The Rest of College Football

[Wild Hoss]

There was a guy who writes for a Pennsylvania paper (can't remember which one) who was on a Boston radio show saying this thing goes WAY deeper than anyone knows yet. Says the whole '98 retirement of Sandusky was definitely part of a huge cover up and that there are truly sickening details about this "charity" that have yet to come out. Also insinuated that major Penn State boosters are involved.

Well, if I am the DA I subpoena that guy, today. Get your ass in here and tell me what you know, how you know it, and when you knew it...then explain to me why I shouldn't charge you with misprison for not coming forward with it before this knowledge helped you look like an "insider".

Then I'd subpoena Matt Millen and every other idiot who goes out in the media claiming they know a whole bunch more is coming down.

[entropy]

Jerry Sandusky Rumored to Have Been 'Pimping Out Young Boys to Rich Donors,' Says Mark Madden

by Michael Hurley on Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 10:12AM

In April, Pittsburgh radio host Mark Madden wrote a story revealing Penn State for much of the cover-up of Jerry Sandusky's alleged child rape that has been exposed in the past week. While it didn't raise many eyebrows back then, six months later it looks to be incredibly accurate.

On Thursday morning, just hours after legendary head coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier were fired by the school's board of trustees, Madden was asked on The Dennis and Callahan Show what he believes the next piece of news will be.

What he said was twice as shocking as anything that's been released thus far.

"I can give you a rumor and I can give you something I think might happen," Madden told John Dennis and Gerry Callahan. "I hear there's a rumor that there will be a more shocking development from the Second Mile Foundation -- and hold on to your stomachs, boys, this is gross, I will use the only language I can -- that Jerry Sandusky and Second Mile were pimping out young boys to rich donors. That was being investigated by two prominent columnists even as I speak."

After the news spread, Madden later explained via Twitter why he went public with the rumors.

"I normally abhor giving RUMORS credence," Madden wrote. "But whole Sandusky scandal started out as a RUMOR. It gets deeper and more disgusting all the time. One of state's top columnists investigating. That adds credence. I am NOT rumor's original source. [Why does] Sandusky deserve benefit of doubt?"

Madden also spoke more definitively on Dennis and Callahan to the cover-up efforts at the school and beyond that he expects will be made public soon.

"The other thing I think that may eventually become uncovered, and I talked about this in my original article back in April, is that I think they'll find out that Jerry Sandusky was told that he had to retire in exchange for a cover-up," Madden said. "If you look at the timeline, that makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

"My opinion is when Sandusky quit, everybody knew -- not just at Penn State," Madden added. "I think it was a very poorly kept secret about college football in general, and that is why he never coached in college football again and retired at the relatively young age of 55. [That's] young for a coach, certainly."

[Hannibal]

I won't disagree that the sport has gotten more popular, but I think that it's only in the last couple of years that so many bad things have happened at once. I no longer perceive every program as playing by the same rules. There have been cheating scandals in the past, but they got dealt with. Maybe they will ultimately get dealt with this time. Or maybe I have been suckered by an illusion my whole life. We got more punishment for 15 minutes a day of stretching that Auburn got for buying their quarterback. On top of all of this bullshit, I'm getting ridiculous looking jerseys and rock music shoved down my throat. My love of the sport (and with it, the amount of money that the sport will make off of my fandom) is shrinking.

[iam416]

Or maybe I have been suckered by an illusion my whole life

Winner.

[Jamie H]

I think the Good Ol' Boys club has covered up football-related transgressions for decades.

[Hannibal]

That would be the "Sandusky pimped boys to big donors" story. I'm not buying that until there's irrefutable evidence. Other lines of thought suggest the charity was a cover for illegal benefits. Again, I'll reserve judgment.

I'm with ya there. Boy o boy, that's a conspiracy that would involve a lot of people.

[iam416]

From the outset, college football players exercised their god-given American right to get paid for putting their ass on the line. There is absolutely no disputing this. It wasn't until the 1950s that the NCAA trumped up the noble student-athlete and glorified amateurism to justify its existence and, eventually, increase its power. It's laughable to think that a common practice for four or five decades -- ingrained practice, I'd say -- ceased b/c the NCAA promulgated rules.

College football players receiving benefits has always been. There is simply too much money involved for it to be otherwise.

[iam416]

I'm with ya there. Boy o boy, that's a conspiracy that would involve a lot of people.

Yeah. It doesn't register as plausible. Of course, I'm also not buying it because I don't want to deal with a reality as unfathomably horrific as that.

If there are skeletons behind that charity, I hope it's garden-variety NCAA skeletons. Those, I can process.

[Hannibal]

The sport has never been perfectly clean, but I'll bet that the level of corruption hasn't always been constant, and I think that right now we are in a peak.

I do know one thing without a doubt -- there are programs that make a good faith effort to follow the rules and programs that don't make a good faith effort to follow the rules. And the latter are dominating college football.

