The Big Ten, ESPN and bowls are rooting against Penn State (posted 11.17.11)

The Big Ten, ESPN, FOX and bowl games all are rooting against Penn State
In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal the Nittany Lions, a longtime darling of college football, suddenly are avoid-at-all-costs for sponsor-driven bowls and TV networks.


Toxic.

That's Penn State, and Penn State football in particular, in the world of public perception. PSU is the mortgage crisis of college football.

So don't expect the Lions to get the calls from the officials the rest of the season. Don't expect PSU to make the Big Ten title game, or to win it if they somehow get there. Don't expect Penn State to be chosen by a bowl until it's the only eligible league school remaining and there's only one bowl still picking.

Just imagine what would happen if the Lions win the Big Ten Leaders Division and play in Indianapolis for the Big Ten title: That's a full week of promotions that will have to include Penn State football, and a full week of the league and television network (FOX) having to put the Penn State name out front, as a featured part of the Big Ten's grand, signature, inaugural championship game.

High-ranking executives are having night terrors at the thought.

If PSU takes an early lead against Wisconsin on Nov. 26 with the Leaders Division title at stake, those execs might start breaking out in hives like Chris Elliott's character in There's Something About Mary.

The Big Ten title game with PSU would have its own sideshow, a referendum on whether Penn State should even be playing, discussion about how Joe Paterno's name was removed from the trophy, more uncomfortable talk about child sex abuse and less about Big Ten football.

It would be another opportunity for sponsors to gutlessly boycott (instead of taking a meaningful stand and using their airtime to promote abuse awareness, etc.) and take shots at Penn State, as one major sponsor of ESPN college football has done. Another chance for the media and the public to make stinging comments and associate Penn State with the Big Ten. It would keep the scandal on the front page, affixed to the holy Big Ten name.

Even worse would be if PSU won the league title, earning the automatic BCS bowl berth.

How will the Rose Bowl like it with the Enron of college football coming to town? What will ESPN think if the Bernie Madoff of programs infects its cash cow BCS bowl game, the beloved "Grandaddy of Them All" Rose Bowl with a child sex abuse scandal and alleged cover-up?

What bowl game wants to get stuck with such a poisonous asset? None, of course.

In other words, PSU fans, you can soon book your tickets for Detroit and the Dec. 27 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and that enticing matchup with Ohio, Northern Illinois or Toledo. Plenty of seats will be available. Scalping will be your best bet, less than face value should be available, all sections.

This is what PSU football has been reduced to by the Sandusky scandal.

An AP story Thursday quoted a Rose Bowl representative saying the game would "welcome with open arms" whoever is the Big Ten champion. Yeah, right.

New PSU president Rodney Erickson was non-committal about the Lions participating in a bowl when asked last week, though he seemed to be leaning toward letting the team play.

With two weeks to go, there still are a lot of permutations for bowl eligibility in the Big Ten. Of the 12 schools, only Indiana and Minnesota are bowl ineligible. Ten teams are jockeying for bowl position.

In order to leapfrog PSU in the eight-bowl Big Ten pecking order, a school must be within one game of the Lions.

(UPDATE: Oops, RFBS was relying on outdated information re: the aforementioned bowl scenarios. The rule about a team needing to be within one win of another eligible team in order to be selected for a given bowl only applies to the Capital One and Outback Bowls. The remaining Big Ten affiliated bowls - Insight, Gator, Meineke Care Care, Ticket City and Little Caesers Pizza Bowl - all can select any bowl-eligible Big Ten team. Which means that if Penn State doesn't reach the Big Ten title game, it very well could get shuffled well down the pecking order, below 7-5 and even 6-6 teams, despite a 9-3 record. Remember, it's not about who deserves what, it's about sponsors, revenue (ticket sales and TV ratings) and perception.)

So if PSU loses at Ohio State and at Wisconsin and finishes 8-4, then any 7-5 schools can be chosen ahead of PSU by the bowls.

Playing Nostradamus, projecting point spreads and picking the favored team to win each game, here's how this likely could play out:

1. Wisconsin (11-2, Big Ten champion) - Rose Bowl (Pasedena)
2. Michigan State (10-3, runner-up) - Capital One Bowl (Orlando)
3. Michigan (10-2) - Outback Bowl (Tampa)
4. Nebraska (9-3) - Insight Bowl (Tempe)
5. Ohio State (7-5) - Gator Bowl (Jacksonville)
6. Iowa (7-5) - Meineke Car Care Bowl (Houston)
7. Illinois (7-5) - Ticket City Bowl (Dallas)
8. Penn State (8-4) - Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (Detroit)

That's seven warm-weather destinations, and the Motor City. Yikes.

Also still in the bowl picture are Northwestern (5-5) and Purdue (5-5). And, it's possible the Big Ten could have two teams chosen to play in a BCS bowl, but it seems unlikely right now.

Regardless, PSU will get ignored by any bowl that can ignore it.

ESPN's experts are projecting PSU to the Meineke Car Care or Gator Bowl. But those bowls won't take PSU if they don't have to. And unless they win as a significant road underdog in one of their final two games, those bowls can skip PSU.

A little smarter is BCS expert Jerry Palm. He has PSU-Toledo pegged for the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

That all might sound overly skeptical and hyper-cynical, but think about it: This is all about money and perception. And there's a LOT of money at stake, a lot of sponsorship dollars on the line and TV ratings in need of maximization, and PSU's public perception right now is as low as any college football program ever.

