The recent allegations against former Pennsylvania State University football coach Jerry Sandusky and the firing of 45-year head coach Joe Paterno has shown the dark side of sports. More and more the reality of college athletics is that as long as an athlete or coach can perform well on the field, what they do off the field doesn’t matter. Until an embarrassment occurs.
The Penn State scandal is a perfect example of that.
It is reported by several news sources that then-graduate assistant coach and now assistant coach Mike McQueary witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a child in the shower of a school locker room. Paterno, former athletic director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz had learned of the abuse and did not report it or reprimand Sandusky. Eight people have come forward saying they were victims of Sandusky in the past 15 years.
The former Nittany Lion defensive coordinator is facing 21 felony counts. Curley and Schultz are also facing criminal charges including perjury and failure to report suspected sexual abuse. Sandusky has been released on his own recognizance by District Judge Leslie Dutchcot. She volunteered and donated money to Sandusky’s Second Mile charity in the past. Prosecutors were asking for $500,000 in bail.
Sandusky retired in 1999, receiving a lump-sum pension of $148,271 and currently gets a pension of $58,898 annually. Upon his retirement, Sandusky retained emeritus coach status and access to Penn State athletic facilities.
Schultz retired from the Penn State president position in 2009 with a lump-sum payment of $421,847. He receives a monthly pension of $27,558.
After the firing of Paterno, students and fans rioted in protest of losing the Nittany Lion icon, when they should have been outraged by the alleged actions of Sandusky.
How sick is the world we live in?
How are wins and losses more important to people than preventing abuse?
It seems more and more that college sports has abandoned principles and morality and many programs care only about wins and losses, corporate sponsorships and ticket sales.
Like it or not, college coaches are still educators, no matter how much they try not to be. Part of being a coach and an educator is to teach young men and women how to carry themselves and others with respect and dignity on and off the field of play and to properly represent their school so they do the same for a company or organization once they enter the real world.
Because of the amount of money these institutions generate through college athletics, college athletes and coaches are now looked at as gods and are given a free pass to do whatever they want. Anymore, more resources are used to cover up scandal, than to make these individuals accountable for their actions — a trend that needs to change.
Hopefully, as this story unfolds, our society will recognize the evil behind this mentality and demand a reformation of college athletics. Something has to give, because right now these are not the type of men and women our children should look up to, or, apparently, even be left alone in a room with.
John Giffin
Reporter
ZaneRokklyn (anonymous) says...
I feel your righteous anger, but honestly, has your head been in the sand all your life? Schools -- from elementary on up -- are always looking for someone to give them an edge over their alleged competitors, whether on the playing field or in the spelling bee, and the kids who succeed there (I was more of a spelling bee kid) get what is essentially a free pass. Even as I was bullied by the athletes, I was able to get away with all kinds of misbehavior as long as I kept bringing in academic awards for the school. And the coaches -- when I had them in class, they were leering, racist, misogynistic, ignorant pricks, yet they were *required* to teach classes they knew little about in order to keep coaching, and they could keep coaching as long as they kept winning. So this is anything but an isolated incident -- it's not just Penn State, and it's not just college athletics. It's the whole culture of competition among schools that makes misbehavior OK as long as it gives somebody an edge.
November 16, 2011 at 9:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sail (anonymous) says...
Whoa Zane, cool down , thats life, goodlooking girls get doors opened, jocks get attention while on the field, but its the nerds that end up getting the golden ring........ I do agree penn state dropped the ball and will get what is due them.
November 16, 2011 at 10:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
No Zane, don't cool down. Your post is right on target.
Too many people are not angry enough about all this crap and that includes sail above who is all too willing to just chalk it up to "that's life." Sail, how dare you be so flippant! It goes far far beyond the good looking girls getting their doors opened and YOU KNOW IT.
This kind of sexual abuse is going on all over this country from elementary schools and scouts and high school and all the way up to college and then into the workplace where mysogyny is most common of all. Herman Cain is the most recent example I can think of, the sonofabitch!
When are we all going to rise up with Zane's brand of righteous indignity at this practice and punish the offenders and those who enable them? Penn State worried more about losing money for their precious athletic department than they ever worried about Sandusky breaking the law. They should all be fired and fined heavily.
And now Paterno has sold his house to his wife for one dollar. The bastard is running scared over money, money, money. Screw him!
It has happened here locally. I know of one instance for sure when the county attorney at the time didn't even put the teacher-molester in jail.
I have sat in many history classes, grad level included, when the jocks taking it were half asleep or fast asleep from early morning practices because all they really needed was a D to pass the class so they could continue coaching. And we wonder why so many kids hate history. IT ISN'T EVEN BEING TAUGHT PROPERLY BY THESE COACHES WHO THINK MORE ABOUT THEIR WINNING RECORD THAN A KID LEARNING ANYTHING BUT SCORES AND PLAYS.
DAMN!
You go, Zane!
November 16, 2011 at 11:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
americus1987 (anonymous) says...
D-1 sports have been about money for a long time. If the NCAA went in and actually did what it should be doing, we would be seeing the SMU death penalty all over the place. This is a problem with society. We and the media glamorize the hell of sports. When I was growing up, I was more worried about my performance on a field or court rather than a classroom. I would say that attitude has only been more intensified. Look into how many little league pitchers are having tommy johns surgery these days. .
November 16, 2011 at 1:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
Even ESU has a dark side. Drugs and roids from the past. Might have cleaned up as not having heard much this as a couple years back
November 16, 2011 at 3:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )