Say it ain't so, Joe

[RyanB06]

Statement from Paterno family in response to statue being removed from outside Penn St stadium

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? The statement issued by the family of Joe Paterno in response to the famed coach's statue being removed from outside the Penn State football stadium:

Tearing down the statue of Joe Paterno does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky's horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State Community. We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth. The Freeh report, though it has been accepted by the media as the definitive conclusion on the Sandusky scandal, is the equivalent of an indictment ? a charging document written by a prosecutor ? and an incomplete and unofficial one at that.

http://www.washingto..._washingtonpost

And I thought denial was just a river in Egypt.

[NJTank]

Statement from Paterno family in response to statue being removed from outside Penn St stadium

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? The statement issued by the family of Joe Paterno in response to the famed coach?s statue being removed from outside the Penn State football stadium:

Tearing down the statue of Joe Paterno does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky?s horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State Community. We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth. The Freeh report, though it has been accepted by the media as the definitive conclusion on the Sandusky scandal, is the equivalent of an indictment ? a charging document written by a prosecutor ? and an incomplete and unofficial one at that.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/statement-from-paterno-family-in-response-to-statue-being-removed-from-outside-penn-st-stadium/2012/07/22/gJQAVhVG2W_story.html?wprss=rss_social-nation-headlines&Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost

Some advice for the whole Paterno Family

[Sport]

That's what I keep hearing from the "Leave it up" crowd. The "this does nothing to help the victims" people are missing the point.

A. It helps a little. It shows the victims that the culture that helped contribute to the abuse they suffered is being torn apart. B. The meaning of the statue has changed in the last year. It doesn't represent a football coach. It now represents the hero-whorship, the idolization of a false hero, and the man who allowed rape to continue unabated for a decade and a half. It became a shrine to one of the worst scandals ever. You don't get statues if you do what he did. It had to go.

I sorta like the Onion's solution

[Kevin W.]

Yeah, removing the symbol praising the man does nothing to help the victims. Let's put all those statues of Saddam Hussein back up in Baghdad. That will only help his victims.

[Burmy]

These are the rumored penalties Penn State will get:

I know the reports said no death penalty...but the rest of this looks about right...

[Sodboy13]

Yeah, that doesn't pass the smell test. The Big Ten isn't letting that happen unless they get a big-time waiver to hold a championship game with eleven teams. I still see no way Penn State doesn't field a team for 2012.

[Lights Out]

I'd assume the NCAA would still let them have a conference title game if they're really going to axe Penn State football for a year.

[dfwabel]

"1-AA" is an instant red flag to me.

[Billy B]

"1-AA" is an instant red flag to me.

Yeah, looked good until that. Paired with that contradicting the "no death penalty" we've been hearing, I'm not really believing it.

[Drew22]

"1-AA" is an instant red flag to me.

Bingo. This is someone's rumor that they're trying to get passed as true.

[Lights Out]

Either it's fake, or it could just be someone else transcribing the gist of the punishment and using "1-AA" by mistake (I honestly still hear 1-AA used more than FCS nowadays).

[rams80]

Well the AD, VP, are already charged with perjury and failure to report. The former Pres may also be looking at those charges as well.

As for the NCAA the penalties better be severe. You can't leak out that the penalties are unprecidented and "never seen anything like this" and they be toothless like the USC penalties. That makes the NCAA worse. But then again the NCAA is delusional and would probably do that.

Penalties probably need to be a significant scholarship reductions for the next 5+, post-season ban for at least 8 years, and a tv ban for duration of penalties. If you aren't going to shut down the program you have to at least give them a tv ban. Also make the, fork over 75% or more of the gate reciepts during this period to a fund for the victims families or a child service nonprofit that deals with abused children. Finally, direct NCAA oversight of compliance at Penn State for the next 10 years and a full investigation of any violations that may have occured during the Paterno era.

That I could live with no death penalty. As I said before PSU grew into a football cult that enabled Paterno and company to gain the power to let something like this happen. The supporters of the program need to be punished and crippling the program does that. I think if the PSU people had not reacted like they did there wouldn't be this push for NCAA penalties. The leaders at Penn State going to jail and Paterno dieing in shame would be enough. But the actions have shown that Penn State needs a complete culture change. You do that by killing/crippling the program going forward.

TV ban ain't happening. That hurts the opponents as much as Penn State. Which is why the NCAA doesn't use it for anything anymore.

To clarify: one of the contributing factors to the death of the sometimes-lamented Southwest Conference was the fact that a decent chunk of the Conference was under some TV ban or another during the 80s, which in turn served to harm the other programs in the Conference and weaken the overall brand to the point where Arkansas, Texas, A&M etc. began looking for an escape hatch. The Big Ten won't allow that to happen, especially now that TV money has become as big as it has.

[HedleyLamarr]

Yeah, I don't know how much of this to believe. When was the last time the term "Division I-AA" was officially used?

I can believe that there could be a death penalty of a year being in play still. I don't think the NCAA would leak that info in advance. Scholarship losses and postseason exclusion aren't punishments strong enough to warrant possibly-dangerous reactions on PSU's campus. A death penalty to the football team is. I'd think the NCAA would give themselves and Penn State enough time to ready themselves of any possible violent reactions.

Should Penn State be forced to drop a level, the most scholarships they can have is 55 for the first five years. But then that makes the "No bowls until 2015." punishment empty, since FCS teams don't play in bowls.

Of course, if PSU drops a level, that'll accelerate the Big Ten's expansion process, which figures to set off a row of dominoes if that 12th addition isn't Notre Dame.

[Raysfan12]

These are the rumored penalties Penn State will get:

I know the reports said no death penalty...but the rest of this looks about right...

Other than moving them down to 1-AA, this is what PedState needs to correct themselves.

[dfwabel]

"1-AA" is an instant red flag to me.

Bingo. This is someone's rumor that they're trying to get passed as true.

There is also the issue of the "Clearing House" listed in that screen cap is now known as the "NCAA Eligibility Center". The Center is also a separate legal entity than the NCAA.

[Dexter Morgan]

Something all schools and pro sports teams should learn from this. Only dead men should get statues.

[jkrdevil]

CBS Sports reporting a $30-60 million fine will part of the sanctions.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/19632027/ncaa-to-sanction-penn-state-source-says-school-may-prefer-death-penalty

[4_tattoos]

Assuming Penn State gets a death penalty/program suspension from the NCAA. Couldn't they just hold a club program through the duration of the NCAA suspension? Or would there likely be some stipulation that keeps them from temporarily jumping to club level?

[jkrdevil]

Assuming Penn State gets a death penalty/program suspension from the NCAA. Couldn't they just hold a club program through the duration of the NCAA suspension? Or would there likely be some stipulation that keeps them from temporarily jumping to club level?

1. They aren't getting the "death penalty"

2. If they would get said penalty, the team would still exist I believe, they just can't play games

3. I guess in theory (I'm sure Penn State can have a club team regardless of the varsity state), but club teams can't hand out scholarships so I don't see the point you are thinking of

[infrared41]

"Unprecedented" should not be interpreted as "severe" necessarily. We don't know yet, they could be so bad that "the death penalty may actually be preferable" as was earlier said, or they could not be. How about we just wait until tomorrow and see what they are before we all bitch and moan?

Yeah, that's gonna happen. I like your thinking but that ship sailed 30 pages ago.