http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143 It was a sad day in Happy Valley as the NCAA imposed a severe punishment on Pederast University. The university community and its fans were left <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKwDrNuNvCo">reeling in</a> the shock from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/07/24/penn-state-campus-reaction/index.html">sanctions</a> which would see <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Paterno">Coach Joe Paterno</a> stripped of all wins since 199 en-us Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:13:19 GMT Mon, 30 Jul 2012 13:01:34 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#47 That was my point on the earlier Penn State writeup. &nbsp;I find it highly doubtful that JoePa <b>didn't</b> know what was going on, but I thought that long before this. &nbsp;I don't, however, see what in the Freeh Report had so many people shouting, "Oh Mon, 30 Jul 2012 13:01:34 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#46 Or wish we'd made more -- I think it's pretty even money. Sun, 29 Jul 2012 19:08:21 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#45 When he comes back from the dead we will be sorry we made jokes about him. Sun, 29 Jul 2012 18:27:30 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#44 "I think Joe Pa would have wantedeveryone to be honorable." It's funny the way people just attribute whatever they feel like to their heroes. Sun, 29 Jul 2012 11:45:30 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#43 It's what passes for forward thinking 'round these parts. Sun, 29 Jul 2012 11:39:47 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#42 Definitely will be a movie about this. I see Will Ferrell playing the role of Jerry Sandusky and Meryl Streep playing Joe Paterno. Elijah Wood could play the parts of all the kids that got raped. Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:40:49 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#41 Wow I can't believe that article was even written. Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:38:39 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#40 An interesting take on the Freeh report from an attorney who posts on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/07/the-case-against-joe-paterno-weak-to-non-existent-on-the-current-record.php">PowerLine </a> suggests that based on w Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:25:31 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#39 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://wearecentralpa.com/fulltext?nxd_id=387862">These people</a>. Fri, 27 Jul 2012 18:19:50 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#38 "John Amaechi, a very tall Englishman who came to America with a dream of making it in the NBA, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.phillymag.com/articles/which-eagles-and-phillies-are-gay/4/">first had sex with a man in a bathroom stall at Penn State</a>" Fri, 27 Jul 2012 06:48:24 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#37 It's interesting because I'm very permissive about lots of things and think that the mlb doping scandal was a joke. But many athletes themselves want the doping banned because it's so bad for them and they don't want fellow athletes gaining that advantage Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:48:48 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#36 They made a movie glorifying the blacksox. Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:43:32 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#35 If your point is that the NCAA is a joke you'll get no argument here. Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:39:24 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#34 Don't ask me, I think doping should be legal for professional athletes, at least. Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:43:54 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#33 I'd agree with you if we could just get Paterno.<p>&#10;So... who should we retroactively declare to be the winners of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_at_the_Tour_de_France">the Tour de France</a>?<br>&#10; Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:06:02 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#32 It's not so obvious considering that the crime plus 10-13 years of coverup plus the knowledge that they'll never go to a bowl game has resulted in precisely two of 2013's verbal commits saying they've changed their mind.<p>&#10;It may have helped him hold on t Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:44:03 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#31 /kline <strong>JoePa</strong> Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:36:57 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#30 Covering up Sandusky's pedophilia gave him an obvious recruiting advantage. &nbsp;If this had become public knowledge in 1998, Penn State would not have been able to recruit players of the same quality. &nbsp;Covering up a crime so that you can maintain yo Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:29:46 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#29 His moral failing is now obvious. &nbsp;In what way did he cheat? Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:23:35 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#28 So you think Paterno's records should stand even though he cheated? Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:08:03 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#27 I'm no baseball fan or historian, and I know about the Black Sox. &nbsp;Ditto my wife, and she's even less of a baseball fan than I am. &nbsp;I think this will have at least a much staying power as that, if not more. &nbsp;<p>&#10;<i>Paterno experienced the wi Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:07:33 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#26 I agree with you. &nbsp;I'm just pointing out how fundamentally stupid it is. Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:02:39 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#25 Well, yeah, they'll only have partial success with it, but I can't see why that should change whether I should support them. Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:58:29 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#24 Do kids remember the Black Sox much now? &nbsp;Yeah, it's going to have staying power, but less than it would have. &nbsp;Will kids still remember it in 30 years?<p>&#10;I can't say as I'm surprised, though. &nbsp;It's a good PR move, and I would have predicte Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:56:39 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#23 <i>As far as the NCAA is concerned, I just see it as a way to sweep the whole thing under the rug so that it doesn't get brought up every time in the next century someone asks, "Who was the winningest coach again?"