A Great Football Program Falls To Scandal
Graham Spanier need not hold his breath waiting for my check this time. I refuse to support the legal fees of University employees who so egregiously did not do the right thing. There’s doing the legal minimum, and then there’s doing the right thing. Maybe there were no NCAA violations, but there was an absolute lapse in judgment by all members of the chain of command at the University. Including Joe Paterno.
(and yes, in case you wondered, I attended both Pitt and Penn State…but graduated from PSU. I claim both schools)
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mindpinball:
November 7th, 2011 at 9:26 pm
First, great article. I can’t imagine the pain you must be feeling about this situation.
Second, I spoke with a co-worker (also a PSU alumna) this morning, and she reiterated many of the same points that you did. There was certainly the feeling of believing in something that turned out to be less than what you thought it was in her statements. I don’t want to say it was innocence lost…but her faith in the institution and the people in charge took a hit with the news. She too, is a Steeler fan, and while the game last night was a tough loss, and she mentioned it too, I got the feeling that this hurt far, far worse.
I won’t judge in this case; but I will just let things play out and see what happens. It has been a rough year for college football programs, but this goes far beyond any recruiting scandals and impermissible benefits. Even so, it’s just another in what is becoming a long line of dark clouds looming over the sport, the programs in it, and the individuals charged to protect and maintain its integrity.
sally:
November 9th, 2011 at 1:30 am
There was a picture of a woman sitting on campus with a sign. It said “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” I think that hits the dilemma with Paterno’s actions pretty well.
A Great University – A Grave Mistake:
July 14th, 2012 at 6:06 pm
[...] been thinking about how I would write this post since November when I wrote the last one about Penn State. I have always, I guess, hoped that whatever was found out in the Freeh report [...]