Worst Scandal of All Time

[CaribouJim]

Baylor was worse.

Both horrific, but I'd say PSU because in the Baylor case the cover up was after the murder whereas w/ PSU their cover-up started after some abuses but by not doing anything to stop Sandusky it lead to many, many more instances of abuse.

Bliss is a real creep though - trying to frame Dennehy as a drug dealer after the kid was murdered was unreal. No surprise that he got fired as the AD and B-Ball coach at that prep school (why would you hire him in the first place is beyond me) for forging a signature to get a kid in school. It's in his DNA.

[CaribouJim]

Both horrific, but I'd say PSU because in the Baylor case the cover up was after the murder whereas w/ PSU their cover-up started after some abuses but by not doing anything to stop Sandusky it lead to many, many more instances of abuse.

Bliss is a real creep though - trying to frame Dennehy as a drug dealer after the kid was murdered was unreal. No surprise that he got fired as the AD and B-Ball coach at that prep school (why would you hire him in the first place is beyond me) for forging a signature to get a kid in school. It's in his DNA.

...and I would add that the multiple levels of the PSU administration - all the way to the top - that were involved in the cover-up and enabling made it all the more disgusting.

[Goose85]

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.

I'm talking about NCAA violations, not the law (the law will ensure those involved at PSU will get their punishment). The NCAA isn't the law, that is what our legal system is for. A player can break the law and not get NCAA penalitles, just like a player can accept cash which is legal and get NCAA penalties.

I thought MU got in trouble a year ago (Cottingham) for not reporting the alleged incident.

The NCAA came down on Penn State because of the lack of institutional control that allowed the cover-up. My guess would be any attempt at the cover-up of an assualt (child, woman, man, student) would signify lack of institutional controls and be dealt with harshly, or is it just because these were kids.

[BLT]

I tend to agree with the NCAA overstepping camp. Sandusky stopped being a NCAA and PSU football coach in 1999, in retrospect because of concerns about his behavior by Paterno and PSU adminstrators. I believe that relatives did report these concerns to the PA Child Welfare department and at one time the DA was involved. Yes, the actions of PSU to continue to enable his behavior and to cover up criminal acts is absolutely horrible, but it was criminal in its end. I just wish the focus was on the victims and justice being served vs. the chest thumping of the NCAA. At some point here Joe Pa has become more evil than Sandusky in the press, perhaps because of the image he built up (bigger they are, the harder they fall). Again, not absolving Paterno, et al but Sandusky was the root cause of the evil here that will linger well past these sanctions. This shouldn't have become about the NCAA and PSU football, but about the victims and criminal justice.

[TheSultan]

...and I would add that the multiple levels of the PSU administration - all the way to the top - that were involved in the cover-up and enabling made it all the more disgusting.

Exactly. This was an institutional cover-up that reached up to the President of the University. And this cover-up enabled a pedophile to engage with more victims with the football program's support. (use of facilities...taking victims to away football games on team planes...) Compare this to the UW situation where the guy was fired within days and a report issued within a few weeks.

And really, the NCAA overstepping its bounds? The NCAA is an institution of which Penn State is a voluntary member. They are perfectly able to bypass whatever process they have established and are not bound by due process. Furthermore, since Penn State agrees with the penalties, they seem perfectly comfortable with the NCAA's actions.

[TheSultan]

I tend to agree with the NCAA overstepping camp. Sandusky stopped being a NCAA and PSU football coach in 1999, in retrospect because of concerns about his behavior by Paterno and PSU adminstrators. I believe that relatives did report these concerns to the PA Child Welfare department and at one time the DA was involved. Yes, the actions of PSU to continue to enable his behavior and to cover up criminal acts is absolutely horrible, but it was criminal in its end. I just wish the focus was on the victims and justice being served vs. the chest thumping of the NCAA. At some point here Joe Pa has become more evil than Sandusky in the press, perhaps because of the image he built up (bigger they are, the harder they fall). Again, not absolving Paterno, et al but Sandusky was the root cause of the evil here that will linger well past these sanctions. This shouldn't have become about the NCAA and PSU football, but about the victims and criminal justice.

It is rightly about both and it can move forward on both avenues without them taking away from one another.

[Gato78]

1998: Paterno knows about Sandusky allegations of child sexual abuse.
1999: Sandusky allowed to retire from Penn State as a result of allegations with full access to all Penn State athletics facilities. Retired as a hero rather than a pervert.
2001: McQuery observes sexual assault. Reported to his father and then Paterno. Paterno participates in the decsion making process to not report the incident. In addition, Sandusky's right to use Penn State's athletics facilities remains unchecked. No one at Penn State, including Paterno, even bothers to figure out the identity of the child victim to see if assistance could be rendered.
2011: Paterno testifies before grand jury invoking the Sargeant Shultz defense. He testified he was "...afraid to do something that might jeopardize university procedure". Curley and Schultz, through counsel, claim not reporting the 2001 incident was "the humane thing to do".
2012: Louis Freeh report criticizes Paterno, Spanier, Schultz and Curley as "the most powerful leaders of the University....repeatedly concealed critical facts related to Sandusky's child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees and the public at large."

How can anyone defend JoPa or the University vis-a-vis the NCAA with that set of facts and findings, all adopted by the University?

[MayorBeluga]

How can anyone defend JoPa or the University vis-a-vis the NCAA with that set of facts and findings, all adopted by the University?

Now counselor, neither PSU nor JoPa have been defended here. Most seem to take the postiion that it is not the place of an athletic association to interject themselves into a criminal and (likely) civil matter.

[Nukem2]

Now counselor, neither PSU nor JoPa have been defended here. Most seem to take the postiion that it is not the place of an athletic association to interject themselves into a criminal and (likely) civil matter.

Yep, the University and its extended family are being punished for the actions of a select group of mis-guided individuals who should have done the right thing in the first place when they first knew of Sandusky's perverse actions. Having the NCAA punishing everyone else makes no sense. The school is going to be hit hard in the pocketbook and will be badly perceived by the masses beyond PSU and its extended family, who had zip to do with anything. This should be settled in the courts.

[TheSultan]

First of all, the NCAA isn't "interjecting" themselves into a criminal or civil matter.

Second, the NCAA has complete authority to act because it is an athletics related matter. They can do so on a parallel track.