Death Penalty for Penn State?

[skooter]

It's a tough call, but I'd say yes.

[novakjr]

Sadly, I agree. Temporarily, at least, and only football. I'd hate to see all the hard work of the other programs suffer because a a blind eye was turned to a sicko in the football program. But then again that opinion may be biased, because I'm a fan of Cael Sanderson and the top-notch wrestling program that he's built there.

It's easy to say that something like this won't happen again, especially given the fact that the school has been changed forever because of this, and will be under constant watch and scrutiny...

But some time away, could give everyone a chance to re-set, re-focus and create a new set of standards and rebuild a new image for the school. Start from scratch, and work to put all of this behind them, before they can move on.

[barrysloate]

Shut the football program down. The only thing people understand is money, that's why these horrific crimes were allowed to take place. Football was a cash cow and nobody wanted to spoil a good thing. Let the university lose a couple of hundred million dollars and let it be a lesson to anyone who allows crimes such as these to happen.

[drc]

What Barry said has some truth. They did their deeds for $$$, so a punishment causing financial pain might be appropriate. Something would be wrong if they were able to just keep the football gravy train going.

And it's fair to assume that other big schools would be willing to hush up problems to 'protect the brand' and the $$$.

Except my alma matter. They're clean.

[nolemmings]

oops--double post

[nolemmings]

If I were PSU, I'd consider offering up some serious self-policing and punishment.

I'm likely in the minority, but I would not sanction PSU at this time if I were the NCAA. Its effect as precedent and the scope of the NCAA's powers should be given serious thought before proceeding.

First, there is the standard argument that the ones most hurt by the death penalty or any severe sanction are the athletes themselves, who had nothing to do with any of this, apparently at any time. Second, I do not believe that severe sanctions are needed as an additional deterrent. The bad actors here are facing loss of liberty, career ruination and public scorn for life (and beyond in Paterno's case), as well as civil litigation. The institution itself faces not only humiliation but likely hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuit or settlement payments. Do you really think that someone presented with even a remotely similar situation in the future will be more concerned about football program sanctions than these punishments already in place?

It is easy to want to pile on all that is Penn State right now, and to a large extent it is probably justified. People are rightfully outraged. Still, the NCAA should be careful where it starts drawing lines. What if, for example, the SOB who opened fire at Virginia Tech and who killed dozens had been a promising linebacker whose unstable and/or homicidal tendencies had been brought to some coach's and administrator's attention? Would the potential wrongful death actions and prospect of criminal charges for cover-up or non-reporting be insufficient--would we insist that the football program be shut down as well to punish the institution? What if there's an off-campus rape by some football player who had been constantly pulled out of trouble by assistant coaches or the head guy and whose Dean or President had agreed that the coach could handle it internally--bye bye program? I'm not saying that some punishment might not be appropriate in these instances, but I am suggesting that this be looked at long and hard by the NCAA before it starts to hand out punitive measures where there are already specific and in my view adequate systems in place. Penn State will get what it deserves, IMO, without shutting down the football program.

[nolemmings]

One other point, for those who would say this is so very much worse than Reggie Bush's parents receiving benefits while he was at USC or when SMU players were paid by boosters. Why severe sanctions there--including a "death penalty"--and none or less here?

The NCAA is charged, I would say primarily or at least fundamentally, with upholding the integrity of the game and the amateur status of the athletes. We can all complain that it does so unevenly or heavy-handedly, but no agency has more interest in upholding those goals, which frankly aren't so societal that anyone else is going to get involved or perhaps even care. In short, it is the NCAA's job to make sure everyone is participating on a level field, and to mete out punishment when it discovers that someone is "cheating". Here, the integrity of the sport is not really at issue, or at least not directly so, nor is the status of any athletes, and there are plenty of other institutions and mechanisms to protect against and punish what has happened. It is true that the NCAA also has a vested interest in insisting upon the integrity of its coaches and participating institutions, if only to protect its product, but it need not be the lead watchdog in this arena, for again, there are others who are more experienced and better equipped to deal with the kind of criminal conduct that occurred at PSU.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Shut the football program down. The only thing people understand is money, that's why these horrific crimes were allowed to take place. Football was a cash cow and nobody wanted to spoil a good thing. Let the university lose a couple of hundred million dollars and let it be a lesson to anyone who allows crimes such as these to happen.

I agree, but shutting down Penn St.'s football will not stop $-related NCAA crimes/violations/etc. The SMU death penalty proved that.

What happened at Penn State was a horrible aberration that as far as I'm aware, is one-of-a-kind as it relates to college football and involvement of school officials. All the bad press will keep this from happening again, but anyone involved should still be fired - they got rid of Paterno to protect their program, but now they need to take it a step further.