</i><p>&#10;But the answer to that will still Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:53:46 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#22 <i>The players didn't do anything to deserve it.</i><p>&#10;I don't see this as hurting the players all that much - the wins (in terms of the record books) matter more to the coach and to the program (the two things that you want to be punishing) than they do Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:48:29 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#21 Vacating the wins was the one part I opposed. &nbsp;The players didn't do anything to deserve it. &nbsp;As far as the NCAA is concerned, I just see it as a way to sweep the whole thing under the rug so that it doesn't get brought up every time in the next Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:29:05 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#20 But 20 other kids are being punished now so it will all even out. Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:09:41 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#19 Some kid who would have received a football scholarship and gone to college will not receive a football scholarship and won't go to college. &nbsp;If that isn't a punishment, what is it? Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:57:15 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#18 How is anyone being punished? Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:22:16 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#17 Eh, I think it's odd to punish some kid in Idaho or Texas or wherever for something that doesn't remotely have anything to do with him. &nbsp;Why not distribute those athletic scholarships randomly to small D1 schools, AND make Penn State give out 20 more Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:15:49 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#16 I think zyxwvutsr's point was that, assuming an increase in academic scholarships equal to the number of football scholarships removed, it's a transfer from football players to the general student population. &nbsp;So, while the football-playing population Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:11:39 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#15 Permanent ban? &nbsp;I dunno, you get the idea. &nbsp; Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:03:22 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#14 Most football players are incapable of getting academic scholarships under current standards (although not necessarily incapable of completing four years of coursework and getting their degrees - whatever other faults Paterno had, he did have the highest g Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:02:19 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#13 <i>a posthumous lifetime ban</i><p>&#10;I did get hit on the head last night, but I still think there might be a better way to phrase that. Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:01:08 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#12 <blockquote><i>...20 scholarships for four years is a lot of scholarships, and since there are a finite number of scholarship positions out there this is basically a punishment for ALL current college age football players, not just for Penn State</i></bloc Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:51:32 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#11 I think that the punishment was about right, although I would have preferred it to be self-imposed, or imposed by some body other than the NCAA and / or the Big Ten, who I think lack the ability to credibly self-police. &nbsp;Vacating all the wins was the Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:33:07 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#10 Here ya go:<p>&#10;<blockquote>STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State received more than $208 million in donations for the fiscal year that just ended, the second-highest total in university history despite the upheaval after the arrest of Jerry Sandusky on child se Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:13:27 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#9 No citation because I've only heard it on the radio, but I understand that donations have been up since the scandal first broke. Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:00:15 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#8 I wonder if there will be a massive fund-raising program by the boosters to pay off the $60 million? Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:46:33 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#7 Being an alum, I've seen a lot of comments from fellow alumni and people living in the area about how the almost undoubtedly reduced quality of the football team is going to kill State College, all hinging on a belief that significantly fewer people are go Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:38:45 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#6 I meant in an automatically qualifying conference. Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:45:06 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#5 Ok, so Boise State got it reduced to 3 on appeal, but does anyone think they'd have been handed 9 in the first place if they were an FBS school? Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:44:04 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#4 aah, sorry 20<br>&#10; Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:37:11 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#3 Boise State: ~$5K in "benefits" consisting mostly of upperclassmen allowing underclassmen to sit on their couches and giving them rides = lose 9 scholarships for 3 years.<p>&#10;SMU: ~$60 in cash payments to athletes from unrelated supporter = 2 year death pen Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:36:16 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#2 You can get away with a lot more shit at a Division 3, because nobody cares all that much, and you don't have everyone looking over your shoulder. &nbsp;At Morehouse College, the athletic department claimed to not even know the soccer program existed. &nbs Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:28:51 GMT http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2012/7/24/21426/6143#1 While some commentators might say this is the end of Penn State football (and maybe it is, who knows) I wouldn't write them off just because of the scholarship ruling. There are other ways to get people scholarships when they run out of athletic money. I w Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:43:00 GMT string http://www.treesandthings.com/search/