NCAA crushes Penn State; Olympics start
By John Gilbert
NCAA president Mark Emmert appeared righteous and committed when he stood in front of the television cameras and media throng to announce the punishment that will render Penn State’s proud football team to certain also-ran status.
For not acting more responsibly in reacting to the disclosure that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had committed numerous and repeated acts of sexual molestation on dozens of young boys, Emmert announced Penn State would face: A $60-million fine, the loss of 112 football victories from 1998-2011, 20 lost scholarships, and a four-year ban on any post-season play or on Bit Ten revenue from bowl games. Players at Penn State will be allowed to transfer without penalty to any other institution.
For all the righteousness, however, we find out later that Emmert had contacted new Penn State president Rodney A Erickson, and informed him the NCAA would not hit Penn State with the “death penalty” of dropping football for four seasons if the university would accept the punishment he was spelling out. Erickson said Penn State would accept it, so Emmert then — and only then — announced the punishment, which seems to involve limited courage since it already had been agreed to.
During the announcement, Emmert said that the death penalty was not issued, because it would have hurt too many people who had nothing to do with the circumstances. And then he announced the punishment, which, except for the lost victories, only hurts the current and future athletes and coaches who had nothing to do with the circumstances. Huh?
I have been outspoken in defending coach Joe Paterno, who was fired right before the end of the season and died almost immediately of cancer, and possibly a broken heart for the program that meant more than life to him. Paterno had built the Nittany Lions to a pedestal in major college athletics, free of the problems and allegations that haunt most major college football powers, such as Southern Cal, Miami, Florida, and many others.
Yes, Sandusky was one of his assistants, and yes, when Paterno was informed by a younger assistant intern that he had witnessed Sandusky with a young lad in a shower at the football facility, he did hesitate a day, because it was Saturday, before reporting it to athletic director Tim Curley. But he did report it, and Curley, vice president Gary Schultz, and Penn State president Graham B. Spanier were all made aware of it and discussed it. Sandusky was dismissed, but somehow still had privileges around the football facility.
Penn State then hired former FBI chief Louis J. Freeh to investigate the situation. While there were some restrictions on his investigation, it divulged some major findings. It became obvious that when those top Penn State officials discussed it, they were wishy-washy on reporting it. Paterno argued to try to suppress the disclosure for the sake of the program and the school’s reputation. That was wrong, but it also should have been predictable, because every major coach at every major college is guilty of trying to prevent any loss of image in their program.
To me, the critical point was that Curley, Schultz and Spanier had discussed it, and all agreed they would follow Pennsylvania state law, which calls for disclosure of any suspected child abuse to state agencies. But they didn’t. Curley told them that after discussing it with Paterno maybe they should wait. Spanier was asked to tell the Penn State board of trustees about the situation, and all he said was that it was only a minor problem that would be taken care of — and nobody on the board of trustees asked for further information.
Without question, what we have here is institutional malfeasance, from the top down. Yes it was wrong for Paterno to try to suppress the information, but it was understandable that he would protect his turf which was totally uninvolved with Sandusky’s sleazy antics. It was unconscionable that Curley, Schultz and Spanier would give in and become a big dog willingly wagged by the tail, no matter how forceful and convincing Paterno was in his role as tail. Football is such a huge money-maker at major colleges that it, along with basketball, often cause administrations to overlook questionable antics in the athletic department until they boil over. This one boiled over, and all four of those leaders lost their jobs. Spanier was forced out, Schultz and Curley were fired, as was Paterno.
Sandusky is in jail for life, presumably, after being found guilty of repeated sexual molestations. He was an assistant football coach, but he was also a sly, sinister, conniving pervert — character flaws that had nothing to do with football or coaching. He could have been assistant custodian, or assistant to the president of the university, and he might have committed the same atrocities — and been less likely to be found out.
Next, Penn State tore down the statue of Joe Paterno outside the football stadium, the Nittany Lions symbol for football excellence. Then came the heavy-handed penalties for what NCAA prez Emmert said was the most egregious crime in NCAA sports history. But you know what? It had nothing to do with sports. The old coach, and the current players, will pay the price for having Penn State never again be mentioned among the best programs in college football. Even if they someday return to their stature, the Nittany Lions will be known for the black mark attached to their name and their heritage by the NCAA because of an obscure assistant coach/pedophile.
