September 8th was not a particularly great day for the game of football. The day started with the shocking public leak of Ray Rice knocking his then fiance unconscious with a vicious punch. By early afternoon, Rice would be out of a job with the Baltimore Ravens and facing an indefinite ban from the game. The NFL, and in particular Roger Goodell, would additionally face a lot of tough questions about what they knew, and how long they knew it.
Hidden within this NFL scandal was another announcement, this time by the NCAA in regards to another scandal that shook the very foundation a university, and the football program that to a large extent, defines it.
After serving two years of a four-year bowl ban that included the reduction of scholarships, it was announced that Penn State’s punishment would essentially be rescinded, meaning the Nittany Lions would immediately be eligible for bowl games, including the Big 10 championship game, and would recoup their full scholarship allotment of 85 starting next year.
The timing of this announcement was certainly notable, and the reactions of many PSU fans were sadly predictable.
Some immediately reminded all how the sanctions unfairly punished the players and coaches who had nothing to do with what happened under the watch of previous leadership. That argument would be fine, unless you of course understand than all players were allowed to transfer to the school of their choice with no stipulations. A number of players chose this route, including current Pittsburgh Steeler Justin Brown.
Additionally, no player who committed, or coach that took a job in the face of these sanctions was forced to do so. In the case of the players who made the decision to come to PSU, virtually all of them had plenty of other offers, and could have went in another direction. Yes, it’s unfortunate that those players had to pay the cost of a school and program that lost control, but to act as if they were unwilling victims in this situation is simply false.
Meanwhile, others rejoiced at the idea of being bowl eligible, as they immediately talked about maybe even winning a watered down Big Ten, where the allure of gaining entrance into the Big Ten title game, or maybe even one of the high profile bowl games could mean a big time pay day for the school.
They alluded to how it could mean success in recruiting. After all, they will have plenty of scholarships to use, thanks to the NCAA’s judgment that serving two years of a four-year punishment was more than enough.
Don’t count me in as one of those celebrating the NCAA’s announcement. In fact, I find it to be just another example of the NCAA caving to the pressures of people who clearly learned very little from the worst scandal in NCAA history.
It seems that what was learned is if you cry foul long enough to the NCAA, they might just listen.
It seems that if you have a big enough fan base, and can make money for the right people, you might get away with only paying part of the price for an elaborate cover up that involved many not only within the school’s administration, but the now forever tainted coach who turned a blind eye to justice, Joe Paterno.
Rarely did anyone linked to the program ever take the high road and say, “this punishment is harsh, but warranted, let’s serve it with dignity, move on, and be better for it once the sanctions end in a four short years.” Instead, it was deemed unfair, unreasonable, unwarranted. The concern was only for the mighty Nittany Lion football program, the responsibility for all that went wrong with those who were either fired, dead or in jail.
Certainly convenient, but not exactly taking responsibility for the broad spectrum of culpability that went beyond Jerry Sandusky, the shamed Paterno, or a group of administrators who clearly felt that protecting the football program was more important than the safety and well being of children who were preyed on by an evil monster.
I know taking this stand will not make me popular with many of our readers, including good friends, and frankly, with some of my colleagues. Fan is short for fanatic, and being born and raised in the area, I understand that very well. I also understand that few college fan bases embrace their program more than Penn State.
That’s certainly admirable, and worthy of respect.
However, no matter how passionate, no matter what excuses you make for those players or coaches who were not directly involved, the punishment doled out by the NCAA certainly was warranted, and most outside of the PSU fanbase tend to agree with that notion. They are not a bunch of Penn State haters, they are not all Pitt fans. This was supposed to go beyond a game, something that in many ways, caused this incredibly sad situation to begin with.
I believe the NCAA’s decision was a cowardly one, and it shows that they have learned as little as many of the defenders of all that is Penn State football have. They collapsed to the pressures of a program and fan base, who clearly feels they have paid their dues, again, barely two years removed from a scandal that has no equal in the history of collegiate athletics.
To be clear, the NCAA came to the realization that ending PSU’s sanctions would benefit college football, or it would not have happened. Does anyone really believe that this scandal happened at let’s say Akron or Utah State, that the NCAA would have stepped in and dropped the punishment half way through?
Of course not, that’s because when it comes to programs like Penn State, there is money to be made, by the NCAA, the Big Ten, and of course, media outlets like ESPN who rely on top draws like PSU to make profits. The best way to do this is to facilitate and support success in Happy Valley, not suppress it with pesky sanctions and punishments for unquestionably serious offenses.
This is an uncomfortable, but inconvenient truth in all of this. As fans, we make excuses or flat out deny things that make our heroes, or the teams we love, look like something short of what we envisioned them to be.
We have no problem calling Rice out, but don’t care to be reminded that James Harrison was involved in spousal abuse.
It’s easier to make excuses or let things go when it hits close to home, when it impacts their ability to enjoy the teams they embrace, or if it might make them feel a little hypocritical as a fan. This is not unique to one fanbase, it does not mean those fans are bad people.
It does however, mean that we might have our priorities a little out of place.
