[NU Sports] PSU's remaining season

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Now Jim, I've changed my mind on many things. (I used to think having a live tree for Christmas was a good idea, for instance ... :) ) But back to more serious matters that are not inside jokes ...
 
Hopefully you've also known me as someone who tries not to rush to judgement and tries to at least understand the various sides of an issue. Like I said, I didn't necessarily agree with the "Joe must go now" sentiment, but I can understand it.
 
This I cannot comprehend and seems like a mob rushing to action, not caring who gets hurt in the process.
 
And hopefully you also know me as someone who will not go with the flow just to appease a mobocracy frenzy of the moment -- I'm perfectly fine being in the list or national minority on this, the B(C)S or other issues where I am right.
 
The only reason people have given for the canceling of games and seasons so far is that "life's not fair," "it sucks but can be dealt with over time" or "at least it's not as bad as the abuse."
 
Those are just not good enough reasons to justify a decision that impacts dozens of student athletes who had NOTHING to do with this and thousands of local business owners and employees who also were not a part of this in any way.
 
To take it to a local example, if a high school football coach is caught up in a steroids scandal or grade-altering scandal, then there is a reason for the school to cancel games and suspend the program for a time -- this is what happened at Chicago and SMU. But if the coach is caught up in a scandal of abusing his wife or a DUI or something that has no direct link to the team, why punish the players? 
 
To carry out the will of the mobocracy and media hoopla here would mean harm to thousands for no justifiable reason. The university hospital analogy was a good one. People need to turn off the cable news and start calming down and thinking for once. Boldness is not always right. Grand gestures made in haste can be erroneous and two wrongs certainly do not make things right.
 
The players at Penn State have been put through a lot this week because of the actions of their coach, athletic director, university president and others. But not through any actions of their own. I think they will welcome an escape to the field instead of this media circus and since Spanier and Paterno are gone, I will have no problem cheering for them against Nebraska.
 
The mob anger here is misguided, and channeling it on the PSU players or local business owners and employees is wrong. Maybe life isn't fair and maybe it's not as bad as being abused as a child. But that still doesn't make it any more right.
 
Someone needs to be a voice of reason and tell the mob of media madness (not as eloquent as nattering nabobs of negativism, I agree) to go camp out on Spanier and Sandusky's lawns and hound the AD and police chief with the harsh spotlight glare and questions. Maybe if they did that, I would actually join them.
 
But leave these kids alone. There is no need to punish the innocent.
 
- Stephen

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions! 


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From: Jim Leonard <jleonard518 at yahoo.com>
To: Northwestern Wildcats <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 8:11 AM
Subject: [NU Sports] PSU's remaining season

Let me start with a disclaimer. In the 18 years I have known SjT I have NEVER changed his mind about anything. Not once, ever - so I no longer try. If he says that Penn State needs to play in a bowl game then it must be so. 
 
That said, I think Penn State University has a lot of soul searching to do. In a nutshell what we have seen at Penn State is that several grown men let their judgment be clouded by the fact that "this could harm Penn State football". I think the school needs to take time to find its moral compass and prove to the world that football is not its first and only priority. There is more than one way to do that, but I think skipping the Big Ten championship game and a bowl game would send a powerful message. 
 
The team essentially has a contract to play its remaining regular season games. The players were not guaranteed anything beyond the 12 games. If PSU did decline both post-season appearances then it would definitely be unfair to the players on the team. I have been a victim of this sort of thing in my own life too. It sucks, but you can learn from it.
 
I think canceling the 2012 season is a bridge too far. If they did decide to opt out of a bowl game (it's an option, they don't have to) it would give them an additional two months to look for new coaching staff and to reflect on all that has gone wrong in Happy Valley. 
 
Jim
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