Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Not sprint car related but certainly related to a large group of sprint fans in this forum. Will this bring on the Death Penalty or is PSU too mighty, what are some of my Posse friends thinking? Not too concerned with my Posse enemies thoughts, lol......

Since I'm not a big fan of Big 10 Football (I root for ISU, not Iowa).

As a human being, parent, and then fan of football (which I think is how most should view this), I think at the VERY LEAST, Penn State should get a "Lack of Institutional Control" violation from the NCAA. If it was my team or school, I think the same way, this REEKS of lack of control and putting legacy ahead of common sense and decency.

IF they decide to just punish the Football team, IMO, that is a mistake, this is far more reaching than the Football program. The LEADERS of the University knew and yet did nothing but sweep it under the rug. This goes straight to the entire University IMO.

Having said that, the STUDENTS and ATHLETES did nothing wrong (unless they witnessed something and didn't report it or do something about it). Since they are essentially innocent, I feel that they should be allowed to transfer without penalty if indeed the NCAA puts the FB Program (or the entire University for that matter) into a state of not being able to be on TV, Bowl Games, or takes away an entire season or two from them (The "Death Penalty" like SMU got).

It is extremely sad and scary that legacy and tradition meant more to the powers that be than a person's life (or shattering of a youth's innocence in this case). IMO, NONE of the parties involved should EVER be allowed to work for a University, High School, Middle School, AAU program, Youth Program, etc. EVER. Looking the other way when something bad is going on is just as bad as committing the crime to me.

I'm no fan of PSU, but to get the death penalty for this is silly. The current players/coaches had nothing to do with the coverup, and those that did are fired and/or tarnished and/or under investigation/indicted.

I hear you dsc and do get that side but the other way of looking at is this thing went deep into high level administration at the school and those who were not involved that are there now can go elsewhere, the punishment is meant to make them accountable for not properly reporting and what would send a better msg. to them and all other schools for the future than for them to lose highly regarded coaching staff and players. It sends the msg. that the NCAA and society do not stand for the behavior or covering of the behavior so they could make sure that Penn State and Joe Pa's good name aren't tarnished. I'd say it didn't work out the way they wanted.

The other person I hope gets their feet put the fire is Sandusky's wife, there is absolutely no way that she didn't know that these things were going on. 1 of the victims even has a taped conversation between him and her talking about this stuff in general terms. I am not a fan of people playing the blissfully ignorant card and that's exactly what she wants to do.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

The Death Penalty may be the least of the worries to Penn State. Their name will be so tarnished when this is all over as will Joe Pa's and when you add-on the law suits that now have a whole lot more meaning with the cover up involved the ugliness is just beginning. The current players would be allowed to transfer as was the case with SMU a couple of decades ago and while this may not happen soon it seems pssible if not inevitable. This was all about the football program and they ultimately will have to pay the price I'm guessing......

It's not about the players or coaches, it's about punishing the school and sending a message to all the other schools.

IF, and that's a BIG IF, the NCAA does punish Penn State, it's gotta give them death penalty in order to truely punish them where it counts ($$$$). A slap on the wrist and ousting a few old coaches and administators really doesn't do anything to them when you look at it "big picture".

I'm not saying I think they should do it, I'm just guessing that they will. If you don't punish them, you send the message to all the other member institutions of the NCAA that it's ok to put legacy, football (or basketball in some schools cases), and $$$ ahead of common decency. It's a message the NCAA cannot send IMO.

+1 to Vande and MSPN's thoughts. Thats exactly the way I look at it. I also agree that the schools reputation has been already badly hurt by this whole thing and if they start loosing sports programs and recruits (and even if the death penalty isn't handed down, recruiting athletes is going to be very difficult) think about what thats going to do to their overall enrollment as well, cause in all honesty a majority of the new students are 18-20 and alot make a school chose based on available sporting events they can attend and be proud they were part of that legacy, I'd say Penn State Alums and current students aren't bragging about their school right now. Enrollment will be hurt by this.

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The death penalty may only be applied in Pennsylvania in cases where a defendant is found guilty of first degree murder.

http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/pennsylvania/a/death_penalty.htm

Jeff Kristensen

I don't think the term is being used here referring to Sandusky's sentence, its a referrence to the punishment for the college itself and the sports programs. If they lose television coverage or possibly not being able to compete for an entire year this is referred to as "the death penalty" for the college. Wikipedia explains better than I do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penalty_%28NCAA%29

Sandusky by all rights got the death penalty as well, he will die in prison, as he should. As said in the great David Fincher film Se7en "and he still has hell to look forward to."