You can do the math from there.

Yes, the odds are PSU would not win the Leaders Division anyway. But the odds are a little better now that all of the biggest power brokers in the Big Ten, FOX and ABC/ESPN are pulling against the Lions.

This isn't to suggest foul play. But consider this: If you were told last week that there would be a child sex abuse scandal at Penn State of an astronomical, incalculable magnitude that would bring down Joe Paterno within days, or that surreptitious arrangements might be made to help ensure the outcome of a Big Ten football game, which would you think is more possible?

The Big Ten wants Penn State to lose; Indianapolis, which is hosting the Big Ten title game, wants Penn State to lose; the Rose Bowl and the other Big Ten bowls want Penn State to lose; America wants Penn State to lose; FOX and ESPN want Penn State to lose - this week at Ohio State, but especially next week at Wisconsin with the title game berth likely at stake.

Deal with it, Penn State faithful. That's your new paradigm.

In this new world, any team in the Big Ten with a winning record would be much more desirable for a bowl ahead of Penn State, except perhaps Northwestern due to its small alumni base and lack of football brand recognition. But this year, even the pipsqueak Wildcats would bump PSU, if the Lions have eight wins and Northwestern can win its last two games and get to 7-5 .

Bowls are based only partly on merit. They're also based on potential revenue and many other factors. In past years PSU was a winning bet for bowls, with its national appeal and huge fan base that traveled to the game, filled hotels and bought tickets.

Not anymore, not this season at least. As long as PSU doesn't shock the world and make the Rose Bowl, expect fewer Penn State fans to attend the bowl game than in perhaps 35-40 years. And any national PSU appeal - which was largely due to Paterno - has been turned inside-out, all negative.

Unless PSU overcomes all the anti-vibes the Big Ten (and everyone else) can hurl its way and somehow wins the conference title to grab the league's automatic BCS berth - and how interesting would it be to see the Lions hoist the trophy that bore Paterno's name until it was removed this week to avoid being "controversial" - it will plummet to the bottom of the Big Ten bowl line.

Big Ten champions, or bust.

Pizza! Pizza! anyone?

Who will be the next head coach at Penn State? (posted 11.16.11)

Who will be the next head coach at Penn State?
New acting athletic director Dave Joyner presumably will be conducting the search for a PSU football coach. It probably won't lead him to Tom Bradley, or Kirk Ferentz, or Urban Meyer


Media reports late last week said PSU football recruits were told via conference call with then-interim AD Mark Sherburne and interim head coach Tom Bradley that a national search was under way for the next Penn State football coach.

Things are changing fast: Sherburne, appointed last week for deposed AD Tim Curley, today returned to his associate AD position. Longtime Board of Trustees member Dave Joyner was named acting athletic director.


(For those keeping score, that's three ADs in a little more than a week.)

Joyner, presumably, will lead that national search.

Who is Joyner? He is a former wrestler and football player for PSU. He is a distinguished orthopedic physician who has both his undergraduate (1972) and medical (1976) degrees from Penn State. He has worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee and is a Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame member. He has been on the BOT since 2000.


Apparently, he's also considered safely disconnected from the Sandusky tsunami.


Joyner is charged with two vital tasks: hiring the next AD and football coach. The football coach will come first, since it probably needs to be done by mid-December. Joyner likely will work closely with new PSU president Rodney Erickson. Presumably the Board of Trustees will exert its influence on the decision more than it might have previously.


With all that has transpired, the search for Paterno's successor seems much less predictable now. Curley and ousted president Graham Spanier had been preparing for this moment for years. Surely they were working from a short list that was modified after every season for, oh, probably the past 10 years.

Now, Joyner is the point man. Who are his contacts in the collegiate sports landscape? Who are his connections, who will he consult, who does he trust? What specifically is he looking for? What is his timetable? What is most important to him in a candidate? Will he be seeking his own vision of the next PSU head coach, or trying to please the most influential Board members?

Most importantly, is Joyner looking for a steady hand to guide PSU through the storm in the short term, for maybe 3-5 years, a veteran who the media will associate with integrity? Then perhaps he will hire someone such as Jim Caldwell. Or, is he looking for the coach for the next 20-30 years? Then perhaps it will be someone such as Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald.

Things have changed in a snap. A month ago, the odds on bundled wager of Tom Bradley, Kirk Ferentz or Urban Meyer as the next Penn State head coach would have been pretty short. Perhaps better than even money on one of them being Joe Paterno's successor.


Not anymore. Each of those three seems less likely than ever in the wake of the Sandusky tsunami.

