Around the Big Ten

[THE_WIZARD_]

I'm confident that more than half the teams who have participated in the BCS championship game over the past decade have gained a significant competitive advantage because of cheating cultures and different attitudes towards enforcing the rules. I'm getting sick of it. IMHO college football is now a competition amongst a tiny set of elites for that very reason.

This is very true. The SEC has dominated recently because of this. Cheating is rampant in the SEC and it seems little is being done to curb it. They have other advantages too (population, climate, etc) but it wasn't until the last 10 years that they have dominated to this degree.

[entropy]

According to Emmert, the discussion was the Death Penalty PLUS other sanctions

yes, but they ended up proposing this.. I would have countered the NCAA's offer...of course, I'm assuming PSU just accepted the punishment. Maybe that was the negotiated end point...

[entropy]

yes, but they ended up proposing this.. I would have countered the NCAA's offer...of course, I'm assuming PSU just accepted the punishment. Maybe that was the negotiated end point...

I have my answer..

If Penn State had not accepted the package of NCAA sanctions announced Monday, the Nittany Lions faced a historic death penalty of four years, university president Rodney Erickson told "Outside the Lines" on Wednesday afternoon.

In a separate interview, NCAA president Mark Emmert confirmed that a core group of NCAA school presidents had agreed early last week that an appropriate punishment was no Penn State football for four years.

Emmert told Erickson in a phone conversation on July 17 that a majority of the NCAA's leadership wanted to levy the four-year penalty because of Penn State's leaders' roles in covering up the child sexual abuse of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

"Well, that's a pretty tough number to swallow," Erickson said he recalled thinking when told of the four-year possibility by Emmert. "It's unprecedented. It's a blow to the gut; there's no doubt about that ... I couldn't agree to that at all."





Erickson said if Penn State did not agree to the sanctions, a formal investigation would have begun and the university could have faced a multiyear death penalty, as well as "other sanctions," including a financial penalty far greater than $60 million.


Almost immediately after that conversation, intensive discussions between Penn State and the NCAA began in earnest, Erickson said. Penn State lobbied for the NCAA to take the death penalty off the table, and the NCAA described a series of other sanctions, both "punitive and corrective" in nature.

The discussions were so secretive that most members of Penn State's embattled Board of Trustees had no idea they were happening, several trustees said.

Indeed, the trustees had thought Erickson was officially responding to a Nov. 17 letter of questions from the NCAA. In the interview on Wednesday, Erickson said the letter was set aside last week as the discussions between Penn State and the NCAA intensified.

Erickson said if Penn State did not agree to the sanctions, a formal investigation would have begun and the university could have faced a multiyear death penalty, as well as "other sanctions," including a financial penalty far greater than $60 million.

"There were figures that were thrown around that were quite large," he said.

After five days of intense discussions last week, Erickson and Emmert agreed last Sunday to the historic punishment of a $60 million fine, a four-year postseason ban, significant loss of scholarships and the vacating of 14 years of 112 Penn State victories, causing Joe Paterno to fall from first to eighth on the all-time coaches' win list.

The punishment was for the role played by four Penn State leaders -- Paterno, former university president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz -- to conceal Sandusky's child sexual abuse for more than 10 years, as described in the university-commissioned Freeh report.

Erickson's comments were made Wednesday afternoon, shortly before he was scheduled to meet with Penn State's Board of Trustees about the terms of the consent decree he signed with the NCAA. Several trustees said they are furious the board was not given a chance to vote on the agreement, which they say is bad for Penn State.

Erickson said his insistence that Penn State must avoid the death penalty was driven in large part with worry over the devastating economic impact of no Saturday afternoon football in central Pennsylvania and the words of newly hired coach Bill O'Brien.

O'Brien said in an interview Wednesday that he told Erickson, "I want to play football and I want to play football on television."



