Heath Evans: Penn State Needs To Be Shut Down

[Davidson Deac II]

umm, this happened ON Penn State's campus. Current and former coach/players were involved or knew.

I would say it's DEF an NCCA problem.

You can't compartmentalize the letter of the law and get caught up in technicalities and miss the sensational destruction that has happened here.

The leaders of an educational institution put their jobs and image and this false notion of higher learning and being about the kids to do the COMPLETE OPPOSITE.

That alone deserves some down time from sports and a reflection on all that went down as well as a time to heal and to get their priorities on straight. Sports is the LAST thing Penn St needs to be worried about right now.

They also can't punish Penn State if they didn't violate NCAA rules.

Here is the comment from the NCAA today.

"The NCAA will defer in the immediate term to law enforcement officials since this situation involved alleged crimes," Emmert said in statement Thursday. "As the facts are established through the justice system, we will determine whether Association bylaws have been violated and act accordingly. To be clear, civil and criminal law will always take precedence over Association rules."

If you can quote me a law or rule from the NCAA's bylaws that allows the NCAA to punish them for this, I will be glad to say ok, they can punish them. Maybe there is something on the books. In truth, I don't know. But if not, then they can't make up rules or laws after the fact and apply them, no matter how much we wish they could.

[Henne Given Sunday]

Don't agree with the Reggie Bush comparison, primarily because that took years to come to fruition.

They need to do a full investigation, find out all the horrible details and then decide what they are going to do, and not jump the gun on anything. As bad as this thing is, it still needs to be investigated fully before and decisions on permanent punishment can be made.

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So has this. There has been an investigation for years now. This isnt something that just popped up. There is a indictment and everything.

[Davidson Deac II]

So has this. There has been an investigation for years now. This isnt something that just popped up. There is a indictment and everything.

There has been an NCAA investigation about this going on for years?

[Henne Given Sunday]

There has been an NCAA investigation about this going on for years?

No, but this is different than recruiting violations. It goes beyond your basic ncaa rule breaking. This is some twisted poo that happened internally within a huge division 1 football program. Inside and out, regardless of if it is a on field issue, it has to do with the football team, so they are under ncaa jurisdiction, and they need to do something.

And my original point is, they don't need to take years to investigate, the investigating has been done for them.

[JakeFlake]

Trust me, as soon as the law enforcement stuff is done, the NCAA will take up residence in State College. This will at least give them an excuse to poke around and see what else the school has been up to.

If this is not lack of institutional control, then I don't know what is.

[pstall]

They also can't punish Penn State if they didn't violate NCAA rules.

Here is the comment from the NCAA today.

If you can quote me a law or rule from the NCAA's bylaws that allows the NCAA to punish them for this, I will be glad to say ok, they can punish them. Maybe there is something on the books. In truth, I don't know. But if not, then they can't make up rules or laws after the fact and apply them, no matter how much we wish they could.

deac, of course there is no ruling in the by laws that spells this out. PSU is simply doing the normal thing by deferring to law enforcement. HOWEVER, this is such a game changer and this to me falls directly under lack of institutional control that it should be enough for the NCAA to do something dramatic.

I mean SMU paid players and got the death penalty. They essentially got caught doing what everyone feels is done at 80% of all schools.

Sandusky and the coverup(s) and the knowledge of so many has to be dealt with in an unprecedented way.

SMU cheated to win games. PSU cheated to hide facts to continue winning.

Guess which one is more severe despite not lining up with a direct ruling?

[Davidson Deac II]

Well, we will see.

I think the NCAA will change some rules regarding requirements to report criminal conduct, but other than that, I doubt that there is much they can do about this specific case.

As Jack Mccoy would say, it doesn't matter whats right or wrong, the only thing that matters is what I can convict them of. :)

That being said, Jakeflake might be right. Its likely that the NCAA will come in once law enforcement is done, and dig thru everything that PSU has done over the years, and come down hard on what would normally be minor violations.

[JakeFlake]

and I don't mean just football. They will go through every sport and see what has been taking place. Anytime they get a free run at someone when they are down, they drop the hammer.

[Niner National]

and I don't mean just football. They will go through every sport and see what has been taking place. Anytime they get a free run at someone when they are down, they drop the hammer.

No they don't. If that were the case Miami and UNC would have gotten much stiffer penalties than the slap on the wrist they received.

[4Corners]

the penn state people on my facebook feed are really showing their arses right now and are fixing to get blocked. stupid girls and sports dont mix.

[Niner National]

They also can't punish Penn State if they didn't violate NCAA rules.

They are a private organization. Just because there are not rules on the books about this sort of thing specifically, that does not mean they cannot take action for actions that may negatively impact their business.

They have an image that they pretend they want to uphold. If an institution is doing irreparable harm to that image, they can boot them. As far as I know, membership in the NCAA is not written into contract and can be terminated by either side.

[Carolina Husker]

But there are NCAA rules that prohibit football players receiving those things. As far as I can tell, there aren't any NCAA rules that require coaches/ad's etc... to report criminal activity to the police. I am sure the NCAA would love to hammer Penn State for this, but I don't think the NCAA is able to just arbitrarily punish Penn State because they want to. There has to be an actual NCAA rule that was broken.

Besides, by the time the Lawsuits are over, Penn State might not be able to afford to field a football team.

While I'm not sure the NCAA has any involvement in this case, I don't think a Lack Of Institutional Control is out of the question in this case.

[Davidson Deac II]

They are a private organization. Just because there are not rules on the books about this sort of thing specifically, that does not mean they cannot take action for actions that may negatively impact their business.

They have an image that they pretend they want to uphold. If an institution is doing irreparable harm to that image, they can boot them. As far as I know, membership in the NCAA is not written into contract and can be terminated by either side.

Even as a private organization, they still have to follow their own bylaws, or they face one heck of a lawsuit.

[Davidson Deac II]

While I'm not sure the NCAA has any involvement in this case, I don't think a Lack Of Institutional Control is out of the question in this case.

Maybe, and like I said, I am certainly not an expert on NCAA rules. But for now, they are going to let the legal process play out, and then see whats left.

Penn State will likely clean house anyway. If they fire everyone having anything to do with this, the NCAA might decide that's sufficient to ensure this doesn't happen again.