There are hundreds of major college football teams in the country, and twice as many Division I basketball teams, which are almost as powerful on-campuses. All of them have coaching staffs, with head and assistant coaches. On every one of those staffs, it’s good promotion for assistants to see that young kids come to games, to try to get them fired-up about the big college program in the area, especially while looking to the future. We would like to think that among all those thousands of assistant coaches bringing young lads to football games there is not one other single one who lays a hand on any one of those young boys. We would like to think there are no other Jerry Sanduskys. But if you believe there are none, then you might be interested in buying some ocean-front property in Kansas.
Mark Emmert said he hoped his action would make an example of Penn State for all other institutions to realize they couldn’t let something like the football program or any other athletic program become bigger than the college or university’s primary objective, which is academics, and to improve young people for their lives ahead. Very noble. And extremely naive. Does he really not know that at every major college, high-profile athletics make so much money that they indeed are tails wagging large dogs? Remember Wisconsin last year, when it was headed for the Rose Bowl but its star quarterback was found to have committed a punishable offense? The Badgers were able to put off any suspension until AFTER the Rose Bowl game, so as not to hurt Wisconsin’s chance to win, chance to maintain its program’s image, and to help make a lot of money for the school, the Big Ten, and the NCAA.
If Mr. Emmert really wants to make an example out of this horrible incident, maybe he should shut down the Penn State football program, even though nobody on the current team, staff, or administration had anything to do with the Sandusky situation. But why stop there? Penn State is part of the Big Ten, so maybe the whole conference is guilty. Why not shut down the entire Big Ten in football for one season? In fact, if Emmert really wanted to show some courage, why not shut down all college football programs in the country for one season? Then bring the sport back, having been smacked upside the helmet to redirect the sport to a different perspective, eliminating all the suspected academic-rule-bending and under-the-table dealings.
That’d teach ’em.
OLYMPIC GOLD AND GOALS
The 2012 Summer Olympics, just starting in London, will cause a lot of us to get on our red, white and blue outfits and chant “USA…USA…” to rattle our national pride at the whopping number of medals the U.S. is sure to stockpile.
That’s the part of the Olympics that wears me out the most. Never mind the uniforms made in China. Or the fact that only the USA Olympic Committee has changed the color of its uniforms from the color of the flag they’ll be waving at every opportunity. The flag, and previously the uniforms, were red, white and blue, with the blue being the same royal as embraces the flag. The uniform color now is navy blue, to go with the red and white. Yeah, that annoys me too. Name another country that has disgraced its own flag’s heritage similarly.
While watching the very exciting U.S. championships and Olympic qualifying events, I realized that the top three American runners, jumpers, throwers, swimmers, and all other athletes, get to go to represent our country in the Olympics. Is it possible that the U.S. will have the most athletes at the Olympics? Some countries might send one to an event, some none.
It’s great that the best competitors get to go, even if most of them come from only a few countries, because it’s a great honor. Duluth’s own Kara Goucher, for example, was third in the marathon so she’s going, and she’s got a legitimate chance to win gold in the event, if she can show more progress from recent events.
Nonetheless, it wears me out when every day, national and local television and newspaper reporters will breathlessly tell us how many medals the U.S. won that day, and where the U.S. stands in the overall medal count, for gold, silver and bronze, and in total. I wonder if Equador keeps track? Or Latvia? My point is, the nation with the most athletes competing should win the most medals.
In my perfect world, only the top competitor in each event would qualify for the Olympics. That’s it. When they line up for the 100-meter sprint, each lane would be filled by an athlete from a different nation. No more would the four top U.S. runners crowd out top runners from “lesser” nations. Since only one can win the gold anyway, maybe each country should have their best athlete out there with a shot at it. Shouldn’t the Olympics be about every nation sending their best athlete in every event, and competing in a climate of sportsmanship and camaraderie?
Also, before the games even start, I am weary of all the buildup about the U.S. Olympic basketball team. I mean, if any other nation comes within 30 points of the NBA-laden U.S. team, it will only be due to complacency and/or arrogance. Yet because they are all identifiable sports stars in the U.S. media mainstream, every media outlet reports breathlessly on every preliminary exhibition rout where the U.S. crushed some other poor country’s hopefuls. I’m as patriotic as the next guy — moreso, maybe. But it’s almost to the point where my root-for-the-underdog mentality has me hoping the U.S. gets upset along the way somewhere. Oh, they’ll win the gold all right, but it would be good for their character to have them out there wearing their red, white, and navy blue, made-in-China uniforms getting upset by Spain, or somebody.
Enough of that rant. Go Kara, we’re all behind you in the marathon. And go USA, we all love to get the chant going again. But let’s stop with the medal count. At least, whenever it’s given, let’s also give the total number of athletes present from each country.
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About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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