• Bradley (who technically is JoePa's successor, right now, albeit as interim coach) will be the victim of the impending clean sweep of the coaching staff in an attempt to disinfect PSU football from anything connected in any way to Jerry Sandusky and the mortifying child sex abuse scandal. Some might lobby hard for Bradley, but it just won't happen. Most thought he wasn't going to get the job previously because he was pursuing other head jobs in recent years. However, if the longtime PSU defensive coordinator continues to comport himself well in trying circumstances, and the Lions play well under him, he could be a head coach candidate at places such as Boston College. Or become a defensive coordinator at an elite school - Bradley is a verified Grade A coordinator, and a good recruiter.
• Ferentz, at 56, probably is too far along in his career to want to undertake the process of shepherding PSU through its darkest hours. The longtime Iowa head coach with the Keystone State connections might not have wanted to leave Iowa before Sandusky happened. Now, it'd take a Billy Mays-esque sales pitch to get him on board.
• Meyer, who reportedly turned down an offer from Arizona this week, hasn't been shy about taking on teams that needed a little work in the past, but his mental and emotional dedication already is in question considering the circumstances about his resignation from Florida after the 2010 season. Plus, Meyer is Mr. Coveted, a two-time national champion seemingly able to pick from whatever jobs are available. He's now likely to find another post more appealing than PSU. On the flip side, Meyer's reputation isn't squeaky clean, and PSU will want to present a new head coach with a top-shelf image, moreso than one with a top-shelf coaching record.

So, with that big-name trio shuffled off the front burner due to the most unforeseeable of circumstances, who are the primary candidates?

The first name to leak last week - reportedly contacted by the Chair of the Penn State BOT, Steve Garban, shortly before JoePa was fired - was Virginia head coach Mike London, which sounded like something London's agent concocted to help London get a contract extension from UVa. The Washington Post reported it, using an anonymous source. Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't. But if it happened, it was pretty clumsy, dumb and tactless on the part of Garban. PSU didn't need to know at that moment if London was interested. London wasn't going to pack up and come to State College the next day.


Then again, maybe Joyner, as a fellow Board member, was somehow connected to Garban's inquisition. So perhaps PSU is interested in London.


London, 51, has an impressive assistant coaching resume, was very successful in two seasons at FCS Richmond and has shown improvement in his almost-two seasons at a place of perceived high integrity, Virginia. (Though in 2004 UVa endured some embarrassing revelations about a past felony narcotics charge against a high-ranking athletic department administrator.) Interestingly in the post-Sandusky era, London is a father of seven and a former police detective.

Caldwell, in his third season as Indianapolis Colts head coach after taking over for Tony Dungy, had his name recently floated for this position by the New York Daily News. Caldwell, 56, coached quarterbacks at PSU from 1986-1992, and was head coach at Wake Forest for eight seasons after that, going 26-63 from 1993-2000. He has a clean reputation and certainly might be available considering his Colts are winless this season. Like London, he seems a viable candidate.


Before the Sandusky tsunami hit, RFBS believed the next PSU coach would be a current college coach. The following still seem like possible candidates:

• Al Golden (Miami, age 42) - The Penn State alum might be the betting favorite. He seemingly has followed the blueprint to be the next PSU coach: Is from nearby (New Jersey), played tight end for JoePa (1991 PSU team captain), coached (briefly) at PSU, became noted as a top recruiter/coordinator elsewhere (Virginia) and somehow resurrected in-state, dead-program-walking Temple before landing the big-time gig at Miami. He currently is dealing with the hovering scandal not of his doing in his rookie season in Coral Gables, and the 'Canes have been underwhelming on the field.
• Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern, 36) - Hard to see him leaving his alma mater, but the former Big Ten defensive player of the year has done well at Northwestern and would relish the opportunity to coach PSU-caliber defensive players, right? Has always displayed tremendous respect for Paterno. The youngest guy on this list, he nonetheless is in is sixth season at Northwestern and has led the Wildcats to three straight bowls. If PSU is looking for a guy for the next 30 years, Fitzgerald might be him. If he's willing to leave Evanston, he should be a contender.
• Greg Schiano (Rutgers, 45) - Former PSU assistant (DB coach 1991-95) also has been considered a JoePa replacement candidate for years. From New Jersey and played at Bucknell, this is his 11th season at Rutgers, and he was 43-21 from 2005-09. Is both experienced and still young, is connected to PSU and has been successful not too far away. But Rutgers has finished the season ranked only once in his tenure.
• Chris Peterson (Boise St., 47) - Peterson's 61-5 record his first five seasons at Boise is incredible. He must be on any big-time program's short list. He inherited a great situation and has made it even better. Could he take the Boise Blueprint and make it work at a BCS powerhouse? He definitely could if QB savant Kellen Moore had another four years of eligibility. A California native, Peterson always has been out west except for one year at Pitt (1992). The previous two Boise coaches got the call-up to the BCS, and Dirk Koetter (Arizona St.) was mediocre and Dan Hawkins (Colorado) flopped.
• Ken Niumatalolo (Navy, 46), Troy Calhoun (Air Force, 45). Both service academy coaches have had success: Niumatalolo is 27-13 in three seasons with three bowl appearances, and Calhoun is 34-18 in four seasons with at least eight wins each season. PSU would be a big change in scope, but both would have the "Success with Honor" thing down pat having operated within their respective academy cultures. The option-based offenses likely would have to be scrapped, or significantly modified. Niumatalolo is from Hawaii and played QB at Hawaii after serving a two-year Mormon mission. Calhoun is an AFA graduate who has had stints at Ohio U., Wake Forest and in the NFL. 

Others: Steve Addazio (Temple), Randy Edsall (Maryland), Rich Ellerson (Army), James Franklin (Vanderbilt), Todd Graham (Pitt), Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), Skip Holtz (USF), Butch Jones (Cincinnati), Doug Marrone (Syracuse), Dan Mullen (Mississippi State), Gary Patterson (TCU), Gary Pinkel (Missouri), Paul Rhoads (Iowa St.), Mark Richt (Georgia), Steve Sarkisian (Washington), Frank Spaziani (Boston College), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Jeff Tedford (Cal), Kyle Whittingham (Utah), Kevin Wilson (Indiana).


