Say it ain't so, Joe

[CS85]

Also, "In this difficult and deeply personal time, we ask that the media respect our wishes..."

I've got money saying 1) The diagnosis came in August or earlier and 2) The initial plan was for him to announce this with his retirement after his last bowl game.

Are you saying that Penn State was hiding or withholding information? I can't possibly believe that.

[njmeadowlanders]

Also, "In this difficult and deeply personal time, we ask that the media respect our wishes..."

I've got money saying 1) The diagnosis came in August or earlier and 2) The initial plan was for him to announce this with his retirement after his last bowl game.

Are you saying that Penn State was hiding or withholding information? I can't possibly believe that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggXmKPMaHMo

[CS85]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/sports/ncaafootball/charity-founded-by-sandusky-plans-to-fold.html?_r=2&hp

RIP, Second Mile.

[rams80]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/PennStateNCAALetter.pdf

NCAA getting ready to smack Penn State with lack of institutional control.

It's too bad they and second mile weren't immediately put on freeze. God knows how many crucial documents have been destroyed by either group in the drawn out time since this was broken open.

Joe Paterno's son reported today that his dad's got a treatable form of lung cancer.

*shrug*

Ummmm....Penn State being a state institution can't destroy nowadays unless it fits within their established records retention/disposal protocol. I know you're building up all the RAEG here, but at some point the conspiracy is going to stop.

As for the NCAA getting involved, this is dumb. All of the people involved are getting fired (or will be fired shortly) so there really is no point in punishing the school right now, and anyway this goes way beyond the NCAA's paygrade...especially since the NCAA lacks any and all forms of subpoena power and really really shouldn't have jurisdiction over the ongoings of university Presidents.

And this in turn ignores that we really do not ing want to establish a precedent where the NCAA punishes member institutions for criminal escapades. Unless everyone wants probation for drinking violations. The NCAA is a simple competitive organization that establishes rules by which it members compete in sporting events. Unless you're going to propose that Sandusky diddling 10 year olds provided some competitive advantage to Penn State not protected by the rules, the NCAA has no quarrel here.

[CS85]

I can see them now:

"Hey Bob, we should probably destroy these documents detailing (scandalous details pertaining to case)."

"Yeah, you're right. But hey - be sure it condones to established records retention/disposal protocol. It's one thing to be involved in a ring circled around child molesting, but I'll be damned if we don't do this by the books."

[BBTV]

I can see them now:

"Hey Bob, we should probably destroy these documents detailing (scandalous details pertaining to case)."

"Yeah, you're right. But hey - be sure it condones to established records retention/disposal protocol. It's one thing to be involved in a ring circled around child molesting, but I'll be damned if we don't do this by the books."

I don't know how it works for colleges, but for financial companies that are regulated by federal guidelines, records retention is serious business. You'd be amazed if you knew how much money was spend in software and hardware to comply with retention guidelines. If colleges are bound by any type of regulation, then they are likely audited by independent agencies and possibly the government as well. At least in the financial segment, I know about this all too well.

[Gothamite]

"Step away from that shredder; I'm willing to ignore the law requiring us to report child abuse, but I'll be damned if I break state records retention laws. I'm not a monster."

[CS85]

I don't doubt the seriousness of the regulations, but if this was bad, and I mean really, really disgusting bad on a grand level, many a hard drive has been wiped sparkly clean the last few weeks.

[BBTV]

I don't doubt the seriousness of the regulations, but if this was bad, and I mean really, really disgusting bad on a grand level, many a hard drive has been wiped sparkly clean the last few weeks.

And if they're in compliance with regulations (again - I'm not sure what regulations they're bound by) they physically can't delete or wipe anything, because content would be on WORM storage which literally can't be wiped and may even be managed by a 3rd party who might be even more liable than them for the destruction of the records. It ain't all on local hard drives... even if it looks to everyone like it is...

[Eye]

What records are you talking about?

[Brass]

So, Joe Paterno walks into a police station.

Oh, wait. That never happened.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

What the hell is with grown men and little boys? Just...don't understand where that comes from.

It's because male pedophiles can't as easily gain access to groups of girls more than a specific desire for boys.

