The State of Pennsylvania needs to prevail against the NCAA

Wednesday, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett announced that his state would file a federal lawsuit against the NCAA over the heavy sanctions the league handed down to Penn State University in the wake of last year’s Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal.

We need the state to prevail in that case.

Forget about any emotional reaction you have. Forget about whether or not you think the school deserved to be so heavily punished after such a horrifying and saddening scandal. This isn’t about justice at all. This is about a massive power grab by a bureaucracy that has grown out of control.

When NCAA President Mark Emmert bypassed the Committee on Infractions and handed down scholarship losses, a $60 million fine and a four year bowl ban, I wrote that he had created a troubling precedent.

---

Here’s the real treachery in the waters that lie ahead, sports fans: With this new process in place, member schools finding themselves in impossible public relations situations regarding potential rules violations now have a way of completely bypassing the Committee on Infractions and negotiating terms of plea agreements directly with the President.

North Carolina? Oregon? Miami? Are you paying attention? You can now avoid the lengthy, embarrassing and costly NCAA enforcement process by petitioning the NCAA Executive Committee to authorize the President to cut you a deal. No Notice of Allegations to publicize. No perp walk into the Committee on Infractions hearing. No months long wait to learn your fate. No public shame in having the Committee Chairman blast you in a public news conference for such a “shocking” disregard for the rules.

Simply get a deal cut in a matter of days, have the President hold a 3:00 minute news conference and you’re done.

This blog has long complained about the arbitrary and chaotic process that the NCAA uses to mete out punishment. There seems to be no logic, rhyme or reason in comparing cases of similar nature and handing out similar penalties. Granted, the Penn State case is totally unprecedented in its scale and horror, but do we really need an even more arbitrary process in place?

---

The answer is an unequivocal “NO.”

Pennsylvania will rightly argue that the NCAA used its sports governance authority to punish a member school for a scandal that had nothing to do with sports. That Jerry Sandusky was an assistant football coach and that his abuse occurred at football facilities and events is incidental to the fact that it was a criminal and civil torts matter. It’s to be settled in courts of justice, where the litigants are required by law to play by long established and clearly articulated rules.

The NCAA doesn’t like to fight battles in arenas where it doesn’t make the rules. Nor does it like to fight in situations where it can ignore the rules and do whatever the hell it wants to. The NCAA doesn’t care about the rule of law.

Put it this way—if the NCAA can punish the Penn State football program for Jerry Sandusky’s crimes, then it can publish any school for damned near anything it wants to. If Alabama doesn’t enforce underage drinking rules, the NCAA can fine the basketball program if one of the coaches happens to give a minor a bottle of whiskey. Or, it can punish Baylor when student-athletes are involved in drug rings. Or, let your imagination run wild because know this:

Grant any bureaucracy any additional power and regardless of how unlikely you view the outcome, that bureaucracy will eventually exercise it.

The NCAA absolutely must abide by its own rules. It absolutely must not be allowed to arbitrarily and capriciously mete out punishment just because the media and a vocal public demand that they “do something” in high profile scandals like this.

The only entity that can force the NCAA to back down and play in bounds is the United States justice system, and the only player with sufficient standing and resources to see that battle through is a sovereign state.

Pennsylvania absolutely MUST prevail.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Football? Penn State may not even be able to keep the lights on

Forget the bowl ban, the punitive scholarship losses and the 111 vacated wins from 1998 through 2011. Penn State may face a financial crisis that’s worse than any of that.

Jerry Sandusky’s victims are lining up at the courthouse and filing civil claims against Penn State.State Farm is pulling its sponsorship, with others likely to follow. Moody’s may downgrade the credit rating of Pennsylvania’s largest public university.

Oh, and Mark Emmert single-handedly slammed the school with a $60 million fine—the rough equivalent of a single year’s revenue from the football program.

Now, the university’s primary liability insurer seeks to deny coverage.

---

The motion, filed in common pleas court by the Pennsylvania Manufacturer's Association, says Penn State did not provide it with information relevant to the insurable risk the association assumed. The association has already sued Penn State over the coverage of one of Sandusky's victims' claims against the university, filed in November 2011.

The association has insured Penn State under general liability policies since 1976.

"It would be unlawful and contradictory to public policy to require PMA to provide coverage to PSU under any policy issued to PSU after May 1998 with respect to PSU's concealment of Sandusky's sexually abusive conduct ... and failure to take appropriate action to prevent Sandusky from molesting minors," the motion read.

---

If PMA’s legal maneuver is successful, it will leave the school solely and completely liable for any judgments leveled against it in the numerous civil liability claims filed by Sandusky’s victims and their families.

If reports are accurate, Sandusky’s abuse stretched for decades and there could be dozens of victims, each with nearly incontrovertible evidence of his direct liability and the school’s culpability in enabling the continued abuse.

