Penn State Punishments: NCAA Got it Right

"Football will never again be placed ahead of educating,
nurturing and  protecting young people,"  NCAA President
Mark Emmert stated on Monday

NCAA president Mark Emmert handed out one of the harshest penalties in history to Penn State early Monday morning. Emmert is fining Penn State for $60 million, banning them from postseason games for the next four years, reduced ten initial and 20 total scholarships each year for the next years, and vacated all of Joe Paterno's wins the years 1998-2011. (111)

Many people question whether this penalty is too harsh or not harsh enough. It is for that reason alone why I feel that the punishments were just right.

The main reason why people argue that these punishments are too harsh is because the current and future football teams had nothing to do with Jerry Sandusky's vicious acts. Many people believe that those involved have gotten off pretty easy besides Sandusky of course. Instead, the current football players will not get to particpate in any bowl games the rest of their college careers while wearing a Nittany Lion uniform. If they want to, they are free to transfer to any other school without penalty. I agree that many of the players and loyal fans of Penn State football are treated a little unfailry in this sense, but for some it may be an excuse to leave an institution full of hypocrisy and lies.

Many people are also upset about the vacated wins of Joe Paterno that have officially removed him from the all time wins leader. One student at Penn State felt that they were unfair, because Jerry Sandusky wasn't even a coach at the time that the wins were vacated. He is clearly missing the point of Joe Paterno's role in all of this scandal. Paterno knew about what was going on and still lied about it. Think about that for a minute. Paterno knew that innocent children were being raped and molested by one of his assistant coaches and did nothing. In fact, he did something worse than nothing; he covered it up. A man who was always known for teaching his players to play with respect and integrity, couldn't do the same when he needed to the most. The Paterno family is understandably upset and are outraged at everything that is taking place, but they really need to come to reality and realize the mistakes that Joe made.

Joe Paterno's statue was removed from Beaver Stadium on
Sunday in response to his role in the cover up of Jerry
Sandusky's crimes.

One point that has arised which is some cause for concern is the NCAA's involvement in criminal cases. Normally the NCAA doesn't hand out sanctions or punishmentss for criminal actions. Instead they leave that up to the courts. Their main responsibility is to monitor each individual team and make sure that everyone is participating on an equal competitive playing field. Many people argue that the NCAA is opening up a can of worms, and is stepping into hot water that will open up many other cases.

While I agree that the NCAA should not be handing out punishments for criminal actions, this was something so horrific and so high-level crime that something had to be done. The reason why the NCAA doesn't act on criminal investigations is because usually the administration or athletic department of each individual school is smart enough to make sure that these criminal acts are taking care of with penalties of their own. What do you do when their are several administrators of the university involved in the cover up of a decade-long child molester? Did you think that Penn State was going to punish themselves for what they did? If they were going to do that they would have done that back in 1998 when all of this began. The NCAA had to step in to remind everyone else that while sports is what drives in the money for the school, no one should be allowed to play under the guile and indecency that Penn State has for the past 15 years.

Everyone knows how much I love sports, but it is extremely sad that we are coming to the day-in-age when there is a "do anything to win" philosophy. In the past few years alone we have seen many sanctions being handed down for improper benefits, cheating, and now covering up a child molester's hainous acts. I feel that's why the NCAA issued these penalties. University presidents are finally realizing the will to win in sports is coming at too high of a price, and it is time for us to remember the importance of higher education.

No penalties will ever bring to justice what happened to the victims of Sandusky's acts. All we can hope for is to return Penn State to what it was before this acts occurred which came at a high price. A price that some innocent players and coaches have to pay, but one that will help us all sleep a little better.