I'm intrigued by all the concern expressed for the athletes, the "innocents." While it's admirable, it also opens up the road to "don't punish the perpetrator because the innocent will get hurt." (DUI - "But I'm the bread winner. I need my car so I can earn enough money.")
There are always innocents hurt by the unethical and illegal actions of the few - who was/is worried about the Catholic nuns, teachers and students who've had schools and parishes closed because of the fines the Church has been forced to pay? Not everyone was "guilty" in the financial fiasco. Not everyone was guilty in the drug trials lies. Not everyone was guilty in the mortgage mess. But, the ramifications impacted an exponential number of people.
Seems to me we're taking more care of these folks -- because they're athletes -- than we are of the other folks, thereby continuing the culture of "Sport as King."
TJI, it seems to me there is a significant difference between your suggestions and situations where additional options may exist. As in the weakness of the Enron example earlier there is a difference between consequences of the event and the chosen method of punishment. Personally I think that almost every solution the NCAA ever chooses is misdirected and therefore hurts, specifically and exactly, the wrong people.
Let's be clear Jerry Sandusky was the perpetrator. Second hand, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, were the complicit enablers who had the facts and did nothing. Beyond that it becomes much more vague for Spanier and for Joe Paterno. Beyond that all the issues involved are ones of systems management which were not sufficient and are very likely not any better in numerous colleges and universities. PSU was clearly negligent in its responsibilities under the Cleary, whether the NCAA is the correct organization to deal with that can be debated. All need dealt with. All must be dealt with properly in order to be effective and insure the desired goals and outcomes.
My goals are punish everyone who has broken state or federal laws. Punish those involved in breaking specific and demonstrable NCAA regulations and statutes. Correct university structures and systems that failed to make it impossible for individuals to game the system at Penn State and thus made the university incapable of of meeting its obligations to prevent the history of Jerry Sandusky. Make sure that all members of the student body, faculty and staff are equally and/or equivalently responsible for their actions without favoritism shown for academic, athletic or professional standing.
Sandusky has been charged and convicted and providing something does not lead to the convictions being overturned, God forbid, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Curley and Schultz have been charged. They will be tried under the PA law for failure to report and rightly so. That is exactly what the law charges them with because they did not report the event reported to them by Mike McQueary. They managed it and failed to meet their obligation under the law.
Until more information comes out than even what the Freeh report found it is hard to say what Joe Paterno or President Spannier knew without hearsay or suppositions not provable in fact. To date neither has been charged or tried and only one can be. It is hard to say how these individuals should be punished or for what without further information.
The problem of students and innocents and punishing the PSU or any university is the purpose and to what end. Is the goal to punish or should it be to produce correction. Is the NCAA in any manner suitable as an organization to the task it has taken upon itself to do.
As I listed above the culpabilities of Penn State lie in relatively specific areas. Virtually none of which have in the past have specific guidance from the NCAA as to proper organizational structure and procedures. something that I now expect that the NCAA whehther it wants to or not is now obligated to do.
I have long thought the NCAA's method of punishment is illconceived and miscalculated. When programs are punished in the normal manner many without connection to the events are made to pay the price for the sins of others. Coaches and administrators are the offending persons and yet they suffer little to no penalty for their involvement. Transfer and find a new job while the old school and worse the student athletes left behind suffer. The death penalty should apply to those coaches and administrators directly. Banned for a year, three years or for life from being hired at a NCAA university. Violated the rules, and you coach, you Mr. AD pay the price. When it is a student athlete who violates the rules penalize him or her and require restitution if possible and suspension as appropriate. Fine the university for systemic and procedural deficiencies but always remember the real goal is to get those procedures put in place. Place the school on probation and require regular checkpoints and reports.
The NCAA needs to leave to the courts the punishment of criminals, to hold its coaches and athletic directors accountable for violating the principles of fair competition.
And if it is going to get into this new areas of general morality it had better be ready for a rainfall of athletes in trouble in numerous universities where rapes have occurred on campuses and have silently disappeared in the past or gone unreported. Given the decisions involving PSU everytime such an assault involves an athlete there should now be screams for the NCAA to investigate and take action. They are poorly suited to that task.
Yes, there are innocents who are affected and there always will be BUT that doesn't mean you simply accept that and do whatever. You stop, you study and you ask yourself to what end are we attempting to take action, does a particularly action achieve that end, if not, why are we considering it, and how will a particular action hurt how many who had no part in the problem and can the action be modified to minimize affecting the innocent. Punishing the wrong people for something for something they had no part in does not create restraint it creates resentment and anger. That is not a good end.