Tuesday, July 24, 2012

NCAA Rips PSU with Excessive Sanctions

            Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Beaver Stadium. WHAT? Well that is a list, in order, of the three most populated cities in Pennsylvania on a Saturday afternoon in autumn. The occupants of Beaver stadium are, of course, the pride and joy of Happy Valley—the Penn State Football Team—alongside 110,000 screaming fans. When NCAA President Mark Emmert stepped onto the stage at one of the most anticipated press conferences in NCAA history and announced the sanctions being handed down onto a new coach, a new administration and football team’s current Nittany Lions I, along with many others across the country just couldn’t comprehend.
             Sure I like the fact that the University will be forced to give several million dollars to the prevention of pedophilia and the sexual abuse of children, but why do it in a specified lump sum payment that will most likely be passed onto the students of the university and will have a negative effect on the University’s other sports? Instead it should have been a five or six year process in which all revenue generated from the football that DOES NOT go towards funding other sports programs. That way the University still loses money but doesn’t hurt the smaller athletic programs that had absolutely nothing to do with anything Sandusky related that went down.
            Worse than the massive payment that could easily become the crippling blow to several of the University’s minor sports is the shadow that has been the cast across not only the entirety of State College and the football program, but also over every alumnus of the school. The severity and length of the punishment will just remind of the terrible transpirings every time the Penn State football team takes the field. No—every time the institution is even brought up.
            These sanctions thrown down by NCAA President Emmert will not let Penn State University put these horrific events behind them. It will simply serve as a painful reminder to students, fans and especially to the victims of that monster Jerry Sandusky. The message would have been sent with a one or two-year bowl ban, five less scholarships per year and the required donation (broken into several different payments) from the football team’s revenue. Instead what we saw wasn’t just harsh punishment, it was sanctions that completely destroy the Penn State football program. It basically puts this storied program on equal footing with FCS schools.
            What bothers me most of all of this however is the deletion of every single Nittany Lion win since 1998. What purpose does that serve? What ineligible players were used? There were absolutely no grounds for that type of punishment. Sandusky’s actions and the subsequent follow up did not in any way shape or form have a positive effect on the team’s performance. In addition what good is tarnishing the legacy even more of a dead man? There isn’t.
            Even more it takes those wins away from the student-athletes that played in Happy Valley over that period of time. Former Nittany Lion and current Washington Redskin running back Evan Royster was among the hundreds of athletes affected. Yesterday he expressed his disappointment; a sentiment shared by many of the former PSU athletes, when he tweeted “ah crap... so I lost every college football game I ever played in?” Oh and did I mention that the NCAA didn’t even take proper procedure when determining the punishment. Mark Emmert came up with the decision without even running it past his council. It’s just ridiculous.
            When its all said and done though one thing stands true. Happy Valley isn’t very happy anymore.

No comments:

Post a Comment