[hack]

Things are sustainable until they aren't.

[Jamie H]

I don't think we are at a peak at all. I bet the illicit stuff that went on back in the old days was crazy. It's just that there was far less info that got out those days.

[iam416]

there are programs that make a good faith effort to follow the rules and programs that don't make a good faith effort to follow the rules. And the latter are dominating college football.

There's a sliding scale, sure. No one is the same. That said, IMO there isn't one major, or even middling, program around that can say its players comply with the the NCAA's noble rules of amateurism. Or, frankly, even come close. JMO.

I don't think we are at a peak at all. I bet the illicit stuff that went on back in the old days was crazy. It's just that there was far less info that got out those days.

This. I personally think the amount of "cheating" is, in fact, fairly static.

[Hannibal]

I don't think we are at a peak at all. I bet the illicit stuff that went on back in the old days was crazy. It's just that there was far less info that got out those days.

Do you think that in those days the sport was entirely dominated by teams that didn't follow the rules? That's the perception that has changed for me the most.

[iam416]

Do you think that in those days the sport was entirely dominated by teams that didn't follow the rules? That's the perception that has changed for me the most.

I do. I think CFB has always been dominated by the major, elite programs. And you won't convince me otherwise that those programs weren't breaking the rules. Some more than others? Sure. But all of them to a significant degree.

As an example -- and this is just from my neck of the woods. I "know" that Stark County and Warren, Ohio have certain huge boosters. It so happens that Massillon has a couple big-time M boosters (as does Warren) -- Canton McKinley, in contrast, is an "OSU" school. If you asked me if I thought Dennis Franklin got paid -- I mean paid -- I'd say, 100%, without a doubt, yes. I don't think, for a minute, Bo knew about it, but there's also no doubt in my mind he was taken care. Incidentally, if you asked me about McK players, I think they get paid, too. And I think that was the way then, and it's the way now.

Anyway, that's my speculation from the rumors I've heard. But those rumors, I'm sure, are everywhere.

[entropy]

Dude wrote this in April. He sure seems to have a finger on the pulse here ...

Madden: Sandusky a State secret
Posted: Sunday, April 3, 2011 11:55 pm | Updated: 4:34 pm, Mon Apr 4, 2011.

The Jerry Sandusky situation seems a matter of failure to connect certain dots, or perhaps unwillingness in that regard. Lots of people besides the former Penn State defensive coordinator have some explaining to do.

Allegations of improper conduct with an underage male first surfaced in 1998, while Sandusky was still employed by Penn State. That incident allegedly occurred in a shower at Penn State's on-campus football facility. No charges were filed.

Sandusky retired the next year, in 1999. He was 55, prime age for a coach. Odd, to say the least - especially with Joe Paterno thought even then to be ready to quit and Sandusky a likely, openly-discussed successor.

It seems logical to ask: What did Paterno know, and when did he know it? What did Penn State's administration know, and when did they know it?

Best-case scenario: Charges are never brought, and Sandusky walks away with his reputation permanently scarred. The rumors, the jokes, the sideways glances - they won't ever stop. Paterno and Penn State do the great escape.

Worst-case scenario: Sandusky is charged. Then it seems reasonable to wonder: Did Penn State not make an issue of Sandusky's alleged behavior in 1998 in exchange for him walking away from the program at an age premature for most coaches? Did Penn State's considerable influence help get Sandusky off the hook?

Don't kid yourself. That could happen. Don't underestimate the power of Paterno and Penn State in central Pennsylvania when it comes to politicians, the police and the media.

In 1999, Penn State was rid of Sandusky. His rep was unblemished, which allowed him to continue running a charitable foundation that gave him access to underage males. To be a volunteer assistant with a high school football team, thus gaining access to underage males.

If Paterno and Penn State knew, but didn't act, instead facilitating Sandusky's untroubled retirement - are Paterno and Penn State responsible for untoward acts since committed by Sandusky?

This is far from an outrageous hypothesis, especially given the convenient timeline.

Initially accused in 1998. Retires in 1999. Never coaches college football again. Sandusky was very successful at what he did. The architect of Linebacker U. Helped win national championships in 1982 and 1986. Recognized as college football's top assistant in 1986 and 1999.

Never any stories about Sandusky being pursued for a high-profile job. Never any rumors about him coming out of retirement.

But there's no shortage of stories and rumors about Penn State football sweeping problems under the rug, is there?

Why did college football let an accomplished coach like Sandusky walk away at 55? Why did he disappear into relative anonymity?

A grand jury, spurred by a complaint made by a 15-year-old boy in 2009, has been investigating Sandusky for 18 months. Witnesses include Paterno and Penn State athletic director Tim Curley. Interviewing Paterno about a subject like this had to have been one of the single most uncomfortable acts in the history of jurisprudence.

Plenty of questions remain yet unanswered. Potentially among them: What's more important, Penn State football or the welfare of a few kids?

You might not want to hear the answer.

Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).