Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Destruction of Penn State

The story continues to unfold and gets creepier, seedier and nastier by the day.  I realize the legal process must take place and hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.  However, there are many things that can be done outside the legal process and here are some suggestions:
  1. Bond Downgrade - Moody's and S&P should investigate to see if a bond rating is appropriate.  The school lost control of this program decades ago and a message needs to be sent to all other institutions that they will be hit where it hurts them the most -- money. 
  2. Boycott - Consumers should contact advertisers and threaten to boycott products that are advertised during any game played by Penn State.
  3. Pull Ads - Advertisers should begin to pull their ads from games played by Penn State.
  4. Dropped from the Big 10 - Take Joe Paterno's name off of the Big 10 championship trophy was a needed step but more needs to be done.  I orginally thought kicking them out of the Big 10 would be the best thing but I am really not sure.  Maybe a long-term, painful, monetary penalty would be appropriate.  No bowl revenue sharing for 5 years and no football season through 2015.
  5. Transfer - the students did not have anything to do with the current scandal.  As such, they should be allowed to transfer to any other school without penalty or losing eligibility.  The leadership (so-called) of the school failed and the student-athletes should be allowed to play next year if another team wants them.
  6. Clean House - The board of trustees must fire every person associated with the Paterno regime.  Every person.  Yes, it is going to be expensive but it is necessary.  If janitors are afraid to report sexual misconduct for fear of losing their job the culture must be changed radically and the "weeds" need to be pulled from the roots.
  7. Hire Tough - The school needs a major overhaul and hiring the right people to proceed is going to be difficult.  Who knows, maybe this school will not recover.  Maybe this thing goes to deep and by removing the tumor the patient dies.  A 2nd or 3rd tier assistant at Directional State can't be the choice.  This is not going to be stepping stone.  From President to AD to Head Coach the right hire must be made.
  8. Accountability - The trustees and the school must be held accountable to someone outside the "family".  They've proven they can't be trusted and regular, comprehensive audits of coaches and support staff must be made. 
  9. Overturn - The commonwealth of Pennsylvania must overturn the law that protects its schools from making all information public.  They had the opportunity and now have forfeited it due to lawless deeds.
  10. Heal - There are dozens of hurting young men that need time and opportunity to heal.  They should not be forever labeled as "Sandusky's Victim" but should be allowed to somehow, someway heal from these wounds.  In our fervor for justice we can't and shouldn't allow these young men to re-live the agony.

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