?
This is the most significant decision in the history of Penn State, and we didn't know. The financial impact of this decision could run as high as $500 million, and we didn't know anything about it.
? -- One Penn State trustee on PSU president Rodney Erickson agreeing to the NCAA's punishments

"Both of those things are possible under the sanctions," Erickson said Wednesday. "I think it is not only best for our football program but best for our entire set of sports and intercollegiate athletes to be able to continue on and have the opportunity to play in that stadium and participate."

Erickson said he disagrees with the criticism that the NCAA sanctions are worse than the death penalty.

"I think the death penalty would have been far, far worse for the program and the university over the long run," he said.

While it had been known that Penn State faced a possible multiyear death penalty, the level of NCAA support for a four-year death penalty and the import given to that threat by Erickson and other Penn State leaders were not previously known.

Erickson signed a consent decree that accepted full responsibility for the facts and conclusions of the 267-page Freeh report, a seven-month investigation by the firm of former FBI director Louis Freeh. His investigators interviewed more than 430 witnesses and reviewed more than 3.5 million documents.

The decree states the evidence against Penn State "presents an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity leading to a culture in which a football program was held in higher esteem than the values of the institution, the values of the NCAA, the values of higher education and, most disturbingly, the values of human decency."

The university's discussions with the NCAA last week were so secretive that most trustee members had no idea they were going on, even as late as last Sunday when Erickson and Emmert said the consent decree's terms were finalized.

Some trustees said they hoped the dismantling of Paterno's statue would send a positive message to the NCAA when it considered sanctions. Little did those trustees know, Erickson already had agreed in principle by last Saturday on the "punitive and corrective" sanctions.

Some trustees said they are considering a bid to overturn the consent decree in court because they don't believe Erickson had the authority to sign it. Erickson consulted with board chairwoman Karen Peetz, acting AD Dave Joyner and several other unnamed members of the board's executive committee, he said Wednesday.

Two trustees said most of the board's members did not find out about the terms of the agreement until Monday morning.

"This is the most significant decision in the history of Penn State, and we didn't know," one trustee said. "The financial impact of this decision could run as high as $500 million, and we didn't know anything about it.

"The Freeh report criticized us for not being in the loop on the Sandusky matter, and we were totally out of the loop on this. What happened to the transparency that we were promised?"

Another trustee said there is a growing movement among some trustees to attempt to challenge the consent decree in court.

"They've destroyed the school, as far as I'm concerned," this trustee said. "Think of the innocent players hurt by this. They had nothing to do with this and they have to pay the price."

On Wednesday, Erickson said he had consulted with Peetz, the board chairwoman, and the university's outside counsel, about whether he had the authority to negotiate and approve the agreement with the NCAA.

"We felt that I had the authority to engage in that consent decree," Erickson said.

[THE_WIZARD_]

wow

[entropy]

Silas Redd remains undecided as to whether he will stay at Penn State, a source close to the star running back told ESPN.com.

Meanwhile, Penn State coach Bill O'Brien said Wednesday that all of his players have been recruited by other team's coaches, and several players have received as many as 50 scholarship offers to play for opposing teams.





More from ESPN.com

In the days since the NCAA dealt Penn State football a devastating blow, Bill O'Brien has rolled up his sleeves and tried to keep his team together, Mark Schlabach writes. Story


Redd was not among the group of players who gathered Wednesday in State College, Pa., to announce their support of the embattled football program. Penn State's leading rusher last season, Redd is pondering his options, including a possible transfer to USC, the source said.

In the 48 hours since the NCAA levied unprecedented sanctions against the program, an extraordinary recruiting frenzy has played out on Penn State's campus, where players are working out. At noon Wednesday, several groups of coaches from opposing teams were waiting in the Lasch Football Building parking lot to recruit Penn State players.

"Our players are in our building right now and they don't want to leave the building because there are coaches from other schools in the parking lot waiting to see them," said O'Brien, who spent the morning at ESPN's Bristol, Conn., campus.