From the NFL ranks, Caldwell is among several possible candidates. It's hard to see former PSU All-American Mike Munchak leaving the Tennessee Titans after one season as head coach, but it's also not hard to see PSU reaching out to him. There is a line of former NFL coaches with high profiles who conceivably could be interested such as Jeff Fisher, Jon Gruden, Eric Mangini and Bill Cowher, but unless Joyner already has developed a relationship with one of them, it seems unlikely.


Someone with the gravitas of Tony Dungy could be pursued by Penn State at a time like this, though it's hard to see him coaching a college team at this stage of his life. Dungy is so well respected and has so many connections, PSU could use him as a consultant.


One big question: How much is PSU willing to pay? Spanier was on record as saying the Lions would not break the bank for their next coach. A $2 million annual salary was the absolute maximum Spanier would consider for a proven, veteran coach. Which is of course a boatload of money but well below what someone like Meyer can command. (PSU has saved tens of millions through the years on Paterno, perhaps the most underpaid coach of all time.)


If such a relatively modest pay scale holds, that would eliminate almost all of the big names, as most probably would be unwilling to take less than market value.

Despite the scandal, the desired characteristics of the next coach haven't really changed. Remember "Success with Honor?" Well, 46 years weren't entirely wiped out in the grand jury presentment. The scandal will put the next coach under the microscope, but the fact is he would have been under the microscope anyway.


Before last week, PSU was a Top 10 overall football program with a tremendous amount going for it: History/tradition/success, resources, facilities, recruiting base, institutional support, no NCAA sanctions, etc. All factors considered, PSU was in the highest echelon of college football programs.


To that has been added the Scandal Of All Scandals. So the desirability of the head coach position has been downgraded: It's tough enough coaching a major college football team without having to deal with the ongoing Sandusky tsunami.


The upside, if you will, is that no longer will the next Penn State football coach be following a sacrosanct deity, as Paterno's reputation has endured a mighty wallop.


Now, as a few big-name candidates seem less likely, and as Joyner suddenly jumps into the fray, there is a much better chance that the next coach is someone not previously mentioned. Someone off the radar screen.


What characteristics must the next coach have?


The equanimity to gracefully cope with everything that comes his way. The perspective to always do the right thing. The patience to deal with the perpetual scandal lurking in the background, and the focus to not let it impede success. The energy to make a full commitment and to recruit relentlessly. The connections and pull to compile a stellar coaching staff. The confidence and clout to follow a legend (albeit a greatly diminished one). The experience to be at his peak professionally. The persona to deal with the media, boosters, public and student body in an engaging manner. The skill to produce a team that consistently contends for the Big Ten title and puts 100,000-plus in the stands week after week.


Someone like the Joe Paterno we all knew before last week.

A Saturday like no other at Penn State (posted 11.12.11)

A Saturday like no other at Penn State
This one will be remembered as much as any regular season game in school history

There were superstar performances everywhere about Beaver Stadium on a gorgeous mid-November Saturday afternoon.

They had nothing to do with the action on the field between Nebraska and Penn State.

The most tumultuous week in Penn State annals concluded with an apparently flawlessly executed event that provided a brief respite from the most extreme distress imaginable for the Nittany Lion community.

Planning, security, fan comportment, proactive student involvement, reverence, fellowship, respect - it all came shining through like a beacon of hope in the darkness.

Fears of unrest were unfounded, surely in part due to the extraordinary efforts of the event staff, and police and student organizers, as well as the fact that a Wednesday night, post-horrifying child abuse charges, post-JoePa firing, impromptu student gathering on College Ave is different than a Saturday at Noon at Beaver Stadium.

Instead of disturbances, we will remember a procession of searing moments:

• The honoring of the seniors; the captains entering arm-in-arm; the enormous midfield pregame prayer with every member of both teams plus perhaps 300 PSU football alums; the moment of silence; the grace of interim coach Tom Bradley and equanimity of new PSU president Rodney Erickson - both thrust into the most difficult of circumstances, no warning, go! - the Blue-Out crowd to raise awareness of child abuse and for the alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky; the singing of the alma mater; a clean, competitive, hard-fought game; emotions released with cheers; and ... 

Sandusky. Afterward, now, it is back to reality. The Sandusky child sex abuse scandal will reach far, far beyond this week. His name will haunt PSU for decades.

And of course there was the elephant not in the room: Joe Paterno. Never has the absence of one been so obvious in a gathering of 110,000.

Not since 1949 had Penn State played a game without Paterno on the coaching staff. He had been the PSU head coach for three seasons when man landed on the moon. He was a genuine, living, breathing American icon, for all the right reasons.


Was? Sigh.

There's little to add here, now, about Paterno. It is profoundly, monumentally sad. Fired Wednesday by the Board of Trustees along with president Graham Spanier, casualties of the scandal, their actions or lack thereof in question. Paterno's exalted reputation in tatters for the moment, perhaps permanently destroyed, pending the results of PSU's investigation and the Sandusky trial. Time will tell.

