Death Penalty for Penn State?

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

A general outcry that I have read and heard often lately is for the Penn State football program to be issued the "death penalty" by the NCAA.

The statue of Joe Paterno should be removed, the football program ended and even the stadium razed and replaced by a memorial to victims. Based on some of the comments regarding what should happen to Jerry Sandusky, the aforementioned ideas are some of the more calm responses to the current events in Happy Valley.

People are upset, and rightfully so. They want justice for the victims, they want to further punish a man who has passed on. They want the NCAA to act and to put the Penn State football program out of business. All this outrage is perfectly understandable, deserving and justified. Delivering the death penalty to Nittany Lion football is not.

We have seen many programs punished recently for violations of NCAA laws. The reasons and transgressions have varied and ranged all the way to including free tattoos.  In 1987, the NCAA canceled the entire season for SMU based on their multiple violations and slush fund for buying players. So based on the wide variety of scandals and punishments handed out by the NCAA, how can it let Penn State get away with its crime? When you take away a bowl game appearance for inking body parts at no charge, what does child rape warrant?

In essence, there are not any NCAA violations here. There is not a violation on the NCAA books for raping a child or molesting a youngster as it is already assumed that the criminal law and the presence of any sense in a human being would already cover the situation.

Many voices are saying the NCAA can act based on the bylaw of "lack of institutional control." This is most definitely NOT a violation of "lack of institutional control." It is the ultimate application of "complete institutional control" as they (the football powers that be and university executives), were able to "control" the situation for as long as they did.

Thank goodness this is uncharted territory. Would NCAA sanctions really rectify acts so obscene? It just seems people are calling for something, anything, to be done. But isn't this much larger than the NCAA and the capabilities it has to address this situation? Angry people want the program destroyed, but hasn't that already taken place?

The cover-up has now been exposed. The president of a large, prestigious university has been fired. The head football coach was fired and an extremely significant legacy is destroyed. The administrators who allegedly helped and participated in the cover-up are now facing time in jail. Jerry Sandusky is convicted and likely spending his remaining days in prison. The name Penn State is spoken with disgust and the upcoming law suits may result in untold millions being paid out to victims.

Penn State is now in a position to face punishment of historic levels even without the NCAA becoming involved. The concept of NCAA sanctions being administered to punish and deter are trivial in this matter. Prison time, millions of dollars in settlements and a ruined reputation are slightly more severe than being restricted from playing for a conference trophy and not going to the Beef 'O' Bradys Bowl next December.

This university is guilty of having a football culture that can create circumstances that allow these acts to happen. Just as it happens in society daily, it apparently will happen within these programs. But that does not justify the death penalty. If the football program creates followings and feelings within itself that cause members to become so immersed as to rationalize away such acts, then law enforcement needs to step in.

If blind loyalty, coach worshiping, and having boosters heap giant sums of money upon their universities and teams is a reason to shut down a program, then Tallahassee, Columbus, Lincoln, and a few other places may be in trouble too. No, Penn State needs more severe punishment than the NCAA is capable of administering and they have received some of it already. I suspect plenty more is coming.

So is the death penalty for Penn State football the way to make a statement, please the angry crowds, and punish the participants in this scandal? Maybe, but I wouldn't call it justice....and the victims may not either.

All this because I know more about nothing...