Yesterday the NCAA stripped Penn State and Joe Paterno of 14 years of wins, fined them $60 million, reduced scholarships by 10 and declared them not eligible for bowls or championships during the next four years.  My first reaction was WOW!  I was all for the forfeited victories but thought they were punishing the current students for events they had no control over.  After learning more details and discovering that the current students were free to transfer to other programs without any penalties, I have come to the conclusion that the penalties are appropriate.  Here’s why.

The stripping away of victories is by far the best move.  The entire cover up took place because of the legendary status of JoPa and his pursuit of the all time victory claim amongst college coaches.  By taking those victories away the University and Paterno legacy are stripped of the very thing that motivated the cover up.   The remained of the penalties are appropriate and in line with other sanctions made by the NCAA (see Ohio State, USC).  Also, by allowing the students to transfer, the powers that be allow the current players to compete for title and bowl games if they so choose.

If you want to evaluate the punishment dished out by the NCAA, you must first determine the purpose of the punishment.  Is it to exact justice on the guilty parties?  If so, then the penalties are unfair, since the guilty parties are no longer at the University.  This alone makes it obvious that justice is not the intent.  The intent is deterrence, and in this case it is effective.  Football powers must really consider what they are committing to when they use the verbiage “Win at all cost.”  Really?  Are you willing to risk this sort of penalty?  Unfortunately, some will say yes, and risk it all for the dollars and glory that our culture attaches to sports.  But maybe, just maybe, this will cause some coach or University president to reconsider.  I certainly hope so.