(UPDATE: Apparently it wasn't all good outside Beaver Stadium. One man holding signs saying things such as "Don't be fooled, they all knew. Tom Bradley, everyone must go,'' reportedly was subjected to verbal abuse, threats and beer dousings.)

Another vigil was held after the game, just as there had been on Friday night, when thousands upon thousands of candles glowed upon Old Main.

We will all remember. How could we ever forget?

Thankfully, one memory of this week won't be entirely awful. Penn State rose to the occasion. Of course it did.

But there are no illusions. Penn State football will never be the same. Not with so many victims of such horrific crimes.

If the world went back to being normal: PSU vs. Nebraska preview (posted 11.11.11)

Penn State football 2011: Game 9 - PSU vs. Nebraska 
Pretending for a moment that we're talking about Penn State football again


Going into the bye week, before Penn State was hit with a figurative nuclear bomb - the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse charges that have rocked the university and shook the nation - there was excitement about upcoming football games.

Penn State was 8-1 and on a seven-game winning streak. The Lions also were 5-0 in Big Ten play and if they could win two of their final three games would clinch a spot in the Big Ten title game, and depending on other results, one of three might possibly be enough.

Of course the final three games were daunting: vs. Nebraska, at Ohio State and at Wisconsin.

Clearly, in the opinion of RFBS, Nebraska looked like the most likely win for PSU of the final three: It is at home, it is Senior Day, PSU is coming off a bye, and RFBS thought Nebraska was a good matchup for the Lions and a little overrated.

Then Nebraska went out and proved it was a little overrated by losing to Northwestern at home last week.

Of course, the Cornhuskers will rebound and play better. Even before the scandal had truly set in, oddsmakers made Nebraska a slight favorite.

How will PSU play, given the extraordinary mental and emotional strain of this week? Who knows. There's simply no way to predict that. There's nothing to compare this situation to.

Here's what RFBS would have forecasted had the tragic scandal never happened:

Rested and with extra prep time, the mighty PSU defense would play one of its best games of the season. The Nebraska offense seems to play right into Penn State's hands. PSU, in general, plays the run very well and prevents deep passes with soft zone CBs and deep LB drops. Nebraska likes to run the ball as its first, second and third options, and chuck it deep as the fourth option due to the sublime running skills but very limited passing ability of QB Taylor Martinez. PSU would have been able to stymie Nebraska's predictable, one-and-a-half trick offense (they don't hit those deep balls enough for it to warrant full-trick status).

Likewise, Nebraska's D would have fairly easily limited the tepid PSU offense. But with the extra week to prepare and a healthy WR Derek Moye, the Lions would have added a couple wrinkles to help get an early score. Late in the game, with Nebraska tiring and frustrated by its own offensive struggles, the PSU offensive line and RB Silas Redd would have led another touchdown drive.

PSU 19, Nebraska 13. That was the prediction prior to the madness. Now, who knows? Anything seems possible. Hopefully it's a good game, hopefully after the first few plays it just settles in to being a regular football game. But really, the final outcome has never seemed to matter less. Hopefully the game is without incident, on and off the field. Hopefully, in some small way, the game is a little uplifting. Clean, pure college competition.

Also, PSU is without two coaches. Mike McQueary, who seemed to do everything related to the offense on the sideline during games, was placed on administrative leave Friday. And you might have heard about the other missing coach and what happened to him.

This is the first game since 1949 that Joe Paterno will not be on the Penn State sideline.

Glum Valley: So many questions, so much angst, so few answers (posted 11.11.11)

Glum Valley: So many questions, so much angst, so few answers
Penn Staters everywhere are trying to process the incomprehensible and grasping desperately for answers - and hope

To those who have been reporting that Joe Paterno took Penn State from a small cow college to a major university, know that Penn State has the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world, and they didn't all graduate after the 1970s, when Paterno was taking PSU from a good football program to a great one.

And for those who characterize Penn State as a university built around a football team, know that Penn State is an extraordinarily comprehensive institution highly regarded within the collegiate community and by those who rank and evaluate universities and their programs.

For those who are now characterizing PSU students by an alleged "riot" Wednesday night and the reckless acts of an extremely small percentage of incited imbeciles that evening, know that PSU has the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, THON, which raised $9.56 million this year for children with cancer and their families. Know that there was a tremendous student-driven outpouring of support at PSU for Virginia Tech when that campus was victimized by a crazed gunman. And know that about 85-90 percent of the student body did not participate Wednesday night in any way, while the vast majority of those who participated did so peacefully without incident.

Those facts of course are pretty much irrelevant right now. They do nothing for the alleged victims, they don't mitigate this disaster in any way, they don't help us understand how this possibly could have happened.

The relevant facts:

• Jerry Sandusky, who was a football coach at Penn State for decades, is alleged to have perpetrated dozens of sex crimes against at least eight boys from 1994-2008.
• A tragic line of individuals over more than a decade who were, or may have been, aware of Sandusky's acts were either negligently culpable; did not feel empowered; cowardly; complicit; or grossly and maliciously covered up his acts. In RFBS' opinion, the only person at this point who clearly seems guilty is PSU VP Gary Schultz, who oversaw campus police. He is the only person known to be fully aware of both the 1998 and 2002 allegations against Sandusky. Many others could be culpable too, starting with those named in the grand jury report - AD Tim Curley, president Graham Spanier, Paterno, assistant coach Mike McQueary - and surely many others, including police/investigators, executives at Sandusky's children's charity The Second Mile and yet-to-be revealed others, such as big-time PSU football boosters.

