From the NEW YORK TIMES / AP:
Penn State faced the threat of a four-year ban on playing football before the NCAA imposed sanctions this week over the school’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal, a university spokesman said Wednesday.
David La Torre said the potential for the multiyear “death penalty” was floated during discussions between Penn State President Rodney Erickson and NCAA officials before Penn State was hit Monday with a $60 million fine, a four-year bowl game ban, reduced football scholarships and the forfeiture of 112 wins.
The school trustees met with Erickson on the subject at a State College hotel Wednesday and afterward issued a statement calling the NCAA punishment “unfortunate” but better than the alternative — the so-called “death penalty.”
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EDITOR: So where was our ‘illustrious’ governor and board member when this was taking place? He wasn’t able to get the NCAA to back off? He couldn’t make some calls to other governors and have their universities weigh in? Who was fighting for Penn State? Hysteria reigned!
Normally there would have been hearings. But the current Penn State administration and the governor are too compromised to be effective representatives. Perhaps a committee of qualified outsiders should have been formed to have represented the university. But who would have appointed them? Moreover, that would have run the risk of public attention to who really were at fault and why it is inappropriate to severely punish the university and the football program.
Nevertheless, Penn State alumni should designate prestigious representatives and make an appeal for leniency to the NCAA.
