Sometimes, we forget that sports are not really as important as we act like they are. I know for a fact that I am far more invested in sports than most people, and I have no problem with that, but in the end, fans only get entertainment from watching sports and attending sporting events. There are plenty of people throughout the country that are far more dependent upon sports than I am. Players, coaches, trainers, owners, and people like that make their living off of participating in sports, so without the games we watch, millions of people worldwide would not be able to support themselves and their families.
However, people like myself and millions of other sports fans throughout the world have invested so much time, energy, money, and all kinds of other things into our favorite teams that we have given these players and coaches (rightly or wrongly) a large amount of responsibility. As a child, I looked up to guys like Randy Johnson and Brian Leetch (among many others). I didn't only want to be able to throw a fastball like Johnson or score goals like Leetch, but I wanted to be able to be in front of the camera and share my thoughts about anything and everything with the rest of the people that watched me perfect my craft. As I have grown older, I have learned that being a sports star is something that only a priveliged few can handle. For every Eli Manning or Drew Brees that is able to not only be a role model on the field, but off the field as well, there are tons and tons of Ryan Leafs and Pete Roses who can only handle half of that responsibility. It is why we see so many cases of athletes with so much natural ability that simply are not able to handle the spotlight of being in the public eye each and every day.
Even though it shouldn't be the case, sometimes many of these enormous expectations are placed upon the shoulders of collegiate athletes and collegiate programs. There are numerous colleges all over the country that are not only institutions of higer learning, but they are instead ways of life. In places like Tuscaloosa, Alabama or Durham, North Carolina, the Crimson Tide and the Blue Devils are not just teams. They are decades of blood, sweat, and tears. People like Mike Krzyzewski and Paul "Bear" Bryant aren't just coaches, they are icons. If you witness Duke beat North Carolina or Alabama beat Auburn, you aren't just seeing a group of kids beat another group of kids, you are seeing stories that will be passed down from parents to children. Whether it is right or not, whether it is just or unjust, it is true.
One of these places in which college sports is of such immense importance is State College, Pennsylvania. The Penn State Nittany Lions are the most important part of that community. The teams that take the field, court, etc. are not just collections of talented college athletes, they are symbols of the entire community. When the Nittany Lions win, State College wins. When the Nittany Lions lose, State College loses. And nowhere is that the case more than on the football field each Saturday from September until January.
Only about an hour ago, I watched Michael Wilbon say that Joe Paterno was the second most important man in the history of the state of Pennsylvania, behind only Benjamin Franklin. While he said it in a somewhat facetious way, it honestly is not far from the truth. Paterno was far, far more than the football coach at Penn State. He was a legend. For 46 years, players, coaches, trainers, students, presidents, professors, and many more all went to and from Penn State University. The one enduring image of the school was Paterno. I cannot even begin to imagine how many players he coached, how many assistant coaches he had, and simply how many people he affected in some way. Countless students graduated from the university and went on to successful careers in all kinds of fields, but the lasting image of the school was the football coach. Through good times and bad times, success and failure, championships and bad seasons, Paterno was the rock that seemed as though it would never be unearthed in the center of the campus.
When allegations of sexual abuse of children against Jerry Sandusky, one of Paterno's longtime assistant coaches, arose within the past year, it was a black eye for the program. There were incidents that were publicized to a degree, and it was clear that Sandusky had committed crimes that could never be forgiven. It was also apparent that Paterno and some other powerful people at Penn State were aware of these crimes, yet neglected to stop them. That fact alone was obviously bad enough, and in the wake of this news becoming public knowledge, Paterno was no longer the football coach at Penn State. Shortly after, tragically, due to his declining health, Paterno died.
His death brought about a sense of inconclusiveness in my mind. I had a deep appreciation for what he had done for the Penn State football program, as well as the community of State College, but it was impossible to overlook his complicity in Sandusky's crimes. Despite the close relationship between Paterno and Sandusky, Paterno knew about Sandusky's acts of sexual assault, and continued to overlook them. However, in the eyes of many, Sandusky was the villain, and Paterno still could be forgiven. When I woke up this morning, that all changed.
Over a period of a few months, a man named Louis Freeh, a former director of the FBI, and numerous other lawyers and officials, conducted a further investigation into this matter. Their report was released this morning, and it was more condemnatory than I could have ever imagined. It contained unimaginable amounts of evidence detailing a continued concealment of Sandusky's crimes by the highest of authorities at the university. Not just Paterno, but the president of Penn State, the vice president, the athletic director, and others as well. Over more than a decade, all of these people knew about what Sandusky was doing, and continued to cover it up. Sandusky retired as a coach, but was given a six-figure settlement, and continued to have full access to all Penn State facilities. His youth athletic program remained intact, despite the knowledge of the most powerful people at Penn State of his continued sexual abuse of children. What seemed at first to be only a terrible indictment of Sandusky ended up being a terrible indictment of the entire governing body of Penn State, Paterno included.
Sandusky was charged with a minimum of 60 years in prison for his crimes, and the most powerful people at Penn State not only knew about his crimes, but also allowed him to continue committing such crimes for over a decade. If there were any glimmer of hope left for Paterno, former president Graham Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz, and athletic director Tim Curley, that flame has burnt out. Not only did they allow a criminal to commit crimes and not be punished, but they allowed that same man to continue committing such crimes while turning a blind eye to the situation.
Where we go from here, I cannot even guess. Not only were Spanier, Paterno, Curley, and Schultz erroneous in not stopping Sandusky, they have now been proven to have concealed crimes that they knew were occurring. No longer is this a problem for the university or the NCAA to handle, it has become a problem for the legal system to handle.
I am not sure of the legal ramifications that could come from this report, but I'm sure they cannot be good. As far as the football program at Penn State goes, I am still undecided on how this should be handled. There are things like providing improper benefits to recruits or other things that might cheat the game on the field, but this is not one of those cases. The current players on the Penn State football team had absolutely nothing to do with these crimes, so I don't feel like it would be right to punish them by discontinuing the football program. This is a situation that is far beyond the bounds of jurisdiction of the NCAA or the Big 10. At this point, I'm not sure that anything can be done to the football program at Penn State. The only people guilty in this case need to be punished by the legal system.
One thing that I am sure of though, is that the Penn State football team will be met with hatred and disgust during every road game next season. They will travel to Purdue, Iowa, Nebraska, Virginia, and Illinois, and there is no question that the team will face unrelenting malice.
Nike has already disassociated itself from Paterno, and I'm sure that is only the beginning. There have been calls for the removal of his statue on the Penn State campus, and at this point, I cannot say that I disagree with those calls. There are so many shameful truths that we have learned from this situation, and there are still probably more to come, but one thing I know for sure is, there is a clear line between entertainment and reality, and when that line is crossed, the status of one man does not absolve him from wrongdoing.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The second half of the season starts tomorrow. Ian Kennedy goes againt that Cubs, and anything less than taking two out of three in Wrigley will be a disappointment.
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