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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Will NCAA Strip PSU's No. 1 Ranking in the Academic Bowl?

PSU has been hammered by the NCAA, and of course, the people who suffer the most will be those who count on that football program to make ends meet.

But while Paterno is being pummeled in the press, results of the Academic Bowl place it as #1 in the nation. Eighty per cent of its players graduate in six years or less, whether they are white or black.

Must be a coincidence.

24 comments:

Lighthouse said...

News Flash:

Msgr. Lynn sentenced 3 to 6 for Archdiocese of Philadelphia for the cover up that "enabled monsters in clerical garb . . . to destroy the souls of children", per the judge.

Using NCAA example of punishing all students and players--past, present, and future who had absolutley nothing to do with this sordid tragedy--every church and parishioner in the Archdiocese should face severe sanctions. Among them: 1.) No baptisms, weddings, or communion for the next four years, and all done since the 1996 Brennan charges are to be "vacated". 2.) All seminary students would be allowed to transfer to the Episcopal Church without consequence. 3.) It doesn't matter that there are struggling parishes that are threatened with consolidation, as the Archdiocese would be fined $60million. 4.) Though Priests are in short supply, they must reduce the number of seminary students by 25 percent for the next four years. This might be an unfair advantage to the Protestants, but at least they are allowed some. 5.) And to eliminate any prestigious "bowl" possibilities there are to be no more "Cardinals" from Philadelphia such as Bevilacqua, who had a list of suspect priests destroyed.

While many believe that the Catholic church should be given the "death penalty", this would allow it to exist and slowly rebuild. To heck with the impact on current parishioners. This is the way it is going to be. Stop news flash.

Moral of the story: pedophilia, whether homo or heterosexual is terrible, horrific, gross, taboo, etc. The guilty can and should be punished severely. Awareness, policies, etc should be improved and enforced. But how does punishing every person remotely connected to the institution serve justice??

Bernie O'Hare said...

Excellent analogy. Even if you think Paterno should have known or was at fault, as many people do, I see no reason why everyone else should suffer,

Anonymous said...

Nice points Lighthouse

Anonymous said...

The program ran the university. That's why the program must be seriously connected. Of course it will have a great effect on the school. That as and is the problem to be fixed. The NCAA is terrible. But it is not to blame for PSU's problems. I suppose if their football players were graduating in six years, it was OK for kids to be raped and for the institution, driven by the football program, to cover it up.

Anonymous said...

*corrected, not connected

Anonymous said...

Joe Paterno stood by and remained silent as little boys were raped in the "house" he created. How often have we heard about the "house" he created. These boys are scarred for life. Paterno brought shame to PSU. The punishment dealt to him and agreed to by PSU is acceptable and welcome. Paterno and the PSU football culture, after many decades, was finally exposed for what it really was. PSU and the NCAA are doing the right thing and sending the right message. Lets not forget about the little boys that were molested, sodomized and scarred for life on the campus of PSU while the four most powerful men on campus stood by!!

Anonymous said...

well said

Bill Coker said...

"Bernie O'Hare said...
Excellent analogy. Even if you think Paterno should have known or was at fault, as many people do, I see no reason why everyone else should suffer,"

Any school the NCAA sanctions has students who are innocent suffer. USC when punished for paying Reggie Bush (four years before the penalty). Every school when penalized has it happen after the fact. Bobby Bowdin had to forfeit 15 wins the same way.

Anonymous said...

What are we going to do about the Allentown School District. The Scandal at Central Elementary School.

Anonymous said...

It's not about Sandusky, Paterno, the current students, or even Penn State. This is bigger.

It’s about sending a message that will be strong enough to prevent this from ever happening again at any institution of higher learning in the U.S.

These sanctions do that with as little collateral damage as possible.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Collateral damage. How quaint.

That's an admission that these sanctions go too far.

Canary_In_Coalmine said...

Bernie, what sanctions if any do you feel would be appropriate?

Anonymous said...

The sanctions are too light.. $60 million can be found between PSU couch cushions. Players can transfer without penalty. NFL prospects are already being recruited by other schools. The whole university can get back to education and be free of the twisted football culture for a while.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I would impose no sanctions at all until the trails are over. I would NOT take away Paterno's wins. I would not suspend scholarships or post-season play.

