While the NCAA sanctions against Penn State for covering up Jerry Sandusky's sex crimes are pretty severe, and erasing a football team's win-loss record seems pointless, what happened to the university is no different than what happens to companies when employees commit crimes, or do things than get their employers sued. Compared to the consequences of employee wrongdoing in the business world, the collateral damage at Penn State is light. So maybe it's time for students, alumni, and other Penn State supporters to stop complaining, and move on.
When the criminal justice system finally caught up with Bernie Madoff for running a pyramid scheme, his company collapsed. Employees who had nothing to do with the swindle lost their jobs. Madoff's investors lost a lot of money. Bernie Madoff brought them all down, including his own son who committed suicide. It may not be fair, but that's how things work in the real world beyond the university campus.
Good companies go bankrupt when employees commit torts that cost their employers millions of dollars. Innocent employee lose their jobs all the time because of the wrongdoing of others. Some retailers go broke because employees steal them blind. That's tough luck for the honest ones.
Because of Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State officials who covered-up his sexual abuse of boys, the university, notwithstanding the future settlement of lawsuits, won't go bankrupt. Innocent university employees won't lose their jobs. Students will continue to attend class, and they still have football. Okay, Joe Paterno's Beaver Stadium shrine has been hauled off (I can see it standing 7-feet tall in some rich alumni's front yard), there are no bowl games in Penn State's near future, and the school's reputation has taken a hit. But compared to a similar catastrophe in the private sector, the collateral damage is minor.
The real victims in the Penn State scandal are the boys Jerry Sandusky, with the help of Joe Paterno and others, sexually abused. These people have the right to complain. This is what the current Penn State story should be about.
When the criminal justice system finally caught up with Bernie Madoff for running a pyramid scheme, his company collapsed. Employees who had nothing to do with the swindle lost their jobs. Madoff's investors lost a lot of money. Bernie Madoff brought them all down, including his own son who committed suicide. It may not be fair, but that's how things work in the real world beyond the university campus.
Good companies go bankrupt when employees commit torts that cost their employers millions of dollars. Innocent employee lose their jobs all the time because of the wrongdoing of others. Some retailers go broke because employees steal them blind. That's tough luck for the honest ones.
Because of Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State officials who covered-up his sexual abuse of boys, the university, notwithstanding the future settlement of lawsuits, won't go bankrupt. Innocent university employees won't lose their jobs. Students will continue to attend class, and they still have football. Okay, Joe Paterno's Beaver Stadium shrine has been hauled off (I can see it standing 7-feet tall in some rich alumni's front yard), there are no bowl games in Penn State's near future, and the school's reputation has taken a hit. But compared to a similar catastrophe in the private sector, the collateral damage is minor.
The real victims in the Penn State scandal are the boys Jerry Sandusky, with the help of Joe Paterno and others, sexually abused. These people have the right to complain. This is what the current Penn State story should be about.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteNo truer words have been written. Life will go on.
In the grand scheme of things, College Football comes somewhere between Jersey Shore and Dancing with The Stars. None of it has ANY impact on our daily lives.
Some people however place sports in the same realm as religion, family and work. If PSU Football would lose football thwe biggest decision would be what to do now on Saturday afternoons. How about going for a hike, reading a book, volunteering etc. The world would be a better place.
Another group of losers are all the Pennsylvanians who will be paying higher taxes to pay compensation to the rape victims. I hope the victims sue Joe Pa's estate, et al.
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