How could this possibly have happened is Question No. 1, first and foremost. How does a human monster get away with destroying young lives like this, brutally violating human decency, over and over again?

In the wake of this central, colossal, horrifying question, we are left with offshoot questions, hundreds of them, few that have concrete answers. Here are a few that come to mind:

• How could the Penn State administration possibly have been so unprepared for this? President Spanier and others knew this day was coming, of course, though possibly not the full extent (the perjury charges might have caught them by surprise). Still, they knew it was imminent Sandusky would be charged with sexually abusing children on the PSU campus, and this would require maximum crisis management - a bomb was about to explode. Yet Penn State was woefully unprepared. It has been a gargantuan failure in leadership and foresight. Spanier released a simplistic initial statement that showed no grasp whatsoever of the entirety of the allegations. PSU has desperately been trying to play catch-up since, languishing behind the story, and tripping over itself almost every step of the way. Meanwhile, the Harrisburg Patriot-News was fully prepared, with in-depth investigative stories such as this one ready to go: Thttp://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/who_knew_what_about_jerry_sand.html 
• Should Saturday's football game against Nebraska be played? There is no easy answer to this one, despite what some commentators might say. There are compelling reasons on both sides. The feeling here is it shouldn't be played, that Penn State should forfeit. Of course that would be incredibly unfair to the team members, who are among the legions of collateral damage in this saga. But this is an extremely difficult decision with an incredible number of factors to consider on both sides.
• If they do play Saturday - and it appears they will - dozens of other questions arise:
• Will the security be ready and properly prepared? Will there be violence? (The noon start hopefully reduces the number of intoxicated persons)? Will the stadium be awash in protestors?
• If Penn State falls behind early, will it emotionally collapse, committing ugly personal fouls and playing terribly? Can this possibly be a "normal" football game, at least between the lines?
• Can the emotionally and physically exhausted, and possibly underprepared PSU players be expected to play well? 
• If a PSU player does something good and has an enthusiastic reaction, will he be perceived as insensitive to the entirety of the situation? 
• How will the crowd react? What will they cheer? Is it okay to root for Penn State football? If Penn State wins, is it okay to be happy? Is it okay to be sad if the team loses?

• Will national sentiment toward anyone and anything affiliated with Penn State be permanently sullied at best, and overtly hostile at worst? For how long?
• A major sponsor has pulled out of ESPN's coverage of the next two Penn State games. (What an extraordinary missed opportunity for this company, which could have run public service announcements about child abuse awareness, etc., and made an impact. But instead of taking the high road, they took the easy road.) Will this become a trend? And will any bowls extend an invitation to Penn State? What bowl will want a school with such a negative image, and which probably won't bring nearly as many fans as it does ordinarily? If PSU does get a bowl bid, should it decline?
• Has the Board of Trustees helped make PSU a national pariah - in addition to continuing to look like it's not seeing the big picture - by inexplicably maintaining McQueary's status on the coaching staff despite his grand jury testimony to having witnessed Sandusky sodomizing a boy? (Even though McQueary will not be at Saturday's game due to concerns for his safety?) Some have reported that PSU might fear violating whistleblower laws with regard to McQueary. UPDATE: Late Friday afternoon McQueary was placed on administrative leave.
• Can the Penn State campus move forward cohesively any time soon, with so many differing thoughts on what is happening, and with so many raw emotions? The only thing everyone can agree on is the feelings for the alleged victims and the abject horror that this not only happened, but happened at Penn State and in State College. Tonight there is a candlelight vigil for the victims. Everyone can get on board with that. But for other things it's not that easy. Such as determining how to show support for the alleged victims at the game tomorrow. There has been much debate about what do to, with wearing blue in support of the victims seeming to win out. We'll see.
• Can people separate their loyalties from their analysis of this situation? Obviously, for so many affiliated with Penn State, this has proven exceptionally difficult, or impossible thus far, and the media has made sure to highlight this segment of the PSU student body. As hard as it is, Penn Staters need to step back and do their best to objectively evaluate everything. Withholding judgment of individuals until more information is known is okay, and having differences of opinion is okay. On the flip side, a lot of sports commentators, many ex-football players, are being asked for their opinions, and a few of them seem to be less interested in analyzing the unfurling tragedy and more interested in directing their vitriol at Penn State simply because it is Penn State, a rival school. Naming names and their alma maters isn't important. But in at least two instances RFBS has observed - and RFBS has been inhaling coverage of this saga since Sunday - it seems like they're relishing the opportunity to rip Penn State to shreds on a personal level, which is sad.

Hope is our focus now.

Hope that somehow, at some point, things can begin to slowly get better.

Hope is that there is someone, or someones, who tried, really truly genuinely tried, to do something about Sandusky and for inexplicable reasons beyond the limits of their ability were unable to do so.

Hope that abuse victims everywhere can somehow find peace in their lives.

Hope that raised awareness of sexual abuse of children will come from this tragedy and will help reduce instances of such abuse in the future.

Hope that the next witness - and next and next and next, on and on forever - will immediately go to the police and report what they know.

Hope that authorities will properly investigate such claims and make the right decisions.