Those claims could easily climb into the nine figure range, and could threaten the school’s ability to remain open unless the Pennsylvania legislature steps in with a bailout.

Faced with the choice of seeing its largest public university reduced to the status of your average community college or bailing the school out with hundreds of millions in state appropriations, how would the citizens of the state feel about their tax dollars going to pay the claims against a convicted child molester?

Forget about football. Penn State may not even be able to keep the lights on in Happy Valley.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

What do Sandusky’s victims think about PSU’s fate? One answer may surprise you…

At least one of Jerry Sandusky’s victims is upset and dismayed that Penn State University took down the statue of Joe Paterno and that the NCAA levied such crippling sanctions against the school on Monday.

The devoted Penn State fan feels that Sandusky’s victims should at least have been consulted.

In an interview with WGAL, Benjamin Andreozzi, the attorney for Victim No. 4, says that his client deserved to provide some input:

---

"The victims were not Penn State or the NCAA, the victims were the young men who testified in the courtroom and I think NCAA and Penn State owed it to them to at least consult with them before rendering a decision," Andreozzi said.

…

"I think you at least owe it to these young men to hear what their positions are regarding Joe Paterno and the statue, regarding whether Penn State should be sanctioned from participating in athletic events," Andreozzi said. "Instead Penn State and the NCAA took it in their own hands to play the role of judge and jury in this case without hearing from what could be construed as critical witnesses."

---

I agree. Would a Sandusky victim’s pleas for mercy have had an impact on NCAA President Mark Emmert’s single-handed dismemberment of the Penn State football program? Probably not. I am not the only one troubled by the unprecedented action announced during the 3:00 press conference Monday.

While I recognize that the university deserved punishment from college athletics governing body and that the statue needed to come down (at least temporarily), the victims of a crime should always be given the opportunity to provide input before sentencing.

The precedents here are breathtaking and they should literally scare you to death.

Consider the following scenario:

A college football coach engages in a long, adulterous affair with a female employee, which would constitute sexual harassment and create a hostile workplace. This behavior is repeated as the harasser moves from victim to victim. The school president knows what’s going on, but doesn’t step in to take action until the harassers actions are made public by say, a motorcycle accident.

While sexual harassment doesn’t rise even close to the level of evil committed by Sandusky, this is a pretty bad and likely unprecedented lack of institutional control, is it not?

The NCAA President now has the power to bypass the enforcement process and issue sanctions against the school, and need not even consult the victims before swinging the axe.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Penn State players react to Emmert’s announcement (parody)

Watch as Penn State student-athletes react to NCAA President Mark Emmert’s announcement of unprecedented sanctions against their school in the wake of the Freeh Report on the Jerry Sandusky schedule.

---

---

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Emmert v. Penn State creates troubling precedent

NCAA President Mark Emmert set sail on dangerously uncharted waters when he handed down history’s most punitive sanctions on Penn State.

While no one disputes that harsh sanctions against the school were justified in the wake of the worst scandal in the history of college sports, there is plenty to disagree with in how those sanctions were formulated and the manner in which they were imposed.

In two strokes of a pen, the NCAA created a dangerous new precedent that allows its President to “negotiate” plea bargains with member schools while holding a gun to their head during the proceedings.

First, the NCAA Executive Committee—a group consisting of 20 members, 16 with voting privileges—authorized President Emmert to “to enter into a consent decree with Penn State University that contains sanctions and corrective measures related to the institution’s breach of the NCAA Constitution and Bylaws and core values of intercollegiate athletics based on the findings of the Freeh Report and Sandusky criminal trial.”

The by-law cited as authorization for such action states that the Executive Committee may “act on behalf of the Association by adopting and implementing policies to resolve core issues and other Association-wide matters.”

---

Penn State was allowed to cut a deal that lets them walk and lets the NCAA say that they “did something.”

---

I’m not certain that authorizing the President to completely bypass the enforcement process falls within the powers granted by the clause above. In what way does granting the President sweeping new powers—even in a unique case such as this—serve to adopt and implement policy?

Second, Emmert himself apparently “negotiated” a consent decree with Penn State officials. This, only six months after the death of Joe Paterno, eight months since Jerry Sandusky was arrested. Weeks after Sandusky’s conviction and days after the release of the Freeh Report, the NCAA was negotiating from a position of such strength that Penn State had no choice but to plead out.

Emmert named the tune. Penn State danced, or else.

Here’s the real treachery in the waters that lie ahead, sports fans: With this new process in place, member schools finding themselves in impossible public relations situations regarding potential rules violations now have a way of completely bypassing the Committee on Infractions and negotiating terms of plea agreements directly with the President.

North Carolina? Oregon? Miami? Are you paying attention? You can now avoid the lengthy, embarrassing and costly NCAA enforcement process by petitioning the NCAA Executive Committee to authorize the President to cut you a deal. No Notice of Allegations to publicize. No perp walk into the Committee on Infractions hearing. No months long wait to learn your fate. No public shame in having the Committee Chairman blast you in a public news conference for such a “shocking” disregard for the rules.

