Unhappy Valley

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It's Saturday, and for the first time in 46 years, Joe Paterno will not be on the sidelines at Penn State.  Last week "Joe Pa" was fired, not for his performance on the field for the 'Nittany Lions' where he has 409 victories (vs 136 losses), but for a defeat that he suffered off of the field.  That mistake was one of judgment with regard to one of his assistant coaches Jerry Sandusky.

Mr Sandusky worked with Coach Paterno for some 20 years as a defensive coordinator, and seemed at one time to be the heir apparent to the throne in Happy Valley (a rather dubious honor, since Joe at 84, showed little interest in retiring until this week).  Mr Sandusky lost his status in1999 however, abruptly retiring after an incident reported by the mother of an 11 year-old in which he was giving the child a bear hug in the shower.  The University police investigated this occurrence, but no charges were filed, nor apparently was the information turned over to local authorities outside of the university.

Three years later, as it emerges in a recently released Grand Jury report, Sandusky was apparently caught in the showers at a campus locker room with a boy who appeared to be around 10 years-old by now linebacker coach Mike McQueary, who was a graduate assistant at the time.  Though there was some delay involved, McQueary eventually reported the incident and this report reached Coach Paterno, who in turn reported it to the Athletic Director.  That Grand Jury report in fact points to eight potential victims of Mr Sandusky, and is often the case when such charges are publicized, more may yet surface.

OK, these are the alleged facts as we know them now, but how then do we question what went on and judge those involved, if such judgment is permitted?

Why weren't the accusations in 1999 reported to local authorities?  When did it become the province of University Police to determine such things?  If Jerry Sandusky retired in 1999, what was he doing on campus, using school facilities, three years later?  Who permitted this and gave him access or keys?  Why, if he was granted access at all, wasn't he under closer scrutiny, based on previous accusation?  One must certainly call into question the judgment of the University in general and the Athletic Department in particular for allowing an alleged sexual predator access to the scene of many of his alleged past crimes.

Forget the delay in 'reporting' on Mike McQueary's part, why didn't he move immediately to protect the child in question?  It's reported that McQueary called his father for advice, so the question extends to asking why his father didn't tell him to go back and protect the child? These events show a serious lapse in judgment on McQueary's part, if not one of courage.  There is guilt by commission and guilt by omission, and if the story told by McQueary in this case is true, he is certainly guilty of the latter in the form of a cowardice that would be hard to defend.

(On a side note, let me say that a reaction of 'kicking the crap out of Sandusky seems the rather logical and immediate, if a bit Neanderthal solution.  If this didn't occur to McQueary Jr, it should have certainly occurred to McQueary Sr.  I understand that Michael McQueary is currently under suspension.  Perhaps he should be permitted to keep his job if he allows the father of the abused child to kick the crap out of him as he should have done to Sandusky when witnessing this event.)

How could no one else have noticed what was going on?  Campus life is largely provincial, and everyone knows everyone else's business.  It seems to defy credibility that this could have been going on for an extended period of time (which it apparently was) without others knowing.  If in fact others did know, then they too must share some complicity in this heinous behavior.

While I don't normally comment on sports, this story transcends athletics, and should act as an indictment of Penn State University itself.  This is not an NCAA rules violation on recruiting, undercover payments to players by slimy Alumni, or players attempting to cash in early on a fame that may be all too fleeting.  This is an institutional and systematic choice to turn a blind eye to child abuse going on by a current or former employee on your property.  It's also an apparent willingness to sweep such immoral and illegal behavior under the rug to keep the money associated with college sports spilling into Penn State's coffers.

If the NCAA is to continue to hold any moral dominion with regard to its mandated mission, there can be only one answer to these charges, if they are in any part proven to be true:  "The Death Penalty".  I leave it to this organization of dubious moral character whose inability to police its members is well known, the period which Penn State should do without their football program; but considering the length of time that this appears to have been going on, certainly such punishment should be greater than any of the one or two year sentences previously handed out by this bastion of all that's fair in college sports (sorry, that's alleged bastion).

I pronounce sentence without desiring to see any of the players currently on the Penn State football team punished (though I'm afraid that they will be forever tainted by association).  They should be permitted to transfer without eligibility penalties and allowed to continue their sports futures.  Penn State and its football program must however be punished in the only way that Universities and 'Big Time College Football' programs seem to understand, by hitting them in the revenue stream where it hurts.

