By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the assistant football coach at Penn State that was recently convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse involving ten young boys over a 15 year period. I’m still pissed off a bit about the entire situation and cannot believe such a high profile school kept this quiet for so long all for the sake of a sport. Don’t get me wrong, I love football but I cannot begin to imagine the pain the victims have and are still going through and the courage it took to come forward. Sandusky is awaiting sentencing but in the mean time Penn State got handed a hefty punishment from the NCAA:
- $60 million dollar fine
- a four year ban from playing the postseason
- the loss of 20 scholarships
- vacating 111 wins
Wow, that is a lot of money and a big blow to such a prestigious football program but is it enough? Is it right to punish the football players of today for the crimes of yesterday? Is it right to take away legitimate wins from the players that earned them? Football is big business affecting the school itself but also the local economy on game days. Attendance is sure to decrease and jobs eliminated as a result. The NCAA has announced the $60 million fine will go to fund child sexual abuse prevention. What about the victims? Lawyers for one have announced they plan to sue Penn State directly and others are sure to follow. I shudder to think of the number of additional victims that are out there who may come forward to sue the school directly.
What do you think about the punishment and what else if anything should be done to prevent this from happening again?
