In the case of Penn State, 14 years of Joe Paterno's victories were simply erased without so much as a how-do-you-do. And scholarships were taken away from deserving high school students who know nothing about the Sandusky scandal.
So it's about time that the NCAA itself be held accountable. Penn State fan Charlie Dent and Ohio State fan Joyce Beatty are from different parties and are doubtless bitter rivals whenever those teams clash. But they have united in proposing legislation that will soften the association's draconion sanctions by mandating administrative hearings with a right of appeal.
"Too often, I open the paper and I read a new story about how the NCAA has mismanaged its investigations," stated Dent at a news conference yesterday. He points out that the ones who suffer most are "are our nation’s young student athletes." Dent thinks those young minds and bodies are what NCAA should protect.
The NCAA Act will require annual baseline concussion testing in certain contact sports. Four-year scholarships will no longer be revoked if a student is injured or loses his athletic prowess. Before sanctions are imposed, against either a college or student, there will be at least one administrative hearing and a right to appeal.
"This bill will ensure that students – the individuals the NCAA is charged to protect – will, once again, come first in collegiate athletics,” said Congresswoman Beatty.
Yeah!! That is a real national priority. That and the 100th failed vote on the Affordable Care Act.
ReplyDeleteCongress, doing less then ever with more pay than ever before.
true but it time to rein in the egos at ncaa
ReplyDeletepenn state was wrong in their culture. that is in the past. ncaa's actions affect people that had exactly nothing to do with this issue
Paterno and PennState circled the wagons to protect their holier than thou image at the cost of little children being raped on their campus by Sandusky. Those are the facts. Time for people to move on and stop wasting time and money. Thank you Charlie Dent for focusing on a non important issue when Obama Care is about to come crashing down on the people and business of this great country. Please do the job you were elected to do and NOT WORRY ABOUT STUPID THINGS LIKE PSU AND THE NCAA!!! PLEASE.
ReplyDeleteThe they were elected to do includes the NCAA and PSU. The NCAA has hurt many more scholar athletes than Sandusky.
ReplyDeleteI think the colleges should go the route suggested in Kurt Vonnegut's book "Player Piano" and separate education and elite sports altogether. Problem solved.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he should find a co-sponsor from someone other than the two biggest OFFENDERS of NCAA violations (Penn St. and Ohio St.) Looks like sour grapes...
ReplyDeleteThey don't address the real problem: that colleges function as a farm system for the NFL and the NBA. The NCAA is also tax-exempt, but makes multi-millions of dollars using the images and names of college athletes (video games, memorabilia, etc.) who aren't compensated. While coaches can make whatever amount their agents can negotiate with schools, players are limited to an miniscule amount that is capped and can not make any extra money on the side that is related to their athletic prowess (commercials, endorsements, etc.).
ReplyDeleteThe NCAA has pulled the wool over the public eye for decades. A Fort Lewis (Colo.) A&M player died of a head injury back in the 1950s. During litigation it was determined that his family was not due workman's compensation because the school "was not in the football business," according to the Colorado Supreme Court.
The NCAA is not only in the football business, it's a monopoly in college sports. It's a BIG sports business with some well placed people making truckloads of money off the backs of young athletes. The vast majority of which will never see the big payday they dream of when signing their college contracts, disguised as scholarships.
If the NCAA were truly concerned about young athletes they wouldn't have penalized the players of PSU.
Though now 18 years old, much of the problems that existed then, still exist today in the book about the NCAA, Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes, by Walter Byers.
It appears that people forgot about the sweeping under the rug that occurred at UNC. It's a good comparison of decisions, as the NCAA turned their back on the UNC issue involving fake classes for athletes, citing it wasn't an NCAA issue. Why then did the NCAA take action at PSU for a criminal matter that clearly was NOT an NCAA issue?
ReplyDeleteSelective enforcement and punishment is the history of the NCAA.
When Dent and Congress are busy with this kind of nonsense, they can't hurt us by passing stupid laws about meaningful things. We should give Charlie other silly projects to distract him. Thank you, Bernie, for your update on our government inaction.
ReplyDeletePaterno and PennState circled the wagons to protect their holier than thou image at the cost of little children being raped on their campus by Sandusky. Those are the facts. Time for people to move on and stop wasting time and money.
ReplyDeleteActually, since there never was due process and there never was another side given, those are indeed NOT the facts.
Agreed. Paterno was the victim of a media feeding frenzy and witch hunt, which ultimately killed him. Then, after he was dead and buried, the NCAA tarnished his record as a coach. Then, in darkness, scared PSU officials removed his statue. He was not given due process. He was given a death sentence.
ReplyDeleteVery Good. I'm pleased. I'm a union worker. Unions are good for its people in retrospect. Sounds like Charlie supports unions. They do the same protection of 'workers' rights from sudden, irregular, unwarranted actions by management staff and careless policy against individuals. Same no difference with that and his stance on NCAA. NCAA cannot be allowed to destroy lives and institutions at their whim. Must hold them in check where checking is deserved.
ReplyDeleteCharlie does NOT support union workers! Dent is and always has been a big Penn State fan. Big deal! How about spending some time on some serious issues impacting All of his constituents, including the ones who don't support Penn State or care about the NCAA. How about a jobs bill Charlie? Phony!
ReplyDeleteCharlie Dent could get everyone in the US a job and you'd scram he isn't doing enough about world hunger. He could solve that, and you'd complain we all need free health care. Face it, you're just a partisan hater.
ReplyDeleteI bet I know Charlie a helluva lot better and a lot longer than you do. He has an opportunity to be a leader and buck the party line. His district is such that he could be there as long as he wants. He can do the right thing but he chooses to take on PSU and the NCAA. BFD. He was moderate in the Pa. Senate, he is not moderate in Washington because they won't let him To say he is a union supporter with a 15%AFL-CIO voting record is laughable. My point is that he could be a whole lot better than he is.
ReplyDeleteYeah, obviously. He could change party registration and then you'd love him. That's your real issue with Dent bc you are obviously a partisan hack who criticizes Dent but says nothing about the Democrat standing at his side. And frankly, all I know about you is you are anonymous, so who knows who you know or how well.
ReplyDeleteNot a big fan of being anonymous, but I don't have a choice. I will tell you the next time that I run into you. I voted for Charlie on two occasions and have been Republican. I still vote for some Republicans but overall, the ones in Washington can't be dealt with and they have brought Dent into their line of thinking, which is a shame. I still believe that his time is better spent working across the aisle than pissing into the wind with PSU and the NCAA
ReplyDeleteI thought cancer killed JoePa. Perhaps, it was that quick onset, stress-related cancer we read so much about. You make a worse doctor than lawyer, Bernie.
ReplyDeleteThe NCAA certainly is putrid. But JoePa watched Sandusky parade boys around PSU facilities for at least nine years after he knew Jerry was a rapist. That's sick. The only innocent parties anywhere in this tragedy are the kids who were raped. D1 College sports are a cesspool.
College athletics should be for student's whose first priority is to get an education and remaining physically fit through sport is a second priority. Today the NCAA is big sports business.
ReplyDeleteThe NFL and NBA use the colleges as a "minor league" where young athletes train to get in shape for the big show. Time for them to create a real minor league system and remove it from our higher education institutions.
Colleges should be focused on education and that is it.