Penn State players are free to transfer without having to sit out, and Redd is being told by coaches at various programs that he can play right away. Interested schools, however, must notify Penn State first per NCAA rules.

USC notified Penn State on Monday that it is interested in Redd, another source said. As they boarded a plane Wednesday morning to go to Bristol, O'Brien and his colleagues walked past a group of six coaches carrying University of Illinois bags and suitcases. A Penn State official told ESPN.com that no words were exchanged between O'Brien and the Illinois contingent.

O'Brien declined to identify the players who have been offered up to 50 scholarships, but Illinois assistant athletic director Kent Brown acknowledged a group of Fighting Illini coaches are on Penn State's campus to recruit "a player or two -- maybe more."

Illinois AD Mike Thomas has communicated with Penn State acting AD Dave Joyner, in accordance with Big Ten rules, about the Fighting Illini pursuing Nittany Lions players.

In a statement released Tuesday, the NCAA said, "Penn State cannot restrict in any way a student-athlete from pursuing a possible transfer. Student-athletes must simply inform Penn State of their interest in discussing transfer options with other schools. Before communicating with student-athletes, interested schools also must inform Penn State of their intention to open discussions with the student-athlete."

The compliance office at Penn State's campus has been flooded with faxes and emails from other schools. But O'Brien asked Wednesday that opposing coaches also call him "as a professional courtesy."

He said three to five coaches had called but estimated that most of the Division I schools are now aggressively recruiting Penn State players.





The Herd with Colin Cowherd



ESPNU CFB analyst David Pollack dishes on the NCAA's sanctions against Penn State, Bill O'Brien, Silas Redd, the Nittany Lions' future and more.

More Podcasts ?


Redd, a 5-foot-10, 209-pound junior, ran for 1,241 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

USC coach Lane Kiffin would not comment on Redd specifically Tuesday during the Pac-12's media day. But Kiffin acknowledged the Trojans could use help in the backfield.

"Our No. 1 concern is our running back depth," Kiffin said. "We really have to do a good job there developing depth."

Any transferred Penn State player who gets a scholarship does not count against another school's scholarship total. O'Brien said the recruiting frenzy has led to "an NFL free-agent system" in collegiate sports.

Immediately after the NCAA sanctions were announced Monday, O'Brien held a team meeting preaching togetherness and the challenge of overcoming adversity. But he acknowledged Wednesday he did not anticipate that other schools would push this hard for every player on his team.

"These kids don't want to leave Penn State," O'Brien said. "They want to play for Penn State. It is my opinion these coaches should leave them alone, but if they don't want to leave them alone, they should make sure they give me a call before they try to recruit them."

O'Brien said he was motivated to speak out about the massive recruiting push.

"I want everybody to understand -- our fans, everybody involved with this program -- what is going on with these student-athletes right now," O'Brien said. "They're under tremendous pressure.

"I am just concerned about taking care of the my kids who play for me. I am concerned about being there

[Mackenzie]

WOW! Sounds like this could turn into a circus. In retrospect, it may have been good, or not, for the NCAA to have set up some type of temporary clearing house to bridge the gap between the PSU athletic department, PSU players/recruits wanting to transfer out, and respective suitors. Hopefully, no schools, including M, inadvertently violate established protocol (which I hope is crystal clear) with respect to this issue. Sounds like O'Brien is pleading for suitors to call him before contacting any kids. Not sure that is an extra level or consideration or not. But, I think O'Brien is right in that many of these kids are probably torn and confused and should not be subjected to some sort of feeding frenzy by other NCAA schools. It's too bad this has surfaced so close to the start of the season as I think an "opting out" moratorium of 30 days or so would have given the kids, their parents, etc. an opportunity to digest and let sink in the importance of their decisions and perhaps let the emotional impact on their thinking subside a bit.

[Tony G]

The same kind of feeding frenzy happened when SMU got nuked

[WM Wolverine]

Agree with Mackenzie, fall practice starts in a week or two for most schools. These kids don't have much time to really decide. The NCAA rules