I applaud the NCAA’s decision. It is very heartening to see the NCAA proclaim that integrity, justice, decency, and morality are way more important than sports in general, and the reputation and legacy of an esteemed school specifically.
The NCAA hung a very heavy millstone around the neck of Jerry Sandusky. How would you like to be known as the man whose self-indulgent lust for perverse self gratification at the expense of children’s lives brought down a powerhouse school and ruined the legacy of one of football’s greatest coaches? Penn State has been busily eradicating any references that Joe Paterno might have ever been there. A good reputation is hard won and easily lost.
What was needed here was a “good correction” in the terms of dog training. In dog training you can either give repeated mild corrections to the dog and annoy him into submission, or you can jerk him for a loop one time. Mark Emmert ran the risk here of belittling the victims and making a forgettable “correction” and in so doing lowering the standards of morality and civility that would inevitably lead to more “corrections” down the road. The NCAA made a good correction, and more importantly, I believe quite possibly may have saved some child’s future because we don’t know how many Sandusky’s are out there.
Bill McGee