Here is the article for the week. It is in regards to the athletic director at Penn State's court case, about him sexually assaulting a little boy in 1999 in the Penn State locker room. He was recently convicted of lying in a court of law, and convicted on perjury in connection with this case.
1. How much does this affect the stellar reputation the Penn State football team that has been developed by Joe Paterno's 40+ years there?
2. Do you think Joe Paterno's job should be safe? or should he fear for his job as a result of this occurring under his watch as coach? Do you think he could be remembered for this incident like Woody Hayes is remembered for punching the Clemson player in the bowl game?
3. What does this do to the Big Ten Conference's reputation as a whole, taking into account what has happened with the allegations at The Ohio State University Recently, Indiana's basketball team, and the allegations under Rich Rodriguez at Michigan.
No need to answer all the questions, I just found this article incredibly interesting with all that has gone on this past year in college football
-Collin
The reputation of the Penn State football team, and Penn State University will be diminished. It doesn't matter if he committed these acts or not, people wont be able to get these thoughts out of their mind, and whenever anybody talks about Penn State they will remember this. This is similar to the Duke lacrosse team several years ago. Players there were accused of rapping a girl at a party. These allegations turned out to be false, however to this day, when people remember Duke lacrosse they remember these allegations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michael. Even though the players on the team didn't have anything to do with the allegations, their reputation is diminishing. The public will think of Penn State differently after this incident. I feel this isn't only about Sandusky, it is also about the actions the university took. The only action taken against Sandusky is that he was prohibited to bring any boys onto campus. Even if Sandusky is an important figure to the university, I feel Penn State should had done more regarding this instead of just keeping silent in order to maintain a relationship with a former defense coordinator.
ReplyDeleteWow...This is not good at all. I remember hearing about this after the Bears game last night, and even then I didn't understand that the situation is this severe. This will truly come as a blow to the school's standing as a "rolemodel" for other athletic programs. However, Paterno's job really doesn't seem to be at risk unless he is actually convicted of something serious. Although, there is a great chance that he'll be remembered as a hypocrite for possibly not doing everything he should have while still preaching about "integrity." Only time will really tell what the final consequences are, except for Sandusky being ostricized (that's definitely going to happen).
ReplyDeleteThe Big Ten Conference seems to be a breading ground for controversy nowadays. What people may forget is that sports will always have controversy associate with them. Honestly, I expect there to be controversy at one point in any program/conference/etc.. While some may be more prone than others (e.g. USC, OSU), most of these schools at higher risk appear to be rather large schools with massive fanbases. Taking this into account, these programs are going to have many more people watching them carefully. Eventually something is bound to go wrong. This time, it just happened to be Penn State.
~Chris
Well, franky, this doesn't come as a huge surprise. It seems like every few days a new scandal involving a powerhouse NCAA athletics program is being broadcasted. I don't think Joe Paterno himself should have anything to worry about. As the article states in reference to Paterno, "the grand jury report didn't appear to implicate him in wrongdoing." To address the last question - I don't think these repeated scandals are an issue specific to the Big-Ten. They are an issue that spreads across the entire country, seemingly without regard to location, conference, etc.
ReplyDeleteHere's my question: Are schools - and particularly athletic programs - really getting that much more corrupt, or does our increasing access to news and the development of social media just allow us to hear about it more than we otherwise would have?
I have to agree with Zach. The Big-Ten doesn't really have much to do with the scandals, but it does get the stories more public acknowledgement. It is frightening how few, if any, schools are steering free of all the deviant behavior; but, this is nothing new. The most bothersome part is that people, who are allegedly upstanding citizens, would allow something of this nature to go unheard. The combination of the bystander effect and the corruption bothers me tremendously.
