There has been a lot of talk about the Penn State handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case lately.  Specifically, what should be done to punish or penalize Penn St.

The basic knee jerk reaction it seems from most people is, "Fry 'em!  They deserve to be roasted over the coals.  Penn State should get the death penalty for football for ten years, maybe for all sports". 

That is an understandable reaction.  What Jerry Sandusky did was despicable.  The fact that apparently, more than a couple of other people knew what was going on, and did nothing about it but sweep it under the proverbial rug, is despicable as well.  I am not disputing anything about what happened being an atrocity.  It was.  However, I think the death penalty for the football program or any other sport, is too harsh FOR THIS EVENT.

The "death penalty" as it's called, is labeled that because it is really the death of that sport at that particular university.  There is no team.  There is no recruiting.  There are no coaches, players, trainers, or most importantly....MONEY....coming into that university for years.  That, in my opinion, is too harsh of a penalty, especially for a university that is known more for its football program than even for its academics.

We have evidence of what the death penalty can do to a program.  SMU was a juggernaut of a program in the SWAC in the early to mid 80's.  That is, until they were caught with numerous recruiting violations including a slush fund to pay players for coming there.

That program was handed the death penalty in 1986, cancelling all their games for the next two seasons and allowing them to return in 1988 on a limited basis.  Two years, and it DESTROYED that program.  SMU didn't go to a bowl game until 2009, a full 23 years after the penalty was levied.  Imagine what a ten year ban would do.

The other problem I have, is that the Sandusky case is really not even a football matter.  It is a criminal matter.  Sandusky will be spending the rest of his life in a prison cell most likely, and deserves that punishment.  Joe Paterno is dead, possibly in large part, because of his involvement in this scandal.  The other leaders at the university should and probably will receive some kind of criminal punishment for their role as basically "enablers" for Sandusky.

That is where this case should stay.  In the criminal courts.  People should be punished for crimes in the cover-up, for perjury, and for their inaction in not reporting the incidents because they didn't want any bad press.

Putting Penn State on a death penalty for this would not be consistent.  I feel it is one way or another.  You can't have both.  Either it's a criminal matter, handled by the authorities and the courts, or it's a football matter handled by the NCAA.

Penn State university is going to have a hard enough time overcoming this whole scandal without any further football punishments.  I can't imagine that recruiting top notch high school talent will exactly be a walk in the park for the next decade or so.  I can't imagine many Penn State graduates wanting to donate much of their hard eearned money to the school for any reason for the next decade or so either.

If the NCAA levies a death penalty punishment to the university on top of all this, it would cost irrevocable damage that Penn State may NEVER be able to overcome.  I don't think that is fair to the university.  Punish the people involved and do so harshly, but don't besmirch the university as a whole any more than they have already done to themselves.

Jerry Sandusky is a sick sick man.  He is a monster.  He took away the innocence of dozens of young boys lives, and he has been dealt with by the courts and will be locked away for the rest of his life.  He wielded a lot of power that scared a lot of people from janitors to intern coaches to school presidents, from doing the right thing.  As  said, they were basically enablers.  Much like family members who buy bottles of whiskey for their known alcoholic sibling, many at Penn State knew what was going on, and chose not to do anything about it.  They should be punished harshly as well for that poor choice.  But the NCAA should stay out of it when it comes to even thinking about further punishment for the university like a death penalty. 

Happy Valley has been decidedly unhappy enough, and will be for quite some time.  The university is down on their knees, reeling from repeated blows.  The NCAA should at least give them the chance to rise to their feet again.