Sound off: What should be Penn State's fate?

[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by DonkeyJote

I really don't understand the "kill the football program" sentiment. Football didn't do this. A sick man who happened to be a football coach did this. You only "send a message" if a message needs to be sent, but does one? Do you really think anyone thinks what happened there is okay, or that they can get away with it? Sandusky is in prison for the rest of his life. Paterno is dead, and his legacy is utterly ruined. The people involved are being punished. So why are we then going to punish the fans, students, trustees, administrators, teachers, and athletes who had absolutely no knowledge of all of this? What possibly gets accomplished by that besides satisfying a thirst for blood. People are angry, and rightly so, but terminating, or even suspending, the football program is simply lashing out at a party that does not bear responsibility out of that anger. Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

Do you think that if Penn State's football program wasn't a top 10 program of all-time, that this would have been handled by the men in charge of the university and football program the way that it was?

[letsgopens66]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baughn3

Do you think that if Penn State's football program wasn't a top 10 program of all-time, that this would have been handled by the men in charge of the university and football program the way that it was?

It's hard to say. Once again, there was a cover up to protect the entire university. Not just the football program. I don't know where everyone is getting this from.

I agree with DonkeyJote as well. Everyone is justifiably angry (including me), but lashing out and making a rash punishment against people who played no role isn't going to solve anything.

[OSUFan_88]

Quote: Originally Posted by DonkeyJote

I really don't understand the "kill the football program" sentiment. Football didn't do this. A sick man who happened to be a football coach did this.

And then the head football coach, for fear of a publicity hit and probably losing recruits, decided to keep it under wraps.

Let's not kid ourselves here, the reason they didn't do this was to "maintain the image" or in other words, not harm the cash cow.

As for the other issues, you don't think Penn State got an unfair athletic advantage out of this? If this comes out in 1998, is the Penn State team totally unharmed? I seriously doubt it. What about loss of recruits? What about transfers out?

Penn State acted selfishly and got what was coming to them. It would be unfortunate to see the university rewarded for the cover up by giving them exactly what they wanted in the first place, to keep the cash cow a movin.

Blow it all up. No football for years. The culture of football above all is not healthy.

I just hope Penn State is the only school that has had this happen. Unfortunately, I doubt it is. As was with Baylor, and now Penn State, schools will always whore themselves out for cash. NCAA is one of the most dangerous breeding grounds of corruption in the world.

[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by letsgopens66

It's hard to say. Once again, there was a cover up to protect the entire university. Not just the football program. I don't know where everyone is getting this from. I agree with DonkeyJote as well. Everyone is justifiably angry (including me), but lashing out and making a rash punishment against people who played no role isn't going to solve anything.

If they were just trying to protect the university, then why would they seek the advice of the Head Football Coach in how to handle it? The way it seems to me is that this was about protecting the football program first, and the university second.

[DonkeyJote]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baughn3

Do you think that if Penn State's football program wasn't a top 10 program of all-time, that this would have been handled by the men in charge of the university and football program the way that it was?

Absolutely. This could happen anywhere, and not just in sports. Let's say Sabdusky was a tenured Chemistry professor at UC-Berkely. And he happened to be close friends with the head of the College of Sciences. Maybe it gets covered up there too. If that was the case, would people be suggesting that we shut down the science department?

The President of Penn St. didn't help cover this up to win football games. This isn't bad publicity for the team, it's bad for the whole institution. The school and program didn't do the evil things we're talking about, the individuals, who are no longer there and are all going to face their own punishments, did these things. If you're going to shut down football because Paterno didn't say anything, by that logic the entire school should be shut down because no one else said anything either.


Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

[letsgopens66]

Quote: Originally Posted by DonkeyJote

? The President of Penn St. didn't help cover this up to win football games. This isn't bad publicity for the team, it's bad for the whole institution. The school and program didn't do the evil things we're talking about, the individuals, who are no longer there and are all going to face their own punishments, did these things. If you're going to shut down football because Paterno didn't say anything, by that logic the entire school should be shut down because no one else said anything either. Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

The bolded part is exactly true. Well said.

[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by DonkeyJote

Absolutely. This could happen anywhere, and not just in sports. Let's say Sabdusky was a tenured Chemistry professor at UC-Berkely. And he happened to be close friends with the head of the College of Sciences. Maybe it gets covered up there too. If that was the case, would people be suggesting that we shut down the science department? The President of Penn St. didn't help cover this up to win football games. This isn't bad publicity for the team, it's bad for the whole institution. The school and program didn't do the evil things we're talking about, the individuals, who are no longer there and are all going to face their own punishments, did these things. If you're going to shut down football because Paterno didn't say anything, by that logic the entire school should be shut down because no one else said anything either. Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

Interesting.. not the answer I was expecting. If you really believe they would have handled everything the same way, then I understand your reasoning.

The logic I'm using is that no one said anything to protect the football program, therefore, that program should be punished. But you're right, if it turns out that all of this was covered up to protect the entire university then the Penn State as a whole should be punished. Again, there is no excuse to let a child predator have access to children on your property if you know what he is doing. If that's the case, the DOE should step in and take away the school's ability to receive Title IV funding and remove it's accreditation.

[letsgopens66]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baughn3

If they were just trying to protect the university, then why would they seek the advice of the Head Football Coach in how to handle it? The way it seems to me is that this was about protecting the football program first, and the university second.

Paterno was only 25% of the problem. You make it seem like everyone answered to him, which just isn't true.