Simply get a deal cut in a matter of days, have the President hold a 3:00 minute news conference and you’re done.

This blog has long complained about the arbitrary and chaotic process that the NCAA uses to mete out punishment. There seems to be no logic, rhyme or reason in comparing cases of similar nature and handing out similar penalties. Granted, the Penn State case is totally unprecedented in its scale and horror, but do we really need an even more arbitrary process in place?

This case should have gone through the process. Let the Enforcement Division rebrand the Freeh Report as its own findings, let Julie Roe-Lache issue the Notice of Allegations, and let Penn State appear before the Committee on Infractions. Such a process may not have yielded the results everyone believes were needed, but the democratically approved process of enforcement would have been followed.

Instead, it’s been shortcut.

Had Penn State appeared before that committee, it’s entirely likely that the SMU Penalty would have been applied. Penn State saw that coming and got a sweetheart plea agreement instead. “Our backs were against the wall,” said interim President Rodney Erickson.

Maybe the NCAA membership is Ok with this, and perhaps legislation will be passed that formalizes this new plea agreement process. That’s the way it should be.

A 20-member group authorizing the President to hold a gun to the head of a member institution and demanding a signature on a consent decree, or else? If you don’t find that troubling, then the terrorists have won.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Quotables: Reaction to the devastating sanctions imposed on Penn State

The Happy Valley halcyon days are over, and they may never come back.  Thanks to the involvement of Joe Paterno in the scandal, whose name is synonymous with Penn State championships, their entire tradition has to start from scratch, and it’s not likely to ever have that kind of cachet ever again.

Why didn’t the NCAA put Penn State out of its misery and simply issue the so-called “death penalty” — barring the school from competing permanently in football? 

…

"I think we can all agree that no one wants to see someone who has taken an egregious act go unpunished," Bilas said. "But on the greater scale, on a criminal, civil level, what the NCAA does is trivial by comparison."

When asked about Paterno, Bilas sighed and spoke of the late coach's tarnished legacy, saying he was part of a "conspiracy of cowards."

"Paterno's 60 years of great service were not erased because of this, but sadly those 60 years do not erase this, either," Bilas said. "This was a stunning failure in leadership and human decency. There's no way around that, and it pains me to say it.

…

So the future of Penn State football will be largely determined by these questions: Will players want to face a career with no postseason opportunities on a team that is dogged by scandal? Will committed recruits like Christian Hackenberg, one of the country’s top quarterback recruits in 2013 who is verbally committed to Penn State, stay on board?

With a future this dim, it’s hard to imagine that Penn State can keep both its current roster and future recruiting classes together. With no postseason until 2016 and the likelihood that there will not be a full roster until 2020, expect an era of Penn State football marked by mediocrity, ambivalence and recruiting struggles for the next decade.

…

Regardless of whether it takes X number of years north or south of a decade to rebuild Penn State, the football program, one thing seems certain: Penn State, the university, will never ever be the same, regardless of what happens on a field a hundred yards long.

And, based on the Freeh report, that may very well be the best thing to come out of this whole sordid saga of pedophilia and cover-ups and putting a football program — and its legendary head coach — above young victims of sexual abuse.

…

And so, Emmert made sure his organization responded accordingly -- even if that meant revoking the traditional due process afforded every other school that's ever been punished by the NCAA; invoking a nebulous, generalized bylaw about promoting integrity that could easily apply to hundreds of lawbreaking players, coaches and staffers across the country every year; and creating a precedent for dictatorial-like intervention that must now be considered every time a scandal of any proportion arises in college athletics.

"While there's been much speculation about whether this fits this specific bylaw or that specific bylaw," said Emmert, "it certainly hits the fundamental values of what athletics are supposed to be doing in the context of higher education."

No argument there. Perhaps this truly is a turning point in the history of the NCAA. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new era where Batman Emmert flies in and saves the day every time the forces of athletic evil make a mockery of academic virtues.

He better. Otherwise, this will instead prove to be a crowning moment in NCAA hypocrisy.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Photo: Paterno Statue is gone

Also gone are the reliefs of the football players and all of the plaques.

Stripped bare.

Photo credit to Mike Misciagno.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Freeh Report Press Release and Full Report (alternate links inside)

Louis Freeh has released his report detailing the results of his probe into the Sandusky scandal at Penn State. The servers at www.thefreehreportonpsu.com were instantly slammed with traffic.

Fortunately, I got through and was able to download a copy of the press release and appurtenant comments.

You can access it (PDF) here. 

UPDATE: Full report is available (PDF) here.

The findings are damning:

II. Findings
Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized. Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky’s victims until after Sandusky’s arrest.

