How could American culture grow so corrupt as to value a game over protecting children?

I think we just found out why they agreed so fast and don't want to appeal.

Gremlin wrote:

I think we just found out why they agreed so fast and don't want to appeal.

We also got this quote which shows what really matters to Penn State.

It's unprecedented. It's a blow to the gut; there's no doubt about that ... I couldn't agree to that at all.

There's no way he could imagine the coverup of the raping of boys to defend the program leading to a penalty like that... ooh boy. That would have been too much.

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2012/08/07/penn_st_trustee_to_appeal_sanctions/

Apparently the trustees want to appeal now

I hope the NCAA says ok we will lift the deal we gave you.... An then promptly end Penn State football for the next 4 years

For me if they really allowed a rapist to run free on campus for decades even AFTER they forced him to retire then they had to do this because he had serious dirt on everyone. They are even more guilty in my book than sandusky himself...

This whole thing is making me question if I should ever enjoy football again, if they are willing to do this then what have others done. Seeing so many not care one iota about those raped and only care if they have football on saturady sickens me. If we arent willing to protect and defend at risk children then we have no morals or any values left. I am ashamed of my people and my country...

Living in the midwest and in a major college town I asked a friend who is a major fan of another Big Ten school his thoughs on the whole mess. I consider my friend to be very even minded and not a fanatitc at all. I asked him what would he want done if his school had done this, and his response was that as long as those involved were fired then nothing should be done to the school.....

Really, nothing

Football really has become a religion

I am so ashamed right now

That's insane. I thought when this whole thing started that there was a chance the school would punish itself. I guess I'm really naive.

mcdonis wrote:

Living in the midwest and in a major college town I asked a friend who is a major fan of another Big Ten school his thoughs on the whole mess. I consider my friend to be very even minded and not a fanatitc at all. I asked him what would he want done if his school had done this, and his response was that as long as those involved were fired then nothing should be done to the school.....

Really, nothing

Football really has become a religion

I am so ashamed right now

As someone that doesn't care about football at all, I see nothing wrong with what he said. Don't punish everyone for the wrongdoing of a few. It is silly.

Apparently the trustees want to appeal now

Point to note.. its one Trustee not multiple.

TheGameguru wrote:
Apparently the trustees want to appeal now

Point to note.. its one Trustee not multiple.

Actually the article said that a number of trustees were supporting his appeal.

ZaneRockfist wrote:
mcdonis wrote:

Living in the midwest and in a major college town I asked a friend who is a major fan of another Big Ten school his thoughs on the whole mess. I consider my friend to be very even minded and not a fanatitc at all. I asked him what would he want done if his school had done this, and his response was that as long as those involved were fired then nothing should be done to the school.....

Really, nothing

Football really has become a religion

I am so ashamed right now

As someone that doesn't care about football at all, I see nothing wrong with what he said. Don't punish everyone for the wrongdoing of a few. It is silly.

I hear ya and would normally agree. However in this case everyone from the assistans in the program to the University President and trustees knew about all of this. In other words Penn State management by in large are responsible. Thus the whole university was in on the crime.....

The stupidity of these trustees is astounding. I think they are foolishly risking a death penalty and an even larger fine by moving forward. And if they do get this agreement killed, they will deserve the monumental scorn and heavy penalties they will receive.

As much as the media has tried to help spin the current punishment as worse than the death penalty, a four-year ban and a fine that might dwarf the $60 million they are saddled with now could also be the tipping point for the Big 10 to finally evict them from the conference. And if the school is still being run by people that still don't get it, it's what they deserve.

wow that is just {ableist slur}...

I try to stay away from grabbing my pitchfork and fire lit stick too often but this is one case where I think folks need to act.

If we cant defend our little ones we deserve what ever befalls us.

TheGameguru wrote:
Apparently the trustees want to appeal now

Point to note.. its one Trustee not multiple.

What's odd is that you would think the board would have to act as a unit in appealing a penalty against the university, not have one guy or only part of the board appeal.

It seems pretty nutty to me. As long as PSU remains in the Big Ten and can open the stadium for football in the fall, it's going to remain a viable program. Why risk that if you're a PSU fan?

Funkenpants wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:
Apparently the trustees want to appeal now

Point to note.. its one Trustee not multiple.

What's odd is that you would think the board would have to act as a unit in appealing a penalty against the university, not have one guy or only part of the board appeal.

It seems pretty nutty to me. As long as PSU remains in the Big Ten and can open the stadium for football in the fall, it's going to remain a viable program. Why risk that if you're a PSU fan?

I think the idea here is the individual is claiming his rights were violated because the president of PSU acted in a way that was outside his authority in signing an agreement. The trustee claims he had to be consulted before such an agreement took place, the others are simply joining the same suit. But yeah... it does sound nutty

A lot of the talk on ESPN that does make some sense is that the NCAA used the Freeh report in lieu of starting its own investigation for assessing penalties. I think everyone can agree that the Freeh report should be used as a foundation but the precedent is dangerous when a third party's report is used as gospel.

