Penn State Sanctions

The NCAA handed out sanctions against Penn State yesterday for concealing Jerry Sandusky's heinous crimes.  Penn State is supposed to pay a $60 million fine, will have a four year bowl ban, lose ten scholarships a year for four years, and vacate 111 wins from 1998-2011.  But why?  Were Jerry Sandusky's acts beyond awful?  Yes.  Was Joe Paterno and the other Penn State higher-ups covering it up inexcusable?  Yes again.  But what makes the NCAA think they have any say in this matter?

The NCAA is supposed to regulate the athletics of the universities they govern, it's right there in their name, so how can they punish Penn State for something that had absolutely nothing to do with sports?  Was there a lack of institutional control?  Sure, but the Penn State higher-ups were not covering up recruiting infractions or drug use by athletes.  They were covering up something way worse, but that something had nothing to do with the outcome of football games.  Hell, there was even talk of giving Penn State the "Death Penalty", but once again, for what infractions?  The "Death Penalty" is for schools that blatantly pay players or a school whose coaches give their players steroids, not for something that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with football.

Was it wrong what Penn State did?  Yes.  But personally, I think the NCAA has no authority here and should stay the hell out of it because the guilty parties will be punished plenty enough by the law.  The guilty people involved have and will go to prison, so taking away bowl games and scholarships only hurts the players and they had absolutely nothing to do with it.  Besides, the negative reputation the school now has will affect recruiting and that should be punishment enough for the school's football program.  


However, I finally heard an argument that makes me think that the NCAA may actually be in the right with their punishment.  Basically, because Penn State covered up these horrific crimes, they did not receive the negative press back in the day like they are now.  So, had the truth come out in 1998, then they would be in the same boat that they are in today and that would have affected their recruiting which in turn would have affected the outcome of football games.  And that is technically in the NCAA's wheelhouse.


Even then, I still think that Penn State should tell the NCAA and their punishment to suck it and that they should continue to play in bowl games and continue to give out those lost scholarships and continue to call Joe Pa the winningest coach of all-time because the NCAA's punishment is absurd and has basically made Penn State a Division II school playing at a Division I level.

"Penn State already had to take down the statue of their best head coach in school history, how does taking away bowl games and scholarships make the situation any better for the victims?"