Anonymous said...

Bernie I couldn't disagree with you more on this.

From what I've seen, Penn State made $200 million on its football program while condoning child abuse (1998-2011). To disgorge a portion of that is ok by me.

I'd also advocate using the $60 million to both set up a victim fund as well as compensate business owners in Happy Valley who will suffer due to Penn State's horrific actions in covering this up.

Having said all that, I agree with you that they should have waited for the trials to be completed.

But I disagree that this wasn't just the actions of a few men. They were Penn State and Penn State needs to pay consequences as well.

Bernie O'Hare said...

You are welcome to disagree. I believe mine is a minority view.

Anonymous said...

Yeah. You also thought John Edwards was a good guy. Your blog rocks. Your judgement is hilarious. Penn State without the weird football worship will be a far better Penn State. One of 20 engineers in the world is a Penn Stater. The medical college is outstanding. Penn State can get to the business of education, now. Nobody is being harmed by this except those who prioritize sports above education and child safety. That's exactly who should feel harmed. Maybe they'll get their priorities straight. The fines should have been much larger.

Anonymous said...

When Bama is #5, this ranking is irrelevant.

Also, the current athletes are not punished. They can transfer to almost anywhere.

This is how the NCAA works. Why were USC players punished for something Reggie Bush did ~7 years ago?

Anonymous said...

USC athletes should have vetted their fetid swamp a little better. Same with PSU athletes and parents. Hard questions should be asked about cultures of athletics controlling institutions. Most schools are upstanding and are not like PSU or USC, flaunting all decency and common sense in order to protect football programs.

Anonymous said...

Rumor had it that they were going to penalize the student body by increasing the cost of "Natty Light" to $50 a case!

Anonymous said...

From what I've seen, Penn State made $200 million on its football program while condoning child abuse (1998-2011). To disgorge a portion of that is ok by me.


This is factually incorrect as are many many emotional statements made by people who clearly can do without a LEGAL investigation by law enforcement and who take a commissioned report as gospel.

In 1998, the accusations were reported and FULLY investigated. Jerry Sandusky was cleared and not arrested. Penn State really holds no accountability for these actions until 2001 when the coverup allegedly occurred.

This is the reason the vacated wins are bogus and meant to destroy Paterno since his wins should only logically be vacated back to 2001.

But nice try.

Anonymous said...

Yeah. You also thought John Edwards was a good guy. Your blog rocks. Your judgement is hilarious. Penn State without the weird football worship will be a far better Penn State. One of 20 engineers in the world is a Penn Stater. The medical college is outstanding. Penn State can get to the business of education, now. Nobody is being harmed by this except those who prioritize sports above education and child safety. That's exactly who should feel harmed. Maybe they'll get their priorities straight. The fines should have been much larger.

What complete nonsense. Penn State made the achievements you noted WITH a football program. A football program that regardless of the acts of 4 men, still held academics higher than just about any program in the country.

But nice try.

Anonymous said...

"Most schools are upstanding and are not like PSU or USC, flaunting all decency and common sense in order to protect football programs.

5:03 PM"

It is really the other way around, and Penn State recruits hear "We are not like them". JoePa used to slam coaches like Jackie Sherrill and held himself out to be above all others, all the while protecting thugs like Bobby Ingram.

I was acquainted with a couple players, through mutual friends, during the early 80's. We visited each other at college and I attended one All-American's birthday party at the Parkway Plaza highrise. One of the stable of tailbacks playing behind Warner showed me the beautiful Olds Cutlass he claimed he got because "They wanted me".

They've always had the same kind of program as everyone else, just with an incredibly huge and rabid cult-of-denial, narcissistic culture that was, until now, the national champion of keeping the lid on things.

The fact that it took something as horrendous as the on-campus act and cover-up of the rape of young boys to crack that culture is a scary testament to how delusional the sycophants really are. And, yet, in the eyes of some, there is still some wiggle room to give JoePa his out.

And OJ is still out there looking for Nicole's killer...

-Clem

Anonymous said...

"OJ is still out"
Was his football record erased?
Was Pete Rose's records erased?
NOPE!