The Media Lynching Of Joe Paterno

[akoff 0]

Agree completely w/Lebatard (and Brv---more power for the NCAA is a terrible plan), but since the NCAA took this route, I thought the penalties they decided on were pretty fair. Definitely not as bad as the SMU death penalty; not having any games or revenue for two years would have been destructive.I'm uneasy with the idea of punishing child rape with bowl bans and scholarship reductions. It kinda feels cheap and gross.

well said

[mrdannyg 274]

This is the part that makes me curious. Is the $60 million the operating budget? How much in donated revenue versus ticketing revenue?I work in LA, in the nonprofit field, and I've been wondering how Penn State donations will be affected. I have a horrible feeling they won't be. If Penn State is set up in an ethical manner, the endowment will remain untouched. They'll probably launch a campaign within a year, "The Courage Campaign" or some such. The monies that are donated to that campaign will pay the sanction. I'm sure there will be offcampus efforts for the civil matters.Penn State will probably continue to attract 7-10 figure gifts for endowment and capital campaigns. The announcement of the donations will probably be pushed back for 12-18 months, but I'm sure they're still in the pipeline.This is the best article I've read in a long time, that spells out the ramifications of misspending an endowment, and not having culture of ethics in a nonprofit institution.http://blogs.artinfo...chant-of-bling/

From what I've read, $60M is actually the net profit related to football. Revenues would be much higher of course. That number seemed way too high to me too, but I haven't really seen it disputed, other than one article that referenced the 'accounting' profit to be closer to $70-75M.

I honestly don't know the details about their budget. Everything I know comes from like talk radio, which is a shaky place to get facts. I do know that they have had a huge surge of donations as people have rallied to support the team in this hour of crisis. But, I think long term, it's going to hurt the school alot, when the teams sucks, year after year, ad the traditions erode under the weight of a terrible program.

I think this is exactly right. Penn State has been fudging the numbers a little bit - they significantly lowered the 'required' donation for season tickets/renewals, then crowed about how renewal rates were up. So far, I don't think their donations have been significantly problematic, but they'll be hurt long-run for two reasons - one is what BigD says - the team is going to suck for several years. That always hurts. Two is that there is a whole generation of people, going to school now or recently, who probably feel a lot less love and pride and support for their school than the previous generation did, and their donations are not going to match up to the previous ones. Plus, you have to think at least some people who would've gone to the school in the next few years are now going to choose elsewhere.

[akoff 0]

From what I've read, $60M is actually the net profit related to football. Revenues would be much higher of course. That number seemed way too high to me too, but I haven't really seen it disputed, other than one article that referenced the 'accounting' profit to be closer to $70-75M.I think this is exactly right. Penn State has been fudging the numbers a little bit - they significantly lowered the 'required' donation for season tickets/renewals, then crowed about how renewal rates were up. So far, I don't think their donations have been significantly problematic, but they'll be hurt long-run for two reasons - one is what BigD says - the team is going to suck for several years. That always hurts. Two is that there is a whole generation of people, going to school now or recently, who probably feel a lot less love and pride and support for their school than the previous generation did, and their donations are not going to match up to the previous ones. Plus, you have to think at least some people who would've gone to the school in the next few years are now going to choose elsewhere.

i think the alumni will circle the wagons pretty tight, the money i think will take care of itself. the football team is obviously going to suffer on the field but i will be shocked if the program doesn't rebuild quicker then most people think.

[CaneBrain 95]

I think the biggest problem for Penn State is that the quality of students generally will go down for at least a decade. Even some kids where PSU is the best school they got into by far will go elsewhere. That's the worst fallout IMO----academic reputation will take a serious hit for a while.Lots of teams overcome scholarship reductions and bowl bans and become competitive quickly. PSU football will be good again inside 7-8 years at most which is not long enough to undo their rabid following. When they do get their full complement of scholarships back in 5 years they will get great recruiting classes selling "a program on the way up" and playing time for freshmen.

[DJ Vu 176]

I think the biggest problem for Penn State is that the quality of students generally will go down for at least a decade. Even some kids where PSU is the best school they got into by far will go elsewhere. That's the worst fallout IMO----academic reputation will take a serious hit for a while.Lots of teams overcome scholarship reductions and bowl bans and become competitive quickly. PSU football will be good again inside 7-8 years at most which is not long enough to undo their rabid following. When they do get their full complement of scholarships back in 5 years they will get great recruiting classes selling "a program on the way up" and playing time for freshmen.

Cane, isn't the school pretty open to being hit with a shit-ton of civil suits?

[akoff 0]

I think the biggest problem for Penn State is that the quality of students generally will go down for at least a decade. Even some kids where PSU is the best school they got into by far will go elsewhere. That's the worst fallout IMO----academic reputation will take a serious hit for a while.Lots of teams overcome scholarship reductions and bowl bans and become competitive quickly. PSU football will be good again inside 7-8 years at most which is not long enough to undo their rabid following. When they do get their full complement of scholarships back in 5 years they will get great recruiting classes selling "a program on the way up" and playing time for freshmen.

maybe, i can't say you are wrong. the alumni network of PSU is huge and active...they may lose a small amount at the very top but i expect it will not hurt much. the lawsuits part i have no idea, they are going to messy and expsensive, i would assume some kind of an out of court negotiation but i may be wrong.

[CaneBrain 95]

Cane, isn't the school pretty open to being hit with a shit-ton of civil suits?

Oh that's a given.....and their insurance carrier has already said they won't pay. But they'll find a way monetarily.....raising tuition and such.

[frautotenkinder 1,025]

There's this.http://deadspin.com/5936057/joe-posnanski-says-he-told-joe-paterno-he-should-have-done-more-to-stop-jerry-sandusky

[Balloon guy 158]

Well if he wanted to do more....that's ...well, nothing.

[DJ Vu 176]

Al Pacino to play Paterno in movie.

[colonel Feathers 5]

Al Pacino to play Paterno in movie.

Hope I can get my son a part as the shower muffin. Only kidding, but you know there are parents out there who would love it for their kid.