Yes, Jerry Sandusky did terrible things. You know what, though? Penn State students, athletes, faculty, alumni, and fans shouldn't be punished for those things. But, that's what the NCAA is intent on doing. That, and making themselves look good.
The NCAA is a complete and utter joke. If you don't believe me, take a few minutes out of your day to read about the University of North Carolina's African and Afro American Studies program. The program, which just happened to serve a preponderance of student-athletes at the Chapel Hill campus, conducted fradulent classes from 2007 - 2011. UNC's own study showed that there were 54 no-show classes. Students were given grades for fake classes. Athletes were steered to these programs by academic counselors assigned to the athletic department. Why? To keep students eligible for athletic competition.
Wouldn't you think the NCAA should care about this? Remember Mark Emmert's grandstading statement at the podium when he announced the sanctions against Penn State? In case you've forgotten, here is an excerpt from his comments:
"Our goal is not to be just punitive but to make sure the university establishes an athletic culture and daily mindset in which football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people. More than 100 years ago, the NCAA was created to assure that sports are fully integrated into our colleges and universities, and that the athletic programs wholly embrace the values of higher education.
Our constitution and bylaws make it perfectly clear that the association exists not simply to promote fair play on the field but to insist that athletic programs provide positive moral models for our students, enhance the integrity of higher education and promote the values of civility, honesty and responsibility.
The sanctions we are imposing are based upon these most fundamental principles of the NCAA.
One of the grave dangers stemming from our love of sports is that the sports themselves can become too big to fail, indeed, too big to even challenge. The result can be an erosion of academic values that are replaced by the value of hero worship and winning at all costs.
All involved in intercollegiate athletics must be watchful that programs and individuals do not overwhelm the values of higher education."
Strong words, aren't they? Unfortunately, Dr. Emmert clearly didn't really mean what he was saying. If he did, the NCAA wouldn't have told UNC today that it wasn't subject to punishment because no official NCAA rules were broken. You read that right -- since there's apparently no written rule that says running a completely fraudulent academic program is not allowed, then UNC can't be punished. So much for caring about academics.
Do you understand now why so many of the Penn State faithful are angry with the NCAA? Mark Emmert and the NCAA's Executive Committee members have shown themselves to be inconsistent, capricious, and arbitrary in their actions. They're all tools.
Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated summed things up perfectly this afternoon with his tweet in reaction to the UNC - NCAA news. I'm going to end with that:
"Long story short on NCAA's "conclusion." UNC, unlike Penn St, didn't make the evening news."
