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Penn State sanctions: $60M, bowl ban

RedAkston

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Penn State Nittany Lions hit with $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban, wins dating to 1998 - ESPN

The NCAA has hit Penn State with a $60 million sanction, a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins dating to 1998, the organization said Monday morning.

The career record of former head football coach Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records, the statement continued.
Penn State must also reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period, the release said.

WOW! Is this too much, just right or too light? I would rather see those responsible punished than the entire institution, but it is what it is. At least the money will be going to a worthwhile cause, and it would say a lot if Penn State would spend more money towards the endowment being created.
 
I really like this part of it:

The football program will also be excluded from playing in bowl games and post-season games for four years, as well as having its scholarships reduced and having to pay a $60 million fine, the equivalent of one year's revenues from the football program. The money will go to creating child sex abuse awareness programs around the country.

Something good out of evil.

At least in this respect those already attending Penn State to play football won't be penalized to any degree that would effect their careers.
 
I'm okay with 60 million sanction to help sex abuse victims but vacating all wins and banning the team for 4 years is absolutely ridiculous.
 
Penn State Nittany Lions hit with $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban, wins dating to 1998 - ESPN



WOW! Is this too much, just right or too light? I would rather see those responsible punished than the entire institution, but it is what it is. At least the money will be going to a worthwhile cause, and it would say a lot if Penn State would spend more money towards the endowment being created.
60 million dollar fine....reduction from 25 to 15 athletic scholarships...4 year bowl ban, 5 years probation, vacating all wins from 1998-2011....while they didnt kill the program outright, it will be effectively dead for at least the next 10-15 years....the one thing the ncaa did right was allow current and incoming players to transfer with no penalty. sad, very, very sad situation all around.
 
I also think they got this pretty much right.
 
Punish the university and people responsible, but punishing the athletes that were there working their ass off is simply wrong. Unless there is some sort of indication that the Sandusky scandal improved player performance, vacating the wins is wring. Everything else...fine, and maybe not enough. Id be fine with a 'death sentence' for a minimum of 5 years.
 
Unless and until the people who covered this up are terminated and/or prosecuted, it's not enough. Punishing an institution? Yeah, I guess. But then the innocent get the same treatment as the people involved. Personal accountability. That's what needs to happen.
 
NCAA President Mark Emmert said:
Football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people

This is why the sanctions had to be so severe. With the kind of money involved in college football, as this shows some people will do anything to win, and that has to change. It cannot be profitable to hide crimes to protect a football program.
 
Unless and until the people who covered this up are terminated and/or prosecuted, it's not enough. Punishing an institution? Yeah, I guess. But then the innocent get the same treatment as the people involved. Personal accountability. That's what needs to happen.

NCAA fines Penn State $60 million, institutes four-year postseason ban | SI Tracking Blog

The NCAA will have the power to continue investigating and impose further sanctions on individuals during that time.

MY impression based on that is the people who covered this up who are still at the school are subject to punishment yet. This round isn't about the individuals but about the program.
 
This went on FOR AT LEAST 15 years, thus the vacation of ALL of those wins, yet the sanction money is for 1/15th of that, only a single year's revenue. Even if only 10 children were harmed (a VERY low estimate) that is only $6 million per kid raped, FAR below what a civil jury award is likely to be. Placing money in a victim's fund is NOT the pervue of the NCAA, especilly limitting it to $60 million total, perhaps $60 million per victim or (per year) would be more appropriate. Much like saying we caught you STEALING $900 million so give back $60 million and we will call it all square.
 
this way to extremly excessive for what has taken place..........teams (football, basketball, baseball, ect) are to be penalized for cheating...acadmics, eligiblity whatever....what happend here did not give Penn State an edge on the football field.....a criminal act took place that just happened to be conducted by football staff, prosecute the ones guilty accordingly.....how does revoking scholarships, banning bowls, vacating wins ect. help the victims?......the money ok, i can see that but the "football program" didnt do this to those kids...only a handful of individuals did
 
The NCAA should also allow current players to transfer without losing a year of eligibility.

What could a recruiter possibly say that would make a football player competitive at this level want to attend Penn State?

I also wonder how this situation will affect current and past assistant coaches when they look for new employment opportunities?
 
Its really sad that this is what Paterno will be remembered for. His entire career is now in the toilet. But he could have prevented that from happening so I have no sympathy for him.
 
This is why the sanctions had to be so severe. With the kind of money involved in college football, as this shows some people will do anything to win, and that has to change. It cannot be profitable to hide crimes to protect a football program.