In critical written correspondence that we uncovered on March 20th of this year, we see evidence of their proposed plan of action in February 2001 that included reporting allegations about Sandusky to the authorities. After Mr. Curley consulted with Mr. Paterno, however, they changed the plan and decided not to make a report to the authorities. Their failure to protect the February 9, 2001 child victim, or make attempts to identify him, created a dangerous situation for other unknown, unsuspecting young boys who were lured to the Penn State campus and football games by Sandusky and victimized repeatedly by him.

Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child’s identity, about what McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February 9, 2001.

The stated reasons by Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley for not taking action to identify the victim and for not reporting Sandusky to the police or Child Welfare are:

(1) Through counsel, Messrs. Curley and Schultz have stated that the “humane” thing to do in 2001 was to carefully and responsibly assess the best way to handle vague but troubling allegations.

(2) Mr. Paterno said that “I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was. So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn’t work out that way.”

(3) Mr. Spanier told the Special Investigative Counsel that he was never told by anyone that the February 2001 incident in the shower involved the sexual abuse of a child but only “horsing around.” He further stated that he never asked what “horsing around” by Sandusky entailed.

Taking into account the available witness statements and evidence, it is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University – Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large. Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky’s victims.

NCAA Statement:

NCAA statement on Penn State

Statement by Bob Williams, Vice President of Communications

“Like everyone else, we are reviewing the final report for the first time today.  As President Emmert wrote in his November 17^th letter to Penn State President Rodney Erickson and reiterated this week, the university has four key questions, concerning compliance with institutional control and ethics policies, to which it now needs to respond. Penn State’s response to the letter will inform our next steps, including whether or not to take further action. We expect Penn State’s continued cooperation in our examination of these issues.”

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

 

NCAA doesn’t need Sandusky scandal to punish Penn State

Since CNN reported on a series of emails that showed Penn State coach Joe Paterno steered decisions on whether to report knowledge of Jerry Sandusky’s monstrous child molestation behavior, a debate has raged: Should the NCAA use its power as the collegiate athletics governing body to investigate and if necessary, punish the university?

CNN upped the ante with another story, this one reminding us of a Wall Street Journal report exploring Paterno’s preference for handling problems outside of the school’s discipline policy and the pressure he applied to school officials who disagreed with him.

Those arguing that the NCAA has no business wading into the Sandusky case over how school officials handled knowledge of his crimes are correct. Sandusky is already convicted and will die in prison. His enablers likely face criminal and civil liability as well. The people who committed and enabled this criminal behavior will be served justice, but the NCAA is not the body that will—or even should—administer it.

However, the NCAA doesn’t need to go near the Sandusky case to find cause for action.

From the November Wall Street Journal story:

---

In an Aug. 12, 2005, email to Pennsylvania State University President Graham Spanier and others, Vicky Triponey, the university's standards and conduct officer, complained that Mr. Paterno believed she should have "no interest, (or business) holding our football players accountable to our community standards. The Coach is insistent he knows best how to discipline his players…and their status as a student when they commit violations of our standards should NOT be our concern…and I think he was saying we should treat football players different from other students in this regard."

The confrontations came to a head in 2007, according to one former school official, when six football players were charged by police for forcing their way into a campus apartment that April and beating up several students, one of them severely. That September, following a tense meeting with Mr. Paterno over the case, she resigned her post, saying at the time she left because of "philosophical differences."

In a statement Monday, Dr. Triponey said: "There were numerous meetings and discussions about specific and pending student discipline cases that involved football players," which she said included "demands" to adjust the judicial process for football players. The end result, she said, was that football players were treated "more favorably than other students accused of violating the community standards as defined by the student code of conduct."

---

What this means is that football student-athletes were given preferential treatment, a practice that has led to sanctions for many schools. Protecting football players from a code of conduct and discipline that all other students are subjected to is clearly contrary to NCAA by-laws.

What this also means is that school administrators had a system of institutional control over athletics in place—meaning that the President and his leadership were ostensibly in charge of how the football program conducted itself—and Paterno actively sought to circumvent that system and had Dr. Triponey forced out for not going along with him.

Rather than forcing Paterno to adhere to institutional policy regarding student-athlete discipline matters, Spanier, Curley et al let him run his own show. That is a clear violation of NCAA institutional control policy.

In comments to CBS’ Bruce Feldman, David Ridpath, Assistant Professor of Sports Administration at Ohio University, explained:

---

“This could definitely be perceived as an extra benefit and yes, it could bootstrap into LOIC (Lack of Institutional Control) without even having to address Sandusky. It would set a precedent, but that is normal for the NCAA. I told a reporter it would have to be something other that Jerry Sandusky -- this is it for the NCAA if they want to do something and it does give them a bit of cover.

“I think the more it is not Jerry Sandusky, the better and they can certainly go this route. The Freeh report will be the tipping point.”