Hope that media coverage as this saga continues will be thorough and fair. In other words, please don't focus solely on the 30 idiots who were misbehaving and the few hundred chanting (which has been all of the video highlights shown from Wednesday night, post-Paterno's firing, though RFBS watched live for an hour and saw only a sedentary gathering), and overlook the thousands who were basically just standing around and the 35-40,000 who weren't participating at all. Try to find the better range of thoughts and opinions, or consensus opinions. Not just that of the one moron jumping up and down on a car, or the zealot camping outside the Paterno house for the past 72 hours.

Hope that things don't get worse - that there aren't more victims of Sandusky, that as few people as possible actually could have prevented this tragedy.

Hope that the Board of Trustees will have wisdom and courage moving forward.

Hope that the incredible things about Penn State for the past century and a half are not permanently obscured and diminished. Everything good that has happened still happened.

There are much smaller hopes, too. Please, ESPN and anyone else (except perhaps websites specifically devoted to recruiting), stop talking about how this will impact football recruiting, stop providing updates on how individual recruits are reacting to this. It's completely inappropriate right now. Obviously, it will have a big impact on PSU football recruiting, perhaps for many years to come, everyone knows that. But can we at least wait a few weeks before discussing something like that? It is reminiscent of the blogger who, moments after news broke that an Alabama football player died in an accident, posted about how it will impact the Crimson Tide depth chart.

The Board of Trustees met for the fourth day in a row Friday. A special committee, headed by Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier, was formed to undertake a "full and complete investigation'' to determine:

1. What happened, what failures occurred
2. Who's responsible for those failures
3. Impart measures to insure something like this can never happen again
4. Make sure those responsible are being held fully accountable

May the committee's findings help us begin the road to recovery.

Right result (sort-of, for now), but so much else is wrong (11.10.11)

Penn State Board of Trustees did what it had to, but it didn't exactly get it right
There was no way Joe Paterno could coach Saturday's game against Nebraska, but the BOT has to be fully forthcoming.

The Penn State Board of Trustees acted late Wednesday night, swiftly and decisively as it had promised.

It fired Joe Paterno and dispatched president Graham Spanier too, though Spanier's departure was strangely announced as mutual, or something like that.

For Penn State to begin moving forward, national icon Paterno and 16-year president Spanier needed to be removed from their positions, for the time being at least.

The disgusting facts from the grand jury report in the sexual abuse case against Jerry Sandusky, which are pretty much the only known facts at this point, make it clear that Spanier and Paterno, among others, might be culpable in overlooking a heinous act by Sandusky, and thus enabling future heinous acts.

Which is enough to remove Paterno and Spanier from their positions while the school investigates. Certainly Spanier's ability to lead is crippled beyond repair, and Paterno must be further questioned. The surreal BOT press conference at 10pm Wednesday seemed to make this point.

But it missed on many other points.

The BOT set itself up for second-guessing and doubt about its leadership abilities by admitting it didn't have all the facts, but was firing Paterno anyway. It said it didn't have any more facts than those contained in the grand jury report. Which with regard to Paterno are brief and a bit nebulous about what he knew, though alarming due to their nature and what they might mean.

But it didn't place Paterno on leave and remove him from Penn State while it investigates. It fired him.

So then: AD Tim Curley, charged with perjury in the Sandusky case, is placed on leave by the BOT, and VP Gary Schultz, also charged with perjury, is allowed to re-retire, and both are having their legal fees covered by PSU. But Paterno, charged with nothing and absolved legally by the state attorney general, is fired? Instead of being placed on leave pending the investigation? And Spanier apparently is allowed to negotiate his end, but JoePa is fired with no request to resign first?

Yes, Paterno had to be removed now. Yes, this might seem like semantics.

But this isn't about whether the history books will say Paterno was fired or placed on leave for the final three games before his retirement.

It is about the BOT needing to get things right, needing to be transparent and honest.

It wasn't.

BOT spokesperson John Surma - a sharp guy if there ever was - didn't say Paterno is the name fueling the oppressive media onslaught that's inhibiting PSU's recovery. He didn't say Paterno's outsized presence is an obstacle to moving forward. He didn't say that Saturday's game against Nebraska, with Paterno on the sideline, would be a media-hounded, bizarre, powder-keg of a sideshow the school cannot tolerate or risk at this juncture. He didn't say they were scared of what more they might learn, considering how much is unknown and the mind-blowing nature of this situation.

Paterno had to be removed for those reasons. Except the BOT didn't say that. And they didn't just remove him, they fired him. While saying they didn't have all the facts.

The BOT needs to be accurate and forthright every step of the way. And they weren't.

So, as Penn State somehow tries to find ground zero and start the long, slow, ugly climb out of the greatest depths, as it rallies behind its Board of Trustees and begins the road to recovery, as it assesses the breathtaking range and depth of damage, as it plans the investigation and determines who must be cleaned out and processes everything that it is happening in this tragedy of unparalleled scope and horror, in its major initial opening salvo, the BOT came off as disingenuous.

Oops.

Also, couldn't Surma have taken a police escort to Paterno's house and told him in person? Instead of sending a courier with a note to Paterno, asking him to call a certain number? What if Paterno had said, fine, I'll call in the morning?

