Worst Scandal of All Time

[Gato78]

Someone on Doddsy's Board posted the Penn State scandal is the worst of all time. I think the Baylor scandal is right there with Penn State. Patrick Dennehy was murdered in 2003 by his teammate who was ultimately found guilty and imprisoned. Turns out it had something to do with a drug deal. Baylor's coach, Dave Bliss, was found to have stashed Dennehy, a transfer walk-on from New Mexico and had paid his tuition (and that of another walk-on if I recall correctly). Then Bliss lied to the murder investigators to cover his own improprieties. My question is: which was worse? I think they are damn near equal.

[TulsaWarrior]

Baylor was worse.

[TulsaWarrior]

The thing about the Penn State situation that makes it so bad was the number of years the cover up took place.

[MayorBeluga]

Both are truly awful. However, Hizzoner still wonders why the NCAA got involved. Exactly what NCAA rule did Penn State break? Let the criminal and civil courts do their respective jobs.

[Gato78]

Hizzoner: I would think that violating mandatory reporting requirements and involvement in a conspiracy to cover up and/or assist in the perpetration of child sexual assaults in order to preserve the reputation of the football program could be deemed a violation of NCAA rules which results in a recruiting advantage. I do not know what the jurisdictional reasons are but Penn State agreed to the sanctions in a consent decree.

[Nukem2]

Yes, who is the NCAA really punishing...? These acts were those of a criminal and a select few who covered up the situation so they would not look bad. Emmert talks about education and values...well, those were and are still in place at PSU. Get the court system after the administrators now that Sandusky and Paterno have gotten their due punishment. Had they done their jobs in the first place (umm...1998...? ), the situation would have been about a former employee who PSU referred to the police. A little taint but that would hardly have hurt the FB program and PSU at that point. Now it is all about FB due to their actions and PSU, its athletes, its students, its alumni, local businesses now are all impacted in terms of perception and $$.

[MayorBeluga]

Gato - I understand they consented. That said, it seems like a stretch to say that a coverup of a crime can be deemed a violation of NCAA rules. The point is not to defend Penn state's indefensible inactions, but rather to question why the NCAA needs to get involved. This is a criminal matter that originated, at least in part, in an athletic department. It is not an athletic rule violation.

[Gato78]

Hizzoner: A quick check of the internets revealed there were violations of NCAA constitution and by-laws and that NCAA could have kicked Penn State out of the organization entirely. No specific NCAA rules violations occurred, just violations of the membership obligations of the NCAA. As a result, NCAA had jurisdiction.

[Goose85]

I am among those who thinks the NCAA overstepped here.

What if Alvarez knew what Chidima was up to and didn't report it to authorities. Should they get the same penalty for covering up an assualt or worse because it involved current employees of the athletic dept? Could it be considered that MU covered up an alleged assault in the past as well? Should we get the same penalty, or worse because it involved athletes? Seems to me the Penn State penalty is all about covering up assaults.

So how do the rest of the four power conference elite teams view the NCAA's harsh Penn State penalty? Does this push them closer to a break from the NCAA?

[Gato78]

SIGINIFICANT differences in the law in dealing with child victims of sexual assauls and adult sexual assault victims. Crime not to report a child sexual assaults by certain classes of individuals--applicable to Penn State. In the case of MU and Wisconsin, adults involved so no duty to report. In Chadima's case there was a history of bad behavior but not sexual assaults. In MU's case there was no such history.