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| Workers remove Joe Paterno statue. |
The N.C.A.A. announced significant penalties against Penn State and its football program Monday, including a $60 million fine and a four-year postseason ban, in the wake of the child sexual abuse scandal involving the former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
The punishment also included the loss of some scholarships and the vacating of all of the team’s victories from 1998 to 2011, but stopped short of forcing the university to shut down the football team for a season or more, the so-called death penalty. Still, the penalties are serious enough that it is expected to take Penn State’s football program, one of the most successful in the country, years before it will be able to return to the sport’s top echelon.
The postseason ban and the scholarship restrictions essentially prevent the program from fielding a team that can be competitive in the Big Ten. The N.C.A.A. will also allow Penn State players to transfer to another university where they could play immediately, inviting the possibility of a mass exodus.
The N.C.A.A.'s penalty, announced by the organization’s president, Mark Emmert, is the latest action to stem from the scandal involving Sandusky, who was convicted last month of being a serial pedophile. The release of a grand jury report detailing Sandusky’s actions last November led to the firing of the legendary coach Joe Paterno; the removal of the university’s president, Graham B. Spanier; and charges against two other top university officials.
I have to say that there is no lack of victims here.
My heart of course goes out to the young victims of Jerry Sandusky's predation, but I also feel badly for the athletes who played for the Penn State football team, as well as the students that attended classes there, as they will now have to look back on their time in that school with a sense of remorse, if not shame.
Personally I think the NCAA did the right thing, perhaps they could have implemented their version of a "death penalty" but I am not sure if that was a necessary step considering how much damage this scandal, and the penalties already handed down, have already done to Penn State's reputation, and ability to conduct a successful football program.
So what do you think? Was this adequate or should the program have been completely dismantled?