Don't get me wrong, the info in the report is very damning and I subscribe to its validity. But then I am not in charge of the NCAA and if I were, my standards would and should be much different.

I think this is a main reason why some are supporting an appeal by the board of trustees.

Of course, Freeh was hired by PSU to do this investigation. So the NCAA simply used PSU's investigator. I'm sure if PSU wants to fut the bill for another $6.5 million to fund a second investigation run by the NCAA, the NCAA can oblige. But I thin the results are going to be pretty damning.

At this point, it is political. There is only a national debate about whether the NCAA went far enough. If PSU strings this out and gets lesser penalties, it could be the end of the NCAA, too. I think the NCAA is obligated to impose the sanctions they threatened to impose if this goes on.

The president may have acted out of turn. But he also saved PSU's bacon. If a fire truck stops by your house and puts out a fire because they noticed it on their way home from another fire, are you going to sue the FD because they came before you called?

Penn State accreditation in jeopardy over sex abuse scandal

Forget football. Losing the status of an accredited university would truly make State College a wasteland.

I don't see it happening. They'd screw too many people who had nothing to do with the scandal.

Funkenpants wrote:

I don't see it happening. They'd screw too many people who had nothing to do with the scandal.

That's happening no matter what.

SixteenBlue wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

I don't see it happening. They'd screw too many people who had nothing to do with the scandal.

That's happening no matter what.

How so? There are some football players and maybe some people who work at the stadium that might be affected. Who else do you have in mind?

Funkenpants wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

I don't see it happening. They'd screw too many people who had nothing to do with the scandal.

That's happening no matter what.

How so? There are some football players and maybe some people who work at the stadium that might be affected. Who else do you have in mind?

An entire town, whose livelyhood is tied directly into the university?

Funkenpants wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

I don't see it happening. They'd screw too many people who had nothing to do with the scandal.

That's happening no matter what.

How so? There are some football players and maybe some people who work at the stadium that might be affected. Who else do you have in mind?

This thread is full of talk about how important/integrated the football program is to the school and it's students. In my opinion, no matter what punishment is given there are a lot of people who are going to feel screwed. Even with zero punishment their diploma is now associated with this scandal so that alone is rough.

SallyNasty wrote:

An entire town, whose livelyhood is tied directly into the university?

There's still a university there. It still requires services from local workers.

SixteenBlue wrote:

In my opinion, no matter what punishment is given there are a lot of people who are going to feel screwed. Even with zero punishment their diploma is now associated with this scandal so that alone is rough.

The value of a PSU diploma remains the same. The college is still holding classes and awarding diplomas based on academic merit. If someone can't get a job or a promotion or go to grad school now because the scandal I'd see harm. But having to take some ribbing from people that you went to 'Pedophile State University'? That seems pretty minor to me.

Having their accreditation pulled would drastically affect attendance/prestige of academics, which would pull money away from town.

I think we agree. I said above that they'd never do it because too many innocent people would get screwed.

SallyNasty wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

I don't see it happening. They'd screw too many people who had nothing to do with the scandal.

That's happening no matter what.

How so? There are some football players and maybe some people who work at the stadium that might be affected. Who else do you have in mind?

An entire town, whose livelyhood is tied directly into the university?

Too big to fail?

SallyNasty wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

I don't see it happening. They'd screw too many people who had nothing to do with the scandal.

That's happening no matter what.

How so? There are some football players and maybe some people who work at the stadium that might be affected. Who else do you have in mind?

An entire town, whose livelyhood is tied directly into the university?

That argument doesn't hold water. Communities are affected by business failures all the time. While sad, it does happen. It shouldn't stop organizations from taking the actions that they deem correct.

Nevin73 wrote:

That argument doesn't hold water. Communities are affected by business failures all the time.

But PSU isn't a business. A business fails because it can no longer produce goods or services in a competitive or efficient manner, or because demand for its product dries up. In that case the negative effects of a failure are unavoidable. That isn't the case here.

Funkenpants wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

That argument doesn't hold water. Communities are affected by business failures all the time.

But PSU isn't a business. A business fails because it can no longer produce goods or services in a competitive or efficient manner, or because demand for its product dries up. In that case the negative effects of a failure are unavoidable. That isn't the case here.

Wait, businesses never fail because of law violations? What happened to Enron?

edit: seriously, I'm not being sarcastic on this one. Isn't the PSU football program thing sort of like an Enron situation? You get caught out on systemic violations, and then get harshly punished to the point where you might fail.

Am I perhaps incorrect in my understanding of accreditation? I could care less about the football team - take them or leave them, just punish them. I thought we were talking about university (i.e. academic) accreditation. Full disclosure - busy at work and didn't read link:)