College Football 2013 Season

[-Jrabbit]

Of course there are. Probably more than we can count. Do you actually believe that punishing Penn State any further is going to change that at all?

Does "deterrence" EVER work? I think we can agree on "rarely" for that. But the NCAA can't stand silent in this situation. Fair or not, they have a strong institutional need to be something other than bystanders in all this.

[Tupac Shakur]

I really don't understand what institutional need the NCAA has to get involved here. Kowtowing to the demands of perpetually outraged sportswriters/internet toughguys isn't a vital interest of the NCAA.

[-Jrabbit]

I think you understand perfectly well the realities of how the world works.
You're just unwilling to accept it. Fair enough.

BTW, you badmouthing "internet toughguys" was lol-worthy.

[Tupac Shakur]

I think you understand perfectly well the realities of how the world works.

Yes, which is why I don't understand why you seem to think this situation absolutely requires a really stupid and futile gesture be done by the NCAA.

[Tupac Shakur]

Since the release of the Freeh Report last week, most calls for action have come from those who either want the football program shut down, the statue of Joe Paterno torn down* or both. People scream for the NCAA to hand down the Death Penalty. They want their pound of flesh, but they have yet to articulate why the benefits of such punishment would outweigh the consequences that would harm people who had nothing to do with the cover-up and offer no punitive action to the actual guilty parties. ...

Saban made an interesting point Thursday. "Everybody's always worried about, what's the punishment?" he said. "The way I try to always look at it is, what's the outcome?... I think you can take any problem and say 'What outcome do we want' and maybe come up with a better solution sometimes of how you move forward. I guess that's a philosophical thing." ...

So what is the desired outcome here? For football programs to be accountable? Shutting down SMU's program in the '80s didn't stop other schools from paying players. Hammering USC hasn't kept players at other schools from taking money from agents. Nothing about the NCAA's current penalty model suggests it alters undesired behavior in any meaningful way.

What about a constructive rather than destructive solution? What about helping victims of child abuse and helping adults identify the signs of abuse so they might help a child and catch predators? ...

The NCAA shutting down the program would interrupt the academic careers of more than 100 players who were in elementary school when Paterno, Penn State president Graham Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley agreed they wouldn't contact law enforcement officials about Sandusky. A shutdown also would cost program employees their jobs -- not wealthy coaches, but secretaries, trainers and other support staff who had nothing to do with the cover-up -- and would harm the athletes in other sports who rely on football to pay for their scholarships. A shutdown also would economically cripple some of the people who work in the hotels, cook in the restaurants and drive the taxis in State College.

So why not try to find a solution that doesn't punish those innocent people but still allows for meaningful action?

Penn State should follow Saban's advice, focus on desired outcome

Well said.

Also...

"You guys will probably wear my ass out for saying that," the Alabama coach said.

Phrasing...

[Donegeal]

Major finacial deterrence that to a business? Much greater monetary hit than any criminal action can cause? Yes, it works. Not all the time, but it does work.

[SlowwHand]

Let's look at it realistically. Either someone above Paterno knew, or should have known. How do you excuse them in either instance?

[SlowwHand]

Now this.

Steve Garban, a longtime and influential member of Penn State's Board of Trustees, resigned Thursday, bowing to pressure by some of his fellow trustees who were angry at him for failing to alert them about the Jerry Sandusky criminal investigation in April 2011.


The trustees have become increasingly alarmed this week that the NCAA will hand down an extreme punishment, possibly the death penalty for its football program. ... Several trustees flatly argued in private sessions this week that Garban's resignation was needed to show the public that the board was serious about "moving forward."


In a letter to board chairwoman Karen Peetz, Garban said: "It is clear to me that my presence on the board has become a distraction and an impediment to your efforts to move forward."

"These past months have been some of the most painful of my life," Garban wrote. "After absorbing the findings of the Freeh Report last week, the Board of Trustees accepted responsibility for the failures of governance that took place on our watch. Following the release of the report, you also asked each member of the board to evaluate our individual paths forward."

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8182621/penn-state-nittany-lions-trustee-steve-garban-steps-downs-jerry-sandusky-scandal

[H Tower]

I can't wait until the football season starts so we can put this tragedy behind us and talk about team x got screwed by the refs so that team y, which had more name recognition got to keep their top 10 ranking.

[SlowwHand]

Big 12, and SEC.

[SlowwHand]

Oddly, only New Mexico favors leaving the statue.

What should Penn State do about the statue of Joe Paterno standing outside Beaver Stadium?

39%
Let it stand

61%
Remove it

http://espn.go.com/

[DanS]

They are the only school being represented in these talks for themselves alone and not a conference. Notre Dame has one rep in the meeting.

Who happened to be the one to draft the agreement. The least you can say is that ND acted in a constructive manner and in the best interests of the game.

Let's be clear. Independence has always been a part of college football, so be careful when you start talking about special treatment. College football does not exist to serve the conferences.

As far as ND's place in the college football world, it will rise and fall in the future based upon play on the field today. Judging from that play the last few decades, there may come a time when nobody cares about ND. But ND has a very rich store of history, so don't hold your breath.

[Ben Kenobi]

Wow, I agree with JR. Strange.

Tupac, why did Penn State cover things up in the first place? To try to preserve their football program and their revenue stream. This is why they should be given the death penalty. As it is, the cover up had many benefits to Penn State in terms of 10 years of football revenue.

[Tupac Shakur]

You're retarded if you think Penn State fans would've stopped attending games because one assistant coach was caught molesting kids. They're not going to stop going to games now even after it's come out that their godking JoePa enabled said child molester for years.

Or are you arguing that the Penn State football program would've been shut down because of Sandusky's crimes had they been revealed right away? I hope not, for your sake, as that's even more retarded.

[SlowwHand]

If Family Feud had asked in a survey, over the past decades, "Name something about Penn State", the top answer would have been Joe Paterno.
Not Nittany Lions. Nothing else.