NCAA Drops Hammer on Penn State

You can read the summary of the NCAA action here, but the most interesting thing about it was how they relied on the Freeh Report, especially as it was 'more thorough than any investigation the NCAA had ever done.'  Yeah, unlimited access will get that for you.

A few thoughts:

• There are no winners here. Don't ever forget that. The NCAA didn't act to protect or 'make up' for what happened. This was punitive, pure and simple. 
• There will always be those that think JoePa was a patsie or worse 'did his duty' and is absolved. I think that is crazy talk and find that rationalization all too real.
• Which is why the NCAA needed to act in this situation. We focus on the NCAA being about football, but it is about athletic programs and the member organizations that those programs represent. Failure to take some steps (or some would say slap on the wrist steps) would be tantamount to saying the NCAA is cool with covering up crimes committed by athletic staff in athletic facilities against those that are most likely to view those people and places with reverence.
• It'll be interesting to see if Penn State gets booted from the Associate of American Universities. 
• There are no winners here.
• You can complain or snark about the vacated wins, but this is the only way Joe Paterno's legacy as the official record holder could be taken. Of course it is a hollow gesture, but it is the only one the NCAA has in this regard.
• Before you get all 'no competitive advantage' on me, consider the impact of the University announcing Jerry Sandusky, the heir to Joe Paterno's throne, was arrested for child molestation...that took place in the Penn State showers. Yes, there was significant competitive advantage in covering that information up and continuing to do so despite mounting evidence that it hadn't stopped.
• I can't imagine how unbearably hard it is to be a Penn State fan right now. I understand the need to rationalize all of this. I'd be no less a Georgia fan if this were Vince Dooley, with Mike Adams and Greg McGarity leaving the cover-up. I'd be appalled and looking for some way for it not to be true, but I'd still be a Georgia fan. We didn't exactly take the Jan Kemp thing well, did we?
• The NCAA isn't a hero either. 
• There are no winners here.

TD

-EDSBS's take on the NCAA, Every Day Should Be Saturday

-Pat Forde weighs in, Yahoo! Sports

-Consent Decree from NCAA
-Cowards' Coma, Andy Hutchins at Alligator Army
-Paterno Family Statement, ESPN

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