Keep in mind, this wouldn't be the first time the NCAA created a precedent tied to a high-profile case. It did that with both the Reggie Bush and Cam Newton investigations. As I wrote a few weeks back, the NCAA's lists of acts that demonstrate a lack of institutional control are tied to violation of NCAA rules, not real-world crimes -- but the NCAA brass is on record as saying it would be keeping an eye on how things unfolded with the Penn State investigation. Well, now we're getting into the investigation of the culture at Penn State.

---

Hypothetically speaking, the NCAA would find Penn State officials lacked proper institutional control over the football program. That failure to control led to numerous incidents of student-athletes receiving improper benefits in the form of more favorable disciplinary actions. This in turn created a competitive advantage because players would should be suspended under school policy are allowed to play under those special rules.

The fact that the same lack of institutional control over the athletics program also caused school officials to enable Sandusky’s atrocities is a tragic development, but it is completely coincidental to the NCAA’s case. The judicial system will address the Sandusky scandal. But the Committee on Infractions could—and should—determine whether the school deserves sanctions for how it allowed Paterno to call the shots on almost all things Penn State University, not just football.

Exit Question: Will they? My bet is that ultimately, they do. Failing to conduct a full review and not having the school appear before the Committee would likely cause a public backlash like no other. Most of the public and even some members of the media are incapable of separating the lack of institutional control issue from enabling and protection of Sandusky.

As far as they’re concerned, any and every case arising from Paterno’s last decade or so as coach will always be about Sandusky. To a large segment of these folks, the NCAA has to be seen as having “done something” as the governing body. Triponey’s account of Paterno’s behavior in disciplinary matters unrelated to the Sandusky scandal gives them the route they need and I believe they’ll take it.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.
 

Paterno family accuses CNN of “smear” campaign

Through an attorney, the family of the late Joe Paterno released the following statement, in which they accuse CNN and/or the source of selected emails of smearing the one-time legendary coach.

Here is the statement, emphasis mine:

From the moment the Jerry Sandusky crisis erupted, Joe Paterno patiently and persistently called for a thorough and professional investigation. He abhorred the rush to judgment that occurred last November and he spoke out forcefully for a comprehensive review that protected no one while preserving due process for everyone.  Coach Paterno emphasized that the best way to serve the victims and protect the reputation of Penn State was by a total commitment to uncovering the full truth.

With the leaking of selective emails over the last few days, it is clear that someone in a position of authority is not interested in a fair or thorough investigation. To be clear, the Paterno family does not know the source or sources of these leaks.  The question that needs to be asked is why this breach of confidentiality, which seeks to preempt the Freeh report and undermine the courts, is not being objected to or otherwise addressed by those in a position of authority. It should not be the responsibility of the Paterno family to call for an honest, independent investigation. Given the seriousness and complexity of this case, everyone should be demanding the full truth, not just carefully selected excerpts of certain emails.

Releasing these emails in this way is not intended to inform the discussion but to smear former Penn State officials, including Joe Paterno. The truth is Joe Paterno reported the 2001 incident promptly and fully. He was interviewed by the Grand Jury for a total of 8 minutes and told the truth to the best of his recollection. He was never interviewed by the University. He was not afforded due process and his story was never fully told.  And he was never allowed to see the files and records that are now in question. In spite of these facts, however, numerous pundits and critics are exploiting these disconnected and distorted records to attack Joe Paterno.

Accordingly, the Paterno family today is calling on the Freeh Group and the Attorney General's office to immediately release all emails and records they have related to this case.  The public should not have to try and piece together a story from a few records that have been selected in a calculated way to manipulate public opinion. Joe Paterno didn't fear the truth, he sought the truth. His guidance to his family and his advisors was to pursue the full truth.  This is the course we have followed for 9 months. It is the course we will follow to the end.

Again, I point to the well researched post from LivingCrimson last November, which indicated that Joe Paterno not only knew what was going on, but did nothing to stop it and only began calling for the truth once everyone knew what he did.

That said, never, ever EVER put it past the media to cherry-pick confidentially sourced information to drive a narrative they’re interested in. To put it mildly, CNN is struggling mightily as a going news organization. What was once one of the most trusted sources in news has become a watered down TMZ.

The Paterno family is still in mourning, as is much of the Penn State family of students, boosters and alumni. The Sandusky trial reopened a lot of wounds and while the emails CNN says they’ve reviewed show a massive coverup, remember that CNN is the only entity to have reviewed the material.

Paterno’s family is well justified in calling for the release of all correspondence, and CNN and/or their source should comply.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Jerry Sandusky CONVICTED on 45 counts

Former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 of the 48 remaining charges in the child sex abuse case.

