The NCAA Needs a Vacation from Vacations

"The only reason you continue to struggle with your 'old man' who is dead is because you foolishly believe a lie..."
-T.D. Jakes

The Penn State child sex abuse scandal is unquestionably the worst sports scandal of this century and arguably the most tragic in the history of American sports. If you are reading this blog, I need not lay out the background of what happened. Nor do I need to convince you or anyone of how heinous the crimes of former defensive assistant Jerry Sandusky were. I also need not discuss how callous and reprehensible the organized cover up of the atrocities involving the abuse of children was.

This is not about crime and punishment, right and wrong, or justice and injustice. Today’s piece is about fact and fiction. What was and what wasn’t.


LAYING THE SMACK DOWN

NCAA president Mark Emmert brought the hammer down on Penn State in an unprecedented manner. He bypassed the Infractions Committee and went directly to the penalty phase (he did not pass “Go”; he did not collect $200). Loss of 20 scholarships per year…$60 million fine…no postseason appearances for four years…current scholarship athletes may be recruited by other schools within Penn State’s conference, the Big Ten. Realistically, Penn State will not be able to compete on the gridiron at a Paterno-era level for a minimum of 10 years.

I have no problem with any of those penalties. The institution completely ceded control and oversight of the football program personnel to a handful of individuals who turned a blind eye to the most heinous of crimes to maintain a favorable public image and, possibly, keep their jobs. By sending a message to and making an example of Penn State, the NCAA has sent a message: you had better know what’s going on within your walls and you had better act when necessary.

The university was negligent to the point of depravity. As a member institution, it stained the NCAA’s brand. The NCAA made Penn State’s athletic future a very difficult one. These are all actions and reactions based on events that took place.

NCAA President Mark Emmert: Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is thinking, "That man doesn't play!" 1

TIME TRAVEL REALLY DOES EXIST IN THE NCAA

As much as the NCAA is criticized in its handling of university discipline, most of the public sentiment that I have observed is that they got this one right. They took swift, decisive action against an institution that exhibited no control over a demagogue of a head coach who ran a football program that was as hallowed as a religion in State College, Pennsylvania. But, in my humble opinion, even when the NCAA got it right, they still got something wrong.

One of the unexpected and attention grabbing penalties forced upon Penn State is that all of its football victories from the 1998 through 2011 seasons were vacated. The vacation of over 100 wins under Joe Paterno moved him down from the all-time winningest coach in Division I football history to eighth all-time. This restored the late Grambling State University coach Eddie Robinson as the all time Division I winningest coach and long time Florida State University coach Bobby Bowden (who himself lost some wins to vacation in a NCAA improper benefit/recruiting infraction investigation) as the all time winningest coach among Football Bowl Subdivision (major program) coaches in Division I.

I am sure Coach Rob is partying from the grave. I am sure that Bobby Boweden, who was informed of this breaking news while on the golf course, ordered Cuban seed cigars and bottles of Crystal champagne for everyone in the country club upon learning he was the all-time FBS coaching king.

I am sure that Ohio State University ordered 2005 Big Ten championship rings for all of the players on that team; now, the Buckeyes never really lost, 17-10, to the Nittany Lions on October 8, 2005, really went undefeated in Big Ten play and really won the conference title instead of Penn State. I’ll bet they even got Penn State’s triple overtime victory over Florida State (and payout) from the 2006 Orange Bowl, since OSU really won the conference and secured the automatic qualifying BCS bowl invitation.

Insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result. Apparently the NCAA knows something about DeLoreans and time travel that Creighton University (which was nowhere near "the top") doesn't. 2

BACK TO LIFE…BACK TO REALITY

Ohio State will not retroactively win the 2005 Big Ten championship. Florida State will not get the 2006 Orange Bowl trophy. And neither Eddie Robinson nor Bobby Bowden won more games as head coach than Joe Paterno won.

The vacation of wins in the NCAA record book is no more than a vacation from reality. It is an attempt by the NCAA to wash away the permanent stain left by this and other institutional transgressions. In recent memory, the University of Southern California football program vacated all of their wins from their entire BCS championship winning 2004 season and the University of Memphis basketball program vacated its Final Four appearance in 2008. There have been countless smaller, lower profile vacations of wins by NCAA member programs.

The problem is that while the record book says one thing did not happen on a given date in the past at an NCAA event (a win for the school being punished), it did happen. This does not change what happened during competition. Fans and writers can evaluate how much of an advantage a violating school did or did not have during the period in question. Sanctions can make a program feel tangible consequences for its impropriety. These are all results of deviating from the straight and narrow.

If Penn State didn't win, then these guys are stealing a bunch of oranges! I wonder if the cops will vacate their rightful ownership of the trophy and charge these guys with theft. 3

VACATION FOR VACATING

Vacating a school’s wins does nothing but distort the actual record of what happened on the field of play and insult the intelligence of the people who witnessed the actual events, yet have no official record referencing what they saw at the cost of a ticket or investment of time watching television and its advertising. It is White Out correction fluid that anyone can scrape away at and, once dry, see what was originally beneath when was being hidden.

I am all in favor of the NCAA enforcing its rules. I am completely in favor of Emmert taking unilateral expedited action against Penn State, under the circumstances. Don’t tell me that we didn’t see what we all saw.

I can only imagine that JoePa is relieved to have vacated Earth. 4

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1) Image from www.usatoday.com
2) Image from www.creightonian.com
3) Image from www.orbins.com
4) Image from http://allegedlyawesome.blogspot.com