As we launch another edition of the Perfect Football Weekend, Denizens, we are compelled to revisit the railroading & virtual crucifixion of one Joseph Paterno
, former Pennsylvania State University head football coach, and how he was made to account, drawn & quartered, for basically performing within the scope of his job.
In this column, we are now finding out that even the NCAA knew that it didn’t have the legal authority to hand down any sanctions on either Paterno or the PSU program.
New internal NCAA emails offer a glimpse into how the organization questioned its own decision-making leading up to the unprecedented sanctions levied against Penn State in 2012, saying at one point it was banking on the fact that the university “is so embarrassed they will do anything.”
Seven pages of emails — from July 13 to July 21, 2012 — were filed Sunday as part of a Pennsylvania state senator’s lawsuit against the NCAA.
NCAA president Mark Emmert announced the sanctions against the university July 23, 2012.
“Delicate issue, but how did PSU gain a competitive advantage by what happened?” Kevin Lennon, the NCAA vice president for academic and membership affairs, wrote July 14, 2012. “Even if discovered, reported, and actions taken immediately by the administration, not sure how this would have changed anything from a competitive advantage perspective.”
Julie Roe Lach, then the NCAA’s top enforcement officer, responded to Lennon about 75 minutes later. She told him that “Mark” — believed to be Emmert — thought Penn State did gain a competitive advantage, although she and several others disagreed with that point.
“I characterized our approach to PSU as a bluff when talking to Mark yesterday afternoon after the call,” she wrote.
[…]
“We find it deeply disturbing that NCAA officials in leadership positions would consider bluffing one of their member institutions, Penn State, to accept sanctions outside of their normal investigative and enforcement process,” the university said in a statement released Wednesday.
So, basically, the NCAA intimidated Penn State into firing JoePa and engaging in its own little bit of self-flagellation.
Now, there’s not a single one here who is saying that what Jerry Sandusky did wasn’t wrong.  What I’m saying is that neither PSU nor Paterno bore any responsibility in the matter (save for State firing Paterno & turning him into some sort of pariah), and should not have been held accountable.  And for the NCAA to have done exactly that, through illegal means, smacks of the worst sort of fascism.
Fuck you & the horse you rode in on, NCAA.
On with the football.  Another early start to the PFW, but this time it’s Andy Dalton’s Cincinnati Bengals at home versus cross-state rival Cleveland for first place in the AFC Central.
Normally I wouldn’t give Brian Hoyer much chance on the road, but Cincy’s defense isn’t exactly the ’93 Cowboys.  Game goes to whomever has the ball last.
Last game of the regular season for Phil Young and my Arlington Heights Yellow Jackets Friday evening, this one against the Western Hills Cougars (aka the Alma Mater™ of the First Wife™) – and, given what’s been done to them this year…well, call it overconfidence if you must, but Heights could play it’s third-string all game and rout these guys.
How bad is Western Hills?  Their only victory is against North Side.  By six points.
South Hills destroyed them on an Aledo scale, 83-7.
Trimble Tech, whom Heights smashed last week, 64-0?  The week prior, they beat Hills 60-18.
This will be the first unbeaten season in football for Heights in a long time.  How long?  Don’t know for sure, but I think I was going there at the time.
Saturday, it’ll be Gary Patterson’s sixth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs at home versus Bill Snyder’s seventh-ranked Kansas State Wildcats.  The purple team will win.
TCU needs this one.  Get it, and it’s all but a fait accompli  that they win the Big XII.  They’re home, so I feel better than I otherwise would, but it’ll still be close.
The wildcard games this week will be Marshall at Southern Miss (sorry, Vicar), #23 West Virginia taking out their frustrations versus TU (Charlie Strong runs into another buzzsaw), and #20 Georgia destroying Kentucky (the Dawgs are not happy about losing to Florida, and the Wildcats are gonna be made to pay).
We’re back next week with a recap. With any luck, it’ll actually be Monday.