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Yo' Jeff, I am talking about the term 'Death Penalty' in reference to what they might do to the Football Program. The Death Penalty itself would be too easy for a piece of garbage like Sandusky, he can serve his time for his crime and may every day be hell.....

excuse my ignorance....and I agree 100%

Jeff Kristensen

The, "Death Penalty", as it applies to college athletics. I found this link after about 1 minute of googling. Several colleges have been banned from post season play by the NCAA athletics for decades because of past transgressions. Just offering a little background concerning the, "Death Penalty", topic.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304752804577384271414835202.html#slide/1

Note: I have been involved with education issues in the past few years, and saw first hand how incidents such as this, although nowhere close to the magnitude, can literally kill (as in state funding) a school.

Looking at the verbal commits PSU football has for 2013, I'd say you are wrong. It looks to be the best recruiting class they've had in a long time. Paterno being gone is actually the best thing that could have happened to PSU football. His age and the fact that he didn't go on recruiting trips any more kept a lot top of athetes away. O'Brien has done an outstanding job in recruiting. These kids aren't stupid. They know that Penn State is still a great university both academically and for sports despite the black eye of the Sandusky scandal.

The Freeh report definitely looks bad in the court of public opinion but the report isn't an official criminal investigation and doesn't carry any legal clout. The people involved in any cover up or wrong doing will get their day in court and will likely get punished with jail time. The scandal will also cost the university an enormous amount of money. I'd say that and the damage to the reputation is punishment enough. It's understandable that anyone who isn't a Penn St. fan would love to see them get the death penalty or at least NCAA sanctions but doing that would only be punishing a whole lot of innocent people.

A

Your probably correct as you likely know much more about PSU football than I do, I'm just going through the common sense answers to alot of this. What I don't get is if I was a recruited football player, why would I commit to PSU when there is so much uncertainty in this whole thing, that is a 5 year commitment and if in year 2 or 3 the NCAA does hand down the punishment they could, there that player sits, sure some players may be good enough to go elsewhere but there are alot of players that would have to go to a lower division then just to keep playing in hopes of being a draft pick. I know if I had a kid that was considering several schools and Penn State was 1 I would be telling them to think long and hard whether they want to be a part of that mess. I would also say right now that Penn State is in a damage control phase and I'm sure that numbers and reports that they put out about the school are skewed to some extend to say to the public, we're doing fine this isn't really hurting us that bad.

Also remember that Penn State in itself is a large entity, the high ups that were there during this and are there now are there to make decision for that entity, very wrong decisions were made. Yes innocent students and employees would be hurt by sanctions and punishment, but that is not a reason to not give the punishment. When there is corruption within an organization the perpetrators are punished and many times innocent people within that organization are also hurt by the matter, that does not mean that you do not follow threw with the punishment so others aren't hurt.

I am by no means a PSU lover or hater, I barely watch college sports, this is just my opinion as an unaffiliated party.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

After today Holden, all bets are off. It's gonna get real ugly in Happy Valley before it gets prettier or happier. That report will be Gospel for attorneys about ready to attack the school and the upper echelon who knew but did nothing. Having read just parts here and there it is a bigger slam than anyone could have predicted. The NCAA have a real task on their hands. I originally brought this up because I have a few friends in this forum that live and die Penn State and was wondering what they were thinking, it has to be heartbraking for them.....

How much do you guys think they'll get for the Joe Pa statue when they melt it down...? :/

Opinions may vary...

I'm a Penn State grad. The word that I've used to describe this situation is disheartening. To know that there was an opportunity to stop this guy 15 years ago and Penn State officials (including JoePa) appeared to have brushed it under the rug is tough to take. I'm glad that he is finally getting what's coming to him. It's a shame because I'm sure that his charity really did do some tremendous work. It's really amazing how sick some people can be.

With regards to the football program, I would be very surprised if they got the death penalty. This is a new territory for the NCAA. This isn't paying players, or players receiving gifts. This goes much further than that, into a place where legality because the real issue. I would think that the NCAA will stay out of this for the time being. There is going to be a large number of civil cases, plus the cases against Curley and Schultz. But in reality, this has nothing to do with the football program. It has to do with a bunch of men that decided that it was in the best interest of Penn State University to keep this off the radar. Penn State has been punished in the court of public opinion and I'm sure that they will be punished 10 fold in the courtroom. I don't know if it's right, or even possible, for the NCAA to eliminate the football program alone.

On a side note, at this point PSU officials have to make the decision to take down the Paterno statue. Everything that has happened in the last year doesn't completely erase all the good that he did over 60+ years there, but at this point in time he cannot be celebrated in that manner.

Allowing young boys to be raped erases any "Good" the man ever did...In my book...

Opinions may vary...

Huh, 'in reality, this has nothing to do with the football program'. It has EVERYTHING to do with the football program, wake up. A very good post during what must be a tough time is ruined by that ridiculous line. The football program will pay and the Death Penalty is more appropriate here than ever before....