The Freeh Report yesterday was the darkest disaster it would be possible to paint for Penn State. Take the Sandusky disgrace and then link it to every senior decision maker at the university for the last twenty years. Include Joe Pa, the President of the University, the Board of Trustees and even the janitors worried about their jobs over their morality to get the scope.
I didn't catch the presser for the Freeh report release, but did get the PSU dog and pony about an hour later. Ken Frazier was just a touch too light for the situation. He offered formulaic regrets and a vow to do better going forward. His spot was a low C for grading.
Then came the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Karen Peetz, who sounded like a cheer-leader for a new fund-raising alumni campaign. She had all the marketing phrases and smiley sloganeering that might have been appropriate for an endowment report gathering.
Rodney Erickson didn't do much better than Peetz. Here's the whole sorry show:
I looked at SWMBO and we both agreed that this should be an absolute kiss-of-death for Penn State. This isn't about football, but if you were an athlete seeking a top level school for a promising career and a scholarship, would you jump at the chance to be linked with PSU? For that matter, would you even want to appear on the same field with PSU as an opponent?
If you were a parent and were seeking a top-level school for your college-aged offspring, would you consider the sort of ethical foundation they might get at PSU? Even with a clean-sweep, how long will it take before the stench is off the campus?
If you were a successful alumnus of PSU would you sit down at your mahogany desk and scribble off a massive check to the athletic or endowment fund? Might you not consider redecorating your office and possibly replacing that beautifully framed Penn State parchment with an Andy Warhol print of a Campbell's soup can?
Bad things can happen in big operations. But the all-pervasive acceptance of the most degrading behavior for the sake of preservation of the football program is simply too disgusting. Wind will blow through the dusty halls of Penn State for a decade at least. I would suggest shuttering, repainting, renaming and burning the archives.
1 comment:
Ed, Im from PA and a HUGE Penn State fan from a Penn State Family...and I sincerely hope their application numbers drop through the floor for the next semester until that entire rotten Board of Directors is gone. Joe Pa. May have been in the know but it is the higher ups that deserve to get smacked down hard...since they are still alive. Unfortunately I suspect there will be any real impact...just a gut feeling.
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