Now, let’s say some heartfelt prayers for his victims, and for those who have survived similar abuse. Their bravery cannot be understated. Sandusky spends the rest of his life in prison. Victims lives will never be the same.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

One wonders if Bill O’Brien knows what he’s walking into

Checking out the Associated Press’ story on new Penn State Coach Bill O’Brien’s highly anticipated arrival at Happy Valley, one has to wonder if this guy really knows what he’s walking into.

Anyone who thinks following Joe Paterno is comparable to winning Super Bowls doesn’t understand how little winning Super Bowls means.

Following a legend is difficult enough. Just ask Jimbo Fisher, who took over the Florida State program and followed legendary coach Bobby Bowden after the latter was gently forced to retire a couple of years ago.

Going even farther back, ask Ray Perkins, who took over the Alabama Crimson Tide following the retirement and untimely death of Paul Bryant nearly a generation ago.

Perkins bolted after only a few years. Fisher is struggling somewhat, but the pressure on both has to be measured in the hundreds of pounds per square inch.

I don’t have the sense that O’Brien really “gets it.”

Both of the previous examples followed coaches who had recently won national championships. Perkins had the much harder task—he followed a man revered by an entire state who, like Nittany Lions fans and alumni, won’t have the benefit of his predecessor offering quotes and quips about how well his successor is handling the pressure.

Instead, O’Brien’s every movement will be second guessed. From allowing facial hair and hats inside the building to calling timeouts; from practice regimens to playcalling. He’ll face unwithering criticism and no one will be able to get that reassuring pat on the back from JoePa, letting everyone know that it’ll be Ok.

Perkins had one advantage over both O’Brien and Fisher. He had bona fide connections with the program he was taking over. People sorta trusted him because he was one of “Bear’s Boys.” O’Brien doesn’t have any such leg-up and neither did Fisher (despite being named the “coach in waiting” by the Seminoles).

That makes the second guessing issue even more acute. When Penn State loses its first football game, the people who questioned his hiring—i.e., the football alumni—are coming out of the woodwork and openly wondering if a change should be made before the first season is even complete.

Don’t believe me? Just watch.

Happy Valley is a special place in college football. It’s as big as South Bend, as big as Tuscaloosa, as big as Austin and as big as Ann Arbor. It’s not just special because those places are used to winning. It’s special because the fans had a unique connection to their coaches and their football program. Take that environment likely and the riots that followed Paterno’s firing in November will seem like an afternoon couch burning.

O’Brien has massive shoes to fill and horrific wounds to heal. Judging by his comments and his actions to date, I’m not sure he understands that.

But he will.

Just ask Ray Perkins or Jimbo Fisher.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Jerry Sandusky still woven into Nittany fabric a week before arrest

The Patriot-News reports that indicted child molester and former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was as tightly woven into the fabric of the Nittany Lions football program as ever, even days before he was arrested on charges of child sexual assault.

So well connected was the alleged monster that he pal’ed around in former president Grant Spanier’s luxury box during the last home game before being cuffed and hauled away.

From the Patriot News story:

---

A week before his arrest on charges of child sex abuse, sources say Jerry Sandusky watched Joe Paterno notch his 409th victory from the president’s box at Beaver Stadium, sources said Wednesday.

A source close to the Penn State board of trustees told The Patriot-News that Sandusky was seen in the president’s box that day and later went to the Nitttany Lion Club.

Earlier Wednesday, former Nittany Lions linebacker Brandon Short said he had been told by two independent sources, whom he did not identify, that Sandusky was in the president’s box for the Penn State-Illinois game on Oct. 29.

---

That he had this type of access should be shocking, but nothing about this case is shocking anymore. Despite ample evidence that everyone from Grant Spanier to the graduate assistants knew (or should have known) about Sandusky’s horrifying dark side, he was still chumming it up and celebrating with Penn State high muckity-mucks.

What in the world could the others watching from that box have been thinking? Were they just blocking everything out? Were they whispering among themselves about what they obviously knew was coming? Why didn’t someone like Spanier, or athletic director Tim Curley, or vice president Gary Schultz, or anyone, just call the retired defensive coordinator and tell him not to bother showing up?

Moreover, this highlights the bigger question: Why, given the knowledge they had (or should have had), why wasn’t this man stopped years ago? Had anyone stood up and decided to do the right thing, Sandusky would likely already be serving his sentence in a state penitentiary, Spanier, Curley and Schultz would still have jobs, and Joe Paterno would still be the head coach.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

“We might as well be in the SEC…”

As Penn State University appears set to name New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien the successor to Joe Paterno, former Nittany Lions players appear to be in open revolt. O’Brien has no experience as a head coach at either the NFL or college football level, and has absolutely no ties to Happy Valley, and the alumni—especially those who played for Paterno during his 46 year tenure—aren’t happy.

