Say it ain't so, Joe

[coozapalooza]

So basically it could very well come out that this was going on the whole entire time Paterno was at Penn State. Wow. Guess it shouldn't shocking, but even just typing it is pretty strong.

[NJTank]

I'd still like to know the full extent the Second Mile program stretched. I heard some extravagant rumors back when this was all unfolding that it was potentially "renting" kids out to it's biggest benefactors.

Obviously that could've just been media extremism, but...

I heard that too

[waltere]

Had to have know this was coming:

http://deadspin.com/5926366/report-three-more-men-say-jerry-sandusky-abused-them-in-the-1970s-or-80s

And the rabbit hole just got deeper. If they knew about this *%$# back then then that means the cover up has been going on for 40 or so years.

It's the same as 'Red's point from the last page, but Sandusky being a practicing child rapist as early as the '70s ≠ Paterno, or anyone else relevant, knowing about it.

Regardless of whether they knew in 1998 or beforehand, Sandusky should have been fired & fed to the wolves AS SOON AS the higher-ups knew about this. Penn State don't come out of it as heroes, heck they'd probably still be known as the school who had a proven child rapist working concurrently as a coach, but they would have done all they could by stopping it as soon as they knew. Paterno, Spanier et al. don't actually do anything wrong until the moment they know, and decide not to tell anyone.

[bosrs1]

Had to have know this was coming:

http://deadspin.com/5926366/report-three-more-men-say-jerry-sandusky-abused-them-in-the-1970s-or-80s

And the rabbit hole just got deeper. If they knew about this *%$# back then then that means the cover up has been going on for 40 or so years.

It's the same as 'Red's point from the last page, but Sandusky being a practicing child rapist as early as the '70s ≠ Paterno, or anyone else relevant, knowing about it.

Regardless of whether they knew in 1998 or beforehand, Sandusky should have been fired & fed to the wolves AS SOON AS the higher-ups knew about this. Penn State don't come out of it as heroes, heck they'd probably still be known as the school who had a proven child rapist working concurrently as a coach, but they would have done all they could by stopping it as soon as they knew. Paterno, Spanier et al. don't actually do anything wrong until the moment they know, and decide not to tell anyone.

Agreed. Some may find it hard to believe Paterno and Co. didn't know sooner. But so far we have no proof of anything before 1998 and nothing as definitive as 2001.

[pmoehrin]

Had to have know this was coming:

http://deadspin.com/...he-1970s-or-80s

And the rabbit hole just got deeper. If they knew about this *%$# back then then that means the cover up has been going on for 40 or so years.

It's the same as 'Red's point from the last page, but Sandusky being a practicing child rapist as early as the '70s ≠ Paterno, or anyone else relevant, knowing about it.

Regardless of whether they knew in 1998 or beforehand, Sandusky should have been fired & fed to the wolves AS SOON AS the higher-ups knew about this. Penn State don't come out of it as heroes, heck they'd probably still be known as the school who had a proven child rapist working concurrently as a coach, but they would have done all they could by stopping it as soon as they knew. Paterno, Spanier et al. don't actually do anything wrong until the moment they know, and decide not to tell anyone.

Agreed. Some may find it hard to believe Paterno and Co. didn't know sooner. But so far we have no proof of anything before 1998 and nothing as definitive as 2001.

I don't know if we'll ever find out when Paterno truly know about the situation. My guess is that Paterno and others may have had suspicions but didn't have anything conclusive until '01. But its one of those thing that we'll never really know for sure.

I do however think that Sandusky has been doing this for quite some time, and it wouldn't shock if it was for the entire time he was at Penn State. Maybe even predating his tenure as a coach at Penn State. This is not something that just starts out of nowhere one day.

[Kevin W.]

Paterno, 1987:

--SMU: "It's unbelievable to think that kind of corruption came right from the top of the power structure. The NCAA did what it had to do" in canceling SMU's 1988 football season.

[The_Admiral]

--Boosters: "You've got to control them. I tell them, 'I want your money, but I don't want your two cents. Keep your nose out of this program .... If I find out you're horsing around, you won't get a ticket into the stadium."'

That's funny, his tolerance for "horsing around" seemed to be quite vast indeed!

[pmoehrin]

Initial quotes from Mark Emmert don't sound good for the Penn State football program.

http://espn.go.com/c...ions-penn-state

"I've never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university and hope never to see it again," Emmert said during the interview.

"This is as systemic a cultural problem as it is a football problem. There have been people that said this wasn't a football scandal."

[Lights Out]

That second quote right there tells me that the NCAA won't do jack - by downplaying the overt football-related aspects of the scandal, they can make the excuse that it's a strictly criminal/cultural issue outside of the NCAA's sphere of influence.

