eagle9903 {l Wrote}:gallopingghost {l Wrote}:Penn State should get the death penalty. What they did was far worse than what SMU did. DISCUSTAID!!
Here's why I'm not sure I agree: I think a penalty has to serve some kind of purpose. It should either be punitive or Prophylactic against future similar actions.
Punitive: Here, the bad actors are completely screwed. Curley, Schultz and Spanier should end up in jail, and they are going to be or already are financially and reputationally ruined and will never employed again. McQueery will never work as a coach again and is widely hated. Paterno's legacy has been destroyed and he is dead. Sandusky will die in jail, his wife is disgraced and her life is ruined. The NCAA can literally do nothing to those people that has not been dished out by the criminal and civil legal system or public opinion.
Prophylactic: Its a hard argument to make that a pedo is going to be deterred by NCAA violations. It is a better argument that killing the PSU program would ensure that no other college football program and school administrators ever cover for a pedo again. I have a feeling though that the publicity, backlash and civil and criminal penalties are probably more than enough to accomplish avoidance of a repeat performance elsewhere.
The one strong reason I can think of is to avoid the appearance of hypocrisy, but I'm not sure how sound that is either.
What allowed things to get so bad at Penn State was the fact that the Penn State community treated JoePa as a deity. The reactions of Penn State fans to his firing, and to this Freeh report show that they still treat JoePa as a God.
While I don't think that NCAA sanctions will stop people from treating college football like a religion, maybe it might make people think twice about elevating one coach to such a pedestal that even protecting a child molester can't tarnish his image.