Nate Bauer of BlueWhiteIllustrated.com has a report with comments from a number of former stars, including All Americans LaVarr Arrington, Brandon Short and D.J. Dozier. "I will put my Butkus (Award) in storage. I will put my Alamo Bowl MVP trophy in storage," Arrington said. "Jerseys, anything Penn State, in storage. Wherever Tom Bradley goes, that's the school I will start to put memorabilia up in my home. I'm done. I'm done with Penn State. If they're done with us, I'm done with them."

Short: "I don't want to be affiliated with the university if they don't choose a Penn State guy because of our standards, our graduation, all the things that have been important... it's no longer Penn State, so we might as well be in the SEC. They are intent on turning it into a booster culture.”

Ouch.

The football alumni also say that no one involved in the search for Paterno’s successor has reached out to or consulted with them at any part of the process. There is perhaps no tighter community than the Penn State alumni, and the failure of the administration to even keep them in the loop looks like a decision that’s going to have a lot of very hot blowback.

The ESPN report cites “sources” and says that the terms of the deal are not yet known, which means that the deal isn’t done yet. Defensive coordinator Tom “Scrap” Bradley has served as the interim head coach since Paterno’s dismissal and remains the favorite of the alumni and prominent boosters.

We'll see if interim athletic director David Joyner and interim President Rodney Erickson stick to their guns and go through with hiring an unpopular O’Brien over the apparent fan, alumni and booster favorite Bradley.

The decision needs to be wrapped up quickly, as national signing day is now less than four weeks away and the new coach has a lot of ground to recover on the recruiting trail.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Sandusky waives preliminary hearing - plea deal coming?

Via the Associated Press and SportsIllustrated.com:

Published on SI.com - NCAA Football | shared via feedly

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) -- Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has waived his preliminary hearing, a decision that moves him toward a trial on charges of child sex abuse. At least some of his 10 accusers had been expected to testify at the hearing.

While the report states that Sandusky's waiver moves him toward trial, it's more likely at this point that Sandusky will plead guilty and accept a negotiated sentence. Nate Bauer, writing for BlueWhiteIllustrated.com, tweeted that a retired law professor "guaranteed" that the sequence of events at the courthouse today mean Sandusky wants to deal.

Keep in mind that as heinous as the crimes are, Sandusky has no prior convictions and sentencing guidelines would probably limit his sentence as a result. Bauer indicates that his legal analyst believes a 10-year term is likely, meaning Sandusky might walk out of prison at 77 years old, a free man.

Two new reports paint ugly picture of Penn State culture

Two of the country’s largest and most influential daily newspapers—the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times—have feature stories on key figures in the Penn State case that has engulfed a state’s largest public institution in scandal and controversy.

The Times has a story from Richard Perez-Pena explaining how former university President Graham Spanier enjoyed both success and secrecy, despite being one of the highest profile presidents in the NCAA.

Spanier, according to the report, had a policy of shoring up defenses when his institution’s actions came into question:

---

In his 16 years as president, Spanier and his administration had a history of circling the wagons in the face of criticism or scrutiny, fitting into what many say was an insular Penn State culture that preceded his tenure. It occurred when high-profile Penn State employees came under fire, when student actions threatened to embarrass the university, and when people sought to obtain information that almost any other public institution would be required to release.

That instinct might have accelerated Spanier’s downfall. On Nov. 5, when Gary Schultz, a senior vice president, and Tim Curley, the athletic director, were charged with perjury, Spanier released a statement saying he had “complete confidence” in their handling of the accusations against Sandusky — a statement that incensed university trustees, according to people briefed on their deliberations.

---

Also today is a detailed report from the Journal’s Reed Albergotti, who describes how Joe Paterno often bitterly fought school officials over disciplinary issues facing his players. Time and time again, and with increasing frequency in later years, football players would be caught or accused of serious wrongdoing, only to have the coach attempt to prevent school officials from imposing the same discipline it would on ordinary students.

Paterno’s insistence and an ultimatum delivered to Spanier forced the school official responsible for student judicial affairs system to back off, and eventually resign over “philosophical differences.”

Taken together, these and other stories—such as those outlined in this piece by LivingCrimson—show that the school’s carefully crafted image as a model institution of compliance and success was a fraud. It’s this revelation that probably has so many college football fans reeling over the news of the last few weeks.

Until news of the Jerry Sandusky indictments on child sexual abuse charges, Penn State University and the Penn State Nittany Lions were universally revered as what was right and good about major college athletics. Penn State was held up by the school itself and many mainstream media figures as the kind of program all should strive to be.

But as more of these news stories peel back the layers, the more this case feels like learning that the parish convent was running a brothel.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

NCAA abandons policy and precedent with letter to Penn State

NCAA investigations into the actions of member schools have always followed the same path. But in an unprecedented scandal, league President Mark Emmert decided that unprecedented steps need to be taken.

Long-standing NCAA policy dictates the procedure. Credible allegations are received and reviewed. Information is collected. A Notice of Inquiry is transmitted from the VP of Enforcement to the school president. The NCAA staff conducts its investigation and if it finds violations of applicable by-laws, transmits a Notice of Allegations. The school appears before the Committee on Infractions and later hears what penance it must suffer as a result of its transgressions.

