is completely separate from the typical process awarded due process. Case closed according to the NCAA.</p>
<p>
The PSU administration commissioned the Freeh report and it says exactly what they hoped and wanted it to say, so why should they challenge it in any way? As to the NCAA, they are not trying to find justice they are trying to save their institution… you know, like some other guys were just caught doing.</p>
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The NCAA has repeatedly shown that what they list as “rules” are really more like guidelines with no real meaning. The NCAA does whatever it wants, and anyone who disagrees can go enjoy being completely shut out of college athletics.</p>
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<p>cosmicfish, I am begining to think that you are a ■■■■■ here to just try to raise hackles and keep posters heated up!! </p>
<p>I can’t believe that you really can still find Spanier and Paterno innocent in this whole thing.</p>