Having one of the most storied careers in college football, only to see it all come tumbling down in the wake of a sordid sex scandal, was not what anyone anticipated for JoePa. Sadly, his death will only heighten the speculations as to his involvement in the Sandusky affair.
Likewise, the achievements of this same storied career will no doubt be further scrutinized. Technically, he was the head coach of record who did win 409 games, but one wonders how much actual involvement he had during the last few years. Was he kept on merely as a fund-raising icon? Given the power he wielded on the Penn State campus, the highly-touted graduation rate of his players is surely subject to question, as well.
Yet, the Penn State scandal is merely the tip of the iceberg, when one examines the travesty that is big-time college athletics, and the cartel status of the NCAA. This miserable organization is only too willing to penalize players for even slightly profiting from their association with their team, while the schools earn millions from their slave labor.
Yes, a very few of the stars go on to professional careers, but what about the rest? Should they be content with the psychic benefits they garnered? And regarding the stars, why should the colleges be able to profit from their images, with no compensation to the athletes?
The entire system stinks to high heaven. Perhaps the Penn State disaster will prompt someone to take a closer look. As to Paterno, he’ll never get a chance to really explain what happened. But then, he already had almost ten years to do so.