In the Penn State case, policy and procedure are gone. In his three-page letter to interim President Rodney Erickson, Emmert sternly warns the school that the league’s bedrock principles of ethical conduct, honesty, dignity are at stake as a result of potential inaction surrounding the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal.

The Emmert letter is unprecedented on two different levels. First is the fact that the letter informing Penn State of the pending probe comes from the NCAA president himself. In the modern era of NCAA investigations, never before has the president of the league written such a missive as this.  The official communication from the NCAA notifying a member school of a pending investigation has always come from the Vice President for Enforcement, the office currently held by Julie Roe Lach.

Also unprecedented is the fact that the NCAA has publicized the letter and publicly announced that it plans to launch an investigation. Having the letter originate from the office of the President is a big deal. Publicizing the matter is even bigger. The NCAA has vigorously guarded information regarding even the existence of investigations, steadfastly refusing to even acknowledge investigations that everyone knows are in progress.

So why make this one public? Emmert has said in interviews that this matter is not a traditional “enforcement” investigation and that ordinary rules aren’t in play here. He’s said that since the league doesn’t plan to send investigators to campus to interview coaches, officials or players, the policy governing enforcement procedure don’t fit in this case. But Emmert nonetheless cited specific by-laws that may have been violated, and violations of those by-laws in previous cases have brought harsh sanctions at the end of enforcement investigations.

There’s no doubt that the Sandusky scandal at Penn State is the worst, most-sickening stain on college athletics. Nothing even comes close. In an unprecedented case, Emmert is taking unprecedented steps. Some may cynically call it a PR ploy; accusing the league of trying to show that it is out in front of the story. There might be a mote of truth to that, but it’s much more likely that Emmert is finally getting the NCAA to do the right thing in the right way. If that means abandoning policy and breaking precedent, then so be it, says he.

But beware the law of unintended consequences. Abandoning precedent invites charges of arbitrary and capricious action, and provide the only good reason for judicial intervention.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

NCAA opens investigation into Penn State, inquiries to address “institutional control.”

The most dreaded phrase in NCAA Enforcement lexicon: “lack of institutional control.”

Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert took the unprecedented step of personally authoring a letter to Penn State interim President Rodney Erickson, initiating an investigation by the league into the school’s handling of the ever deepening, ever widening Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal.

Click here for the three page letter.

The scandal has claimed the jobs of the university president, a vice president, the athletics director and once iconic coach Joe Paterno.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Video: Disturbing interview with Jerry Sandusky

Via the Today Show and MSNBC.com.

“I enjoy being around children. I enjoy their enthusiasm. I just have a good time with them.”

It’s a chilling segment.

---

---

Reports from the Patriot-News’ Sara Ganim indicate that there were clues as early as 1995 that Sandusky’s evil was already underway. @LivingCrimson has an excellent rundown of how Penn State and law enforcement either knew or should have known what was going on throughout the 1990’s.

Here’s another data point on the timeline. If he was abusing children as far back as 1987, and given his target age of 10-14 years old, there may be people born in 1974 to 1977 still carrying the pain of abuse he is alleged to have inflicted.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

CBS Aaron Taylor personal statement gives hope for abused kids, strong stand on failure of Paterno

By: @LivingCrimson

In a moving statement, Aaron Taylor reveals he was the victim of abuse as a 5 year old. His message to other kids in that situation is the hope they can overcome such horrific trauma and go on to lead productive lives. Taylor was an All-American offensive tackle at Notre Dame, winning the Lombardi Award as the best lineman in college football. He was also an offensive guard in the NFL, playing for the Green Bay Packers and the San Diego Chargers.

Taylor goes on to say: ”All it takes for evil in the world to exist is for good men to stand by and do nothing.” In the Penn State situation, Taylor believes “people took their morality and replaced it with their loyalty; their loyalty to the brand, loyalty to the team, and that’s a systemic problem…” He hopes these issues do not harm the traditional role sports has played in helping victims focus on other things. “Sports has always served the role for us to be our soft place to fall during times of tragedy,” Taylor said.

Here’s link to video – having technical difficulties.

Aaron Taylor, Gary Danielson, Tim Brando, Adam Zucker

As my earlier post recounts, Joe Paterno knew about Sandusky’s alleged child abuse from at least 1998 and did nothing to prevent Sandusky bringing young boys into Penn State football facilities or to the hotels used by the team. Paterno also never attempted to stop Sandusky’s contact with boys through the charity The Second Mile.

Video of the pregame, sideline clearing, silence-inducing prayer before the Penn State Nebraska game today. The first game without Paterno on the sidelines since 1949.

Crowd respectful of pregame prayer

More updates on Twitter @LivingCrimson