One of my partners is a huge Ohio St. fan...

[ChosenChildren]

and, of course, all we have been talking about are the problems that Ohio State has experienced with the NCAA violations, Tressell cover up, etc.

And then this Penn State disaster hits. Can it get any worse? It really looks like the entire Penn State athletic department knew about this, and in the interest of winning at all costs and "protecting" JoePa and the program, chose to brush it under the rug. It makes the Ohio State stuff look almost trivial in comparison.

My question is, is Division 1 college football broken? It sure seems that way when Ohio State and now Penn State do these types of things. Is there any end to this type of behavior? And why don't the schools step in and end the madness? Would the Ivy League model actually work better for the Big Ten, getting rid of scholarships? Should college football be de-emphasized?

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

This has absolutely nothing to do with NCAA violations.

 

[ChosenChildren]

True enough, but Penn State obviously covered up these crimes. They are a revered Division I college football program. Is Division I college football broken? It sure seems that way to me.

 

[FERNANDO]

This isn't about college football this is about people in high ranking positions in our society who didn't do what they were obligated to do. It is made worse by the circumstances in which it happened, horrific crimes against children and the cover up. The back drop is a university and college athletics but it could just as well be law enforcement, legislative or a prominent corp like Apple. These people were in a position of trust and they let everyone down. It sickening what these people did and is much deeper than football.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

From the early information coming out about Penn State it seems like there was a lot of CYA going on and not enough do whats right. (CYA-cover your a$$)

This is typical organizational behavior. Those in power's first instinct is to sweep it under the rug, minimize the damage, protect the organization and its heirarchy. If the insident had been at a lower level they would have jumped on it quickly and stomped on the perp to give the appearance of absolute compliance.