But it still IS profitable. OK, we KNOW that this went on for at least 15 years, so pony up only 1/15th of that revenue and then split that among the "victims"? In essense this is a ONE YEAR fine for 15 years (minimum) of wrong doing.
 
This hurts the football players the most, but the NCAA did right by allowing them to transfer with no penalty because they are not the ones that caused this. Other than that, I cannot be too upset with this.
 
The punishment was appropriate, that sports were placed higher than human decency is untenable.

Paterno is as much a monster as Sandusky, I only hope this serves as a reminder to all these athletic mills that there is nothing more sacred or important than the human beings and the society which they claim to prepare their athletes for.
 
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"The purpose of the NCAA is to keep a level playing field among schools and to make sure they use proper methods through scholarships and etcetera," the chair said. "This is not a case that would normally go through the process. It has nothing to do with a level playing field. It has nothing to do with whether Penn State gets advantages over other schools in recruiting or in the number of coaches or things that we normally deal with."

The NCAA, the chair said, had never gotten involved in punishing schools for criminal behavior.

"The criminal courts are perfectly capable of handling these situations," the former chair said. "This is a new phase and a new thing. They are getting into bad behavior that are somehow connected to those who work in the athletic department.

"This is an important precedent. And it should be taken with extreme care."

Penn State Nittany Lions hit with $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban, wins dating to 1998 - ESPN

While it is good that the fine is going to help sexually abused children, I am basically in agreement with the sentiments I quoted above. I am not so sure the NCAA should have got involved here.

I especially do not like how they gutted the program looking forward, and are penalizing players for these actions, the fines and the vacating of past wins I am semi ok with. The reductions of scholarships, and the post season ban penalizes those kids currently in the program (despite everyone being eligible to transfer - this is still quite an upheaval), or those who had committed or are still in high school who have potentially dreamed of playing at PSU should not be penalized for this.
 
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this way to extremly excessive for what has taken place..........teams (football, basketball, baseball, ect) are to be penalized for cheating...acadmics, eligiblity whatever....what happend here did not give Penn State an edge on the football field.....a criminal act took place that just happened to be conducted by football staff, prosecute the ones guilty accordingly.....how does revoking scholarships, banning bowls, vacating wins ect. help the victims?......the money ok, i can see that but the "football program" didnt do this to those kids...only a handful of individuals did

These "individuals" profited HOW? Yep, by getting to keep the football money rolling on in. They decided that little kids getting raped was just not worth risking any football money or fame. That is as sick as it gets. I agree that the players, fans and other's that benefitted did not KNOWINGLY do so, but they none the less benefitted from MANY kids getting raped for many years. This shows just how much power that MONEY has. Punishing those that benefitted from any of this money, just may place MORALITY a notch or two higher on the pay/cost scale. Saying just let bygones be bygones, is not going to sit well with those child rape victims, that were allowed to continue to be abused ONLY because of football money greed.
 
I would rather see those responsible punished than the entire institution, but it is what it is. .

Since it is such an institutional failure, then the institution IS responsible.
 
this way to extremly excessive for what has taken place..........teams (football, basketball, baseball, ect) are to be penalized for cheating...acadmics, eligiblity whatever....what happend here did not give Penn State an edge on the football field.....a criminal act took place that just happened to be conducted by football staff, prosecute the ones guilty accordingly.....how does revoking scholarships, banning bowls, vacating wins ect. help the victims?......the money ok, i can see that but the "football program" didnt do this to those kids...only a handful of individuals did

Because the University and the football program knew about it, did nothing to stop it, and covered it up. It could hardly be much clearer.
 
Before he announced the punishments....he said they were harsh and the intention is to send a message that FOOTBALL does not come before education and the safety of our children...and for that I support every single sanction....football shouldnt be and cant be more important than a schools mission of education.
 
I just got a text message from a friend, and I have to steal his line for here:

"NCAA where we punish kid ****ers by ****ing kids"
 
Penn State Nittany Lions hit with $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban, wins dating to 1998 - ESPN



WOW! Is this too much, just right or too light? I would rather see those responsible punished than the entire institution, but it is what it is. At least the money will be going to a worthwhile cause, and it would say a lot if Penn State would spend more money towards the endowment being created.

Everybody in the university who knew and did not report it to law enforcement should go to prison,this is just a slap on the wrist. In many states it is a crime to not report child abuse.
 
I'm fine with all this as long as they are allowing the current players to transfer without penalty. Seems like a fitting punishment to me.
 
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