[NU Sports] If you ran Penn State...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> I rarely agree with SjT here but I think he's right. This situation (as we currently understand it) is not under the jurisdiction of the NCAA. Just imagine that Sandusky was an associate enginnering professor and Paterno was the dean of the engineering school. The same failure of judgement happens but it's completely removed from football. From what we know now, this did not affect any player eligibility or competitive edge on the field.

It would be more like if a retired prof still hung around campus and was seen groping a female student and it was reported to the dean, who forwarded it to the president.
 
In any case, a mess and tragedy - but the NCAA has bigger fish to fry.
 
> I do wonder though, when the other cleat drops, if this could become a major NCAA issue. I am scratching my head trying to think of why McQueary and Paterno would even consider looking the other way when the learned about Sandusky's behavior. It 
 
I am not trying to justify their actions, BUT I can understand them.
 
- McQueary is easy to understand. He's a grad assistant and he's just seen a university legend with a lot of power and friends in high places doing something he shouldn't be doing. There's a reason whistleblowers are rare -- if he reports it to the wrong person, he's out of a job, blacklisted from references and his career is toast.
 
- For Paterno, you have someone who was probably a close friend for years. It was probably difficult for him to even report it, but he did, and then he just went back to wanting to believe it never happened.
 
Again - those are NOT justifications ... just ways to try and understand how two men in charge of molding young men could allow this to happen.
 
Whatever the case, JoePa has announced his retirement and the media swell will probably die down now that the "big fish" has been caught. I sincerely hope it doesn't, because there are university officials (president, AD, police head) who knew more than Joe and did less than he did. And ultimately, there is the perpetrator himself who needs to be brought to justice for the victims' sakes. 
 
This cannot be like the Catholic Church scandal where a few priests lost their jobs, but the ones covering it up stayed in their jobs (or even moved up) ... or like the Michael Jackson case where all is forgotten and painted over in glowing terms after a death.
 
As for Paterno, it is a true tragedy that a man who has done so much for student athletes and students overall will have to live out the rest of his days with regret for the decision he made. His retirement was a necessity after this lapse in judgement was revealed - but I hope that the resignations/firings do not end with him simply because the spotlight will go away.
 
- SjT
 

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
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