ReplyDeleteFor JoePa to do what he did at a high level for that many years is nothing short of ridiculous. I think that this whole situation is a shame because, while I do believe that Paterno knew full well what was going on (at least to some degree), part of the Penn State community is acting irrationally and blaming someone who really didn't do anything wrong. Paterno probably feels as if he has no choice but to step down, but I really don't think he should. If he was a second-year coach, sure, throw him under the bus. But Paterno has more than earned the right to go down on a positive note and with this situation unfolding, even if he somehow does stay, it will be almost impossible for him to accomplish that even if he steps down a few years down the road.
ReplyDeleteI think Penn State's reputation will definitely be affected. I think Joe Poterno should be fired along with then wide receivers coach Mike McQueary for legal and moral reasons. Legally, both Paterno and McQueary failed to report the situation of Sandusky having sexual intercourse with a child in the shower. The situation becomes even more disturbing when one considers the moral issues involved with the scandal. If one were to put themselves in Paterno or McQueary's shoes, what would they have done? Personally, I think anyone who knows of any type of a sexual predator, especially dealing with minors, ought to report immediately to the authorities. If Paterno and McQueary aren't held responsible for not reporting to the authorities, what kind of message does that send to the rest of us?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this will tarnish both Penn State's and Joe Pa's reputation. It is sad to see Paterno's legacy defined by this, as it surely will. He has already announced his retirement, but may be asked to step down before the end of the season. What a shame for a man that was synonymous with integrity for over fifty years.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the University goes, I see this as more of a condemnation of college football in general. While other programs have been airing their dirty laundry over the past few years, this is by far the worst thing that has come out. More than likely, no other school could find itself in a worse situation.
In the end though, everyone involved in this should be held accountable. There is no excuse in the world that could justify looking the other way when it comes to the welfare of children.
WWOOOWWW!!! smh. Reading about Sandusky's doing is so sickening and disturbing. And also the fact that none of this was reported just makes me angry. Paterno should fear for his job as a result of this occurring under his watch as coach but i also believe not only should he face some consequences but others too. This situation affect the stellar reputation of the Penn State football team greatly and also Penn State itself. As Michael stated "It doesn't matter if he committed these acts or not, people wont be able to get these thoughts out of their mind, and whenever anybody talks about Penn State they will remember this", I agree 100 percent with him. This is similar to an issue here at OSU but not to that extreme. I am referring to Pryor and four teammates selling their championship rings, jerseys and awards. And also receiving improper benefits from the tattoo parlor and its owner.
ReplyDeleteWhenever OSU's football team is discussed this situation is most likely to be brought up.
I personally have a problem with saying that the scandal will affect the Penn State football team, even though it undoubtedly will. When I see the word “team”, I immediately think of players. Players are the life blood to any team in any sport. Without them, there would be nothing. And that is precisely why I have a problem with saying it will affect the team’s reputation. It was not the football team that committed these awful offensives, it was Sandusky. Yes, one could make an argument that he was a part of the team, however this one sick man is not the entire Penn State football team. His reputation will forever be tarnished, that goes without question. But the players who go out on to the football field to compete and play their hearts out, the ones who put it all on the line, their reputations shouldn’t be so much as scuffed. One man in not synonymous with a team. Am I being unrealistic? Maybe a little. Its unfortunate that people who didn’t directly have anything to do with the actions of Sandusky will suffer. That’s just the world we live in I suppose.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that’s got me a little confused is that, in the article, it says that Paterno immediately reported the incidents to his AD once the grad student and his father told him what they had seen. Later, it says that when Curley, who had met with both the graduate assistant and Paterno, said that nothing of any sexual nature had been brought to his attention. So, now who looks like the bad guy? Of course Paterno does because the man who he told, who he probably thought would do something about it, said that he had no idea that the situation had anything to do with sexual abuses. Now, it looks like Paterno was just sitting around, knowing all this information, and he did nothing about it?! Of course he’s going to get blamed and he’s definitely suffering the consequences even though he did not commit the horrific offenses. Much like Tressel, the guy with the best reputation, who has clearly put so much into the football program and university as a whole, and the guy who so many people respect will suffer the consequences of others actions.