The BOT also left Mike McQueary's status untouched. Yes, addressing those with the highest profile - Spanier and Paterno - was of greater importance than assistant coach McQueary. But McQueary is important also, based on his explosive statements in the grand jury report. How about the BOT taking the one minute it should have taken for all members to agree that McQueary must be placed on leave and removed from Penn State indefinitely pending the investigation?

Boom, done.

But instead, McQueary's status lingers today. Sigh.

The Penn State Board of Trustees is tasked with an extraordinarily difficult and important mission. In academic parlance, the BOT needs to make an "A." It must.

So far, it gets a "C."

Long way to go. Long way.

For the sake of Penn State, JoePa should fall on the sword (posted 11.8.11)

For the sake of Dear Old State, JoePa should fall on the sword
Paterno will have ample opportunity to try to explain himself, but it should be as the ex-coach at Penn State


There still remains a possibility that Joe Paterno's words - whether in his next press conference, or to the soon-to-be appointed special committee, or later on when testifying in the 40-count sexual abuse case against Jerry Sandusky - will at least in part provide a reasonable explanation for his actions, or lack thereof, in the infamous 2002 allegation against Sandusky.

A possibility. This story is so overwhelming in shock value, abhorrence and scope that perhaps nothing would be surprising to learn about it. And there is a lot to learn, that is for sure. It feels like a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune: A few letters are filled in, but the entirety remains unknown.

But right now, the media universe is smothering Penn State, and it has Paterno squarely in its crosshairs. The Paterno name is fueling the media onslaught. What to do about Paterno also is heightening the tension about campus and amongst Penn Staters everywhere around the globe. The cancellation by Penn State of Paterno's scheduled press conference Tuesday only increased the fervor.

Paterno has become an obstacle to the recovery process for Penn State.

Incredibly, the person credited more than any other with the development and reputation of the Penn Staters may not only possibly bear some responsibility in the school's worst hour of shame, but he is standing in the way of the onset of the long road of recuperation.

Therefore, Paterno should resign. As soon as possible.

JoePa needs to fall on the sword.

Paterno may very much desire to explain himself, to try to defend his actions, to bring new information to light. He may intend to try to redeem himself in the eyes of many in his constituency, Penn Staters - those who have followed his lead and revered him for decades. He may actually be able to. Or not.

But in the past couple of days it has become evident he needs to clear out of the way. The Penn State Board of Trustees is desperately scrambling to assess the situation and react appropriately. The BOT must lead Penn State through the daunting, painful process of assessment and recovery. (It was announced late Tuesday that a special committee would be formed Friday to investigate the entire Sandusky situation.)

The nature of things now is such that Paterno's continuing presence as head coach is an obstacle to that process, a process that must move forward as swiftly as possible.

The institution comes first. It's about Penn State. It's about the school coping with this tragedy and the victims.

Taking measure of the first 84 years and 10 months of Paterno's life, he has seemingly always made the right decisions. In one horrible instance in 2002, Paterno apparently did not. That might have enabled Sandusky's heinous trail of sexual abuse for the next six years. That has helped lead us to the terrible place we are today.

Paterno can't undo what is done, but he can do the right thing right now by resigning.

It will be the second step of Penn State's housecleaning. Step one came Sunday when AD Tim Curley and VP of business and finance Gary Schultz, both charged with perjury, stepped down following the Board of Trustees meeting.

Next up are Paterno and president Graham Spanier. Spanier's silence the past few days would seem to indicate he is in the process of negotiating his departure. Silent Spanier certainly isn't in the process of leading the school.

Paterno will be asked to resign by the BOT as well, for all of the reasons mentioned earlier, it's just a matter of when. Hopefully he takes the decision away from the BOT and does it himself, very soon.

That means he will miss the Senior Day home finale Saturday against Nebraska. But even for that, his presence would be detrimental, a conflicting figure. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley should be named interim head coach the remainder of the year. A season of great promise will be thrust into disarray with three games to go. And JoePa's heretofore spectacular, noble career will end shockingly immersed in scandal.

The rest of the football coaching staff will be next on the chopping block, after the season. The BOT will want a clean slate moving forward, and anyone perceived as possibly connected to the scandal or Sandusky - the former defensive coordinator retired 12 years ago - in any way will be excised. The new head coach, who likely will be hired in December, will bring in a whole new slate of assistants.

Then there is Mike McQueary. McQueary reportedly was the graduate assistant who witnessed Sandusky's alleged sexual assault in 2002. He reported it to Paterno, who forward it to Curley. McQueary then met with Curley and Schultz, who oversees campus police, and conveyed what he witnessed, but apparently no investigation was launched, and it died right there. Just as the Centre County police mysteriously let a 1998 allegation against Sandusky die.

McQueary, now the PSU wide receivers coach, has been thrust into the center of this hurricane. Many have questioned what he did, or did not do, with regard to Sandusky. While Paterno has been the focus of the media, the backlash against McQueary has been more vitriolic. Some, including former Nittany Lions great Matt Millen, have questioned why McQueary apparently didn't physically intervene when he witnessed Sandusky's alleged assault.

McQueary reportedly was not at practice Tuesday. His immediate fate is unclear, though some fear for his safety.

ESPN is reporting that Paterno's son Scott, who is acting as JoePa's spokesperson, is trying to arrange a press conference for Wednesday.

Hopefully, Paterno will resign. It's the right thing to do.