[OnWis97]

That second quote right there tells me that the NCAA won't do jack - by downplaying the overt football-related aspects of the scandal, they can make the excuse that it's a strictly criminal/cultural issue outside of the NCAA's sphere of influence.

That's how I took it to. I agree that it's early and we should wait to see what they do, but that seems like setting up the excuse.

[BBTV]

The students who run the tent city that people camp at to get tickets, currently called "Paternoville", have decided to rename it "Nittanyville". There are some who aren't drinking the blue and white kool-aid.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/penn_state/20120716_ap_pennstatespaternovilletobenittanyville.html

[Sport]

I also read that the showers and part of the lockerroom will be razed and rebuilt. I guess they kinda have to do that.

Still waiting on that statue razing though. I don't understand the logic of the people who want to keep it up. It doesn't represent what it used to anymore. The statue represents the misdeeds and coverup of a heinous scandal. Why would you want a memorial to that? He's not JoePa anymore, he's not the guy the statue was erected for. Take it down before it gets vandalized worse.

Hell, put it in the Paterno's backyard.

[IceCap]

Paterno family to start their own investigation to investigate the Freeh report.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8171490/paternos-review-freeh-report-unneeded

This family just needs to go away.

[infrared41]

That second quote right there tells me that the NCAA won't do jack - by downplaying the overt football-related aspects of the scandal, they can make the excuse that it's a strictly criminal/cultural issue outside of the NCAA's sphere of influence.

If Penn State isn't a case of lack of institutional control then there's no such thing as lack of institutional control.

[Lights Out]

That second quote right there tells me that the NCAA won't do jack - by downplaying the overt football-related aspects of the scandal, they can make the excuse that it's a strictly criminal/cultural issue outside of the NCAA's sphere of influence.

If Penn State isn't a case of lack of institutional control then there's no such thing as lack of institutional control.

The NCAA really is screwing themselves with this. When they refuse to punish Penn State, they'll never have a leg to stand on against any school ever again. The schools will always be able to come back with "well, molesting kids and covering for pedophiles for the sake of the football program's reputation is a lot worse than [insert trumped-up violation here] and you didn't punish Penn State".

When the NCAA officially ends up doing nothing, we can pretty much bid them adieu. They'll have no credibility and no power left whatsoever.

[Sport]

Initial quotes from Mark Emmert don't sound good for the Penn State football program.

http://espn.go.com/c...ions-penn-state

"I've never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university and hope never to see it again," Emmert said during the interview.

"This is as systemic a cultural problem as it is a football problem. There have been people that said this wasn't a football scandal."

That second quote right there tells me that the NCAA won't do jack - by downplaying the overt football-related aspects of the scandal, they can make the excuse that it's a strictly criminal/cultural issue outside of the NCAA's sphere of influence.

Why are you so certain they won't do anything? Did you read the article? The next line after, "This is as systemic a cultural problem as it is a football problem. There have been people that said this wasn't a football scandal." was "Well it was more than a football scandal, much more than a football scandal. It was that but much more. And we'll have to figure out exactly what the right penalties are. I don't know that past precedent makes particularly good sense in this case, because it's really an unprecedented problem" and he goes on to say "We can never again allow this to happen,".

That doesn't sound like someone who won't do anything.

[Lights Out]

Still reads to me like establishing an excuse, then walking it back to save face. I can't say I trust the NCAA to do the right thing, but we'll see.

[Sport]

Yeah, we'll see, but until then there's no reason to think they'll do nothing. It's like you said, they can't afford to do nothing because they'll lose all credibility if (not when) they come out with a slap on the wrist.

I fully expect the punishment to be harsh and severe and that article instills confidence in me that they'll do the right thing.

My mistake the "we can never allow this to happen again" came from the Penn State president.

[infrared41]

That second quote right there tells me that the NCAA won't do jack - by downplaying the overt football-related aspects of the scandal, they can make the excuse that it's a strictly criminal/cultural issue outside of the NCAA's sphere of influence.

If Penn State isn't a case of lack of institutional control then there's no such thing as lack of institutional control.

The NCAA really is screwing themselves with this. When they refuse to punish Penn State, they'll never have a leg to stand on against any school ever again. The schools will always be able to come back with "well, molesting kids and covering for pedophiles for the sake of the football program's reputation is a lot worse than [insert trumped-up violation here] and you didn't punish Penn State".

When the NCAA officially ends up doing nothing, we can pretty much bid them adieu. They'll have no credibility and no power left whatsoever.

Assuming, and it's really a big assumption, that the NCAA won't do anything. As I said before, we're in uncharted waters here. I'm willing to give it some time to play out.

[Cujo]

Why would the NCAA reprimand Penn State, especially when the money is right there to be made? They probably views this as "negative publicity is still publicity". Penn State is still going to sell out. All their road games are going to sell out. They know college football fans are too dumb to boycott.