Before anybody goes there again, this isn't a gay thing. It's a child-molesting thing.

And it's also not unique. It's a Wikipedia link, but men having sex with children -- male or female -- happens way more often you might think.

[neo_prankster]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/sports/ncaafootball/charity-founded-by-sandusky-plans-to-fold.html?_r=2&hp

RIP, Second Mile.

Don't feel bad for Second Mile. They deserve to be shut down just like PSU athletics.

[The_Admiral]

As for the NCAA getting involved, this is dumb. All of the people involved are getting fired (or will be fired shortly) so there really is no point in punishing the school right now, and anyway this goes way beyond the NCAA's paygrade...especially since the NCAA lacks any and all forms of subpoena power and really really shouldn't have jurisdiction over the ongoings of university Presidents.

And this in turn ignores that we really do not ing want to establish a precedent where the NCAA punishes member institutions for criminal escapades. Unless everyone wants probation for drinking violations. The NCAA is a simple competitive organization that establishes rules by which it members compete in sporting events. Unless you're going to propose that Sandusky diddling 10 year olds provided some competitive advantage to Penn State not protected by the rules, the NCAA has no quarrel here.

I kind of get what you're saying, but in the NCAA's purported role of Defender Of All Things Right And Good In Noble College Sports, they can't afford to sit on their hands during the worst corruption scandal ever to hit a college athletic department. Just because something is indeed "above their pay grade" doesn't mean they can't have any say in things. I think this is a fairly perfunctory matter. Just like how a league would suspend a player who is about to serve a prison sentence, even though there are bigger things at work. I don't think they're overstepping their boundaries to, similarly, pop in and say "oh and yeah it goes without saying, death penalty."

[Gothamite]

I'd tend to agree.

"You can have a football team when you've shown you can handle the responsibility. Say, when you've had a century without a child-rape coverup."

[Eye]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/sports/ncaafootball/charity-founded-by-sandusky-plans-to-fold.html?_r=2&hp

RIP, Second Mile.

NAMBLA's flag is flying at half mast today.

[NJTank]

There was no way the second mile could exist after this.

[pmoehrin]

I used to think it was a crazy idea for Penn State football to take a year off, but the more this story comes out, I don't think its as crazy of an idea as it once was. Its going to be years before the enviornment around Penn State football ever goes back to being normal and to try and operate a program with that cloud hanging over the stadium and still fresh in people's mind I think is going to be all but impossible.

If I'm Penn State I just take one season off. Anyone on the current roster should be allowed to transfer without having to sit out a year. Get rid of whoever it is you need to get rid of which I'd say might very well be everyone in that orginzation ranked above ball boy, and just hire someone who can bring in stability. Don't even worry about wins and losses right now. Try to talk somone like Howard Schnellenberger or Lou Holtz out of retirement if you have to even if they can only give you a year or two. Hire from your alumni and bring in someone like Franco Harris or Jack Ham even. That's the kinda of guy your going to need. You need to have that transition guy in there and it has to be somebody people know and who people can trust. If that means 2-4 wins at best then so be it. Your focus right now cannot be solely on winning football games.

Its going to suck in the short term but I think 5-10 years down the road its going to pay off much more then if Penn State tries to come back next year like nothing happened. They have to take a hard stance on this issue and show they are serious about gaining the trust of people over winning football games, otherwise they're not going to be able to do either.

[infrared41]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/sports/ncaafootball/charity-founded-by-sandusky-plans-to-fold.html?_r=2&hp

RIP, Second Mile.

NAMBLA's flag is flying at half mast today.

OK, I probably shouldn't have, but I found that to be pretty funny.

[rams80]

"Step away from that shredder; I'm willing to ignore the law requiring us to report child abuse, but I'll be damned if I break state records retention laws. I'm not a monster."

Post-Enron, the federales will ing nail you and your university office to a goddamn wall if you don't comply with regs as a state institution. And I don't think your office in this case have such an undying loyalty to Paterno that they will ignore them. Seriously, if the subpoena comes for documents that are supposed to be there and they aren't there, a lot of people up and down the line are going to be in serious trouble.

/Listen to the trained archivist.