Where do you begin with this? First off in my opinion I think the Grad assistant that walked in on this horrible act years ago should have pulled this man off the child and beat the shit out of him. Instead he called his father and asked what he should do... How about call the cops !!!!! By basically allowing this to continue look at all the young boys lives that have been changed forever!! It makes getting free tattoos and taking cash from a booster look like child's play no pun intended .
ReplyDeleteAs far as Paterno this will with out a doubt be attached to his name forever. Just like others have said when stuff like this happens the coach will always go down with the ship because they are supposed to uphold order and integrity.
WIthout a doubt, Penn State's reputation takes a huge hit. Since this school is widely known for its football program, this will be attached to the university as a whole, effecting everyone. In regards to the comparison to Woody Hayes, that is an unfair comparison. This is so much worse on many different levels. This situation goes way beyond the football field. People knew of these sick acts and didn't tell anyone until now. That is disgraceful. While I still admire Joe Paterno and think he is a great man, it is pretty clear that members of the media and the public feel very differently.
ReplyDeleteJerry Sandusky abused this power for his private satisfaction. And it is also unbelievable that because of his reputation his crime cannot be reported even though there was powerful eyewitness. Of course, this incident will bring huge influence on the reputation of Sandusky as well as Pen State football team. Even though the Pen state football players are not involved with this incident, however, the image of Pen State football players will be affected hugely by thin incident.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also think that Pateno will be feared for losing his job because of this incident happened under his watch. Like the Pen State football team players, even though Paterno is also not directly involved with this incident, as the coach who can be considered as head of team, he also has some responsibility. Under his watch, he was needed to be more careful and also needed to do more strong action when he found out this awful incident rather than just reporting it to police.
The reputation must be affected by this scandal and all the members of this team would feel shamed for Jerry Sandusky . The most affected person should be the coach Joe Paterno. Although he leads the Penn State Football team to win for many times and gets a lot of achievements across his career life, he lost his job due to Sandusky. I agree Joe should be punished because of his covering, however, it's not totally his fault and something is out of his control. I mean in the competition season, it's better to keep Joe's job safe so that he can still direct the football team. Simultaneously, the Penn State University should stand out instead of keeping silent and should reveal the school's attitude toward this scandal.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Joe should be punished for covering up Sandusky, and should be concerned for his own career. It will definitely affect the team as a whole, and it is sad that the team will have to suffer because one of their players committed such a disgusting crime. They are being looked at as a whole, as all teams are, when someone decides to do something stupid. Joe Paterno should be ashamed for covering up this crime, and deserves to lose his job. It is sick that this went on for as long as it did without anyone saying a word
ReplyDeleteI think it is inevitable that this scandal will affect Penn State's reputation, as any scandal with this much publicity would. I think it is unfortunate that such an icon had to leave his place as coach in this way, but it was necessary to protect the players of the team. Joe Paterno did make a serious mistake for not reporting what he knew to the police and he is being punished for that mistake. So, I definitely think it will affect his reputation, but he will also be remembered for his huge contribution to the game of football.
ReplyDeleteThis scandal certainly tarnishes the reputation of Penn State as a football program and as a university. Previously viewed as an honorable and well-run university, that is all changed by the fact they covered up a sexual assault scandal so that the football team wouldn't get in trouble. Joe Paterno's job should not be safe as he most likely knew about and also failed to report to authorities, which is against the law in Pennsylvania. While he has such an illustrious career, he will most definitely be remembered for his failure to act on this sexual assault scandal.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe this tarnishes the Big Ten Conference's reputation, only because I believe there are scandals going on at most big Division I schools, but they aren't publicized until they get really out of hand. The Big Ten is currently having the biggest problems, so the NCAA is looking into these schools the hardest, simply trying to find every little thing that could be deemed an infraction.