Could this hurt other sports programs at the university or the admissions of new students?  I'm sure it could, but it certainly appears that more than the Athletic Department were at least aware of this situation and that the university as a whole is responsible for looking the other way for a considerable period of time.

Let the picture of an empty stadium in what will become 'Unhappy Valley' be shown every week on 'football Saturdays' to serve as a reminder to all those who see themselves as living in the ivory towers of academia and above the more mundane concerns of everyday living that they have a responsibility to the mere mortals who surround them and the communities they live amongst; and most especially to the children who may one day walk their halls.


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Something For Nothing

I received a suggestion (thank you Brad) that I should write this weekend about the continuing controversy surrounding Ohio State; and while this did get me thinking, the problem is that I don't normally write anything about sports. Let me say this however. As their situation currently stands, Ohio State is a college football program in shambles; their coach tainted forever for running a dirty program, their players disgraced by callous rule-breaking, and their one-time quarterback playing the role of a clown by assuming the mantle of diva before he even enters the professional ranks. Having said this much about the Buckeyes shameful behavior, I have probably said all that needs to be said about their dishonor, and perhaps more than they deserve. 


It's not like they are the only program recently besmirched by the actions of players and coach, as USC too has found itself at the center of controversy. And while its coach somehow seemed to escape to the professional ranks with little stigma attached; the behavior of Reggie Bush has caused the school to send back its Heisman trophy reproduction and forfeit a national championship. But these two programs are emblematic of a system rife with all of the worst in society today; and its message in general is perhaps more telling about many of those in society. 


For aren't the members of these teams simply another elite group assuming that the rules don't apply to them. On this one you can take your pick: high priced coaches, pampered egomaniac athletes , or the universities themselves who turn a blind eye to what they know is going on as long as the money keeps pouring in. It's actually almost amusing to watch those of the hallowed halls of the educational system (you know, the ones that look down their noses at the whole concept of college athletics) shaking their finger in righteous wrath at politicians and corporations while their employer is bellying up to the same money trough and begging for scraps to be thrown their way. 


Coaches meanwhile make "Weiner-like" pronouncements of innocence about what everyone understands has been going on for years, saying that they simply didn't know. The fact that their lack of knowledge can be directly attributed to hiring a staff the size of Genghis Khan's army, so that they can hide the fact that there's a 'dirty tricks detail' included in it should be overlooked. 


Speaking of overlooking, let's be clear that this mob of malefactors has only one job; seeing that rules violations of their programs are treated like a litter box (kept out of the way, minimizing the stench, and quickly covering anything remains visible to inspection). As for the athletes themselves, I would love to heap blame upon what in most cases are little more than a bunch of self-serving prima donnas with the moral education of a three year-old (no insult intended to 3 year-olds). It's pointless to go to such effort however, when they are indifferent to the opinions of anyone but themselves (and their sycophantic 'crews' of course). 


Protected from their earliest days of promise in life from everything but self-gratification, we should expect little more acceptance of following rules than what we get from this self-styled and pampered nobility. Held to a different standard from the first appearance of talent or ability, they are molded into the perfect physical forms and twisted souls that they have become. They have been told always that their ability on a football field or basketball court excuses them from following the rules of lesser humans. 


Those rules are twisted into shapes more complicated than that of DNA to accommodate their advance in school, attendance at practices, camps, and tournaments, and achievement of personal fame. And when one day they are old enough, those in higher education court them as assiduously as any maiden, and on bended knee offer them years of future bliss if only they will consent to a joining (no honeymoon jokes, please). 


It's little surprise then, that they treat that in which they have no investment with less than disdain, casting it aside at the first opportunity for the chance of the next deal, the better gig, and the bigger prize. Little surprise too, that the awards that they receive during what's supposed to be their 4-year marriage are of no emotional value to them except that which they have monetarily. Having nothing of themselves invested in the shiny trinkets presented to them as they seek a greater prize, they sell them off with little thought, less regard, and no regret. 


I would say "Shame on them" for treating money earned through the hard work of others with such disdain; but what can one expect of those raised in a system with no moral compass except 'winning' and no definition of right and wrong except 'don't get caught'. Shame on us instead for creating such a system, and for not demanding payment in respect at least for the gift that these young people are given. Shame on us for putting these people on a pedestal and using them as role models. But shame on us especially for forever damaging their lives teaching them little but contempt for the rules of society, and giving them "Something for Nothing".