Penn State Mail Call

Mike at Black Shoe Diaries chimed in on my last post, Penn State: Criminal U?, and had the following to say:

See, your post is exactly what we're fighting. There were not 61 "arrests". The list alleges 61 run ins with the law, but when you break down the list it is full of errors and omissions. A large portion of the charges were dismissed. Some of the items were done by former players. Joe Paterno gets out of his car and wags a finger at a lady and that makes the list?

When you take all that stuff off the list and all the things that are dismissed you're left with mostly a lot of underage drinking and disorderly conduct stuff. While I'll be the first to admit our kids have been less than choir boys in recent years, the person who put the list together had a clear agenda to smear the PSU program and wasn't going to let facts get in the way. So when PSU fans hear Outside the Lines is looking to do a similar story we get a little defensive.

Well, first of all, thanks to Mike for taking the time to comment. I do understand trying to fight the good fight against the people out there who may be trying to smear the Penn State program. But as an outsider, I have the ability to see the forest through the trees...and I can tell you that it doesn't look good. Whether the honest number of arrests/run-ins with the law is 61, 51 or 41, either way, its a lot, and clearly there is an issue that needs to be addressed. This ESPN story will only highlight what has been a growing problem. Unfortunately it is a growing problem on almost every campus in America...and Penn State has the misfortune of being singled out by maybe the biggest sports media outlet in the country.

Now, I will not say that JoPa needs to go. Old men shaking their fingers at younsters is never good. The head coach is ultimately responsible for the actions of his players, but I think there is more to the problem than the coach. I think the leadership of the program, from assistants to upper-class men, need to be taken into account.

I wish I had more information in front of me so I could address this topic on a incident by incident basis, but I will take your word for it that the bulk of the run-ins were alcohol related and/or disorderly conduct issues. And if it is true that former players are involved and their actions are bringing down the current team, then that is most definitely something that JoPa and his staff need to address.

But, it will be interesting to watch this unfold. Luckily for PSU fans, the NBA refs are the big controversy right now. So this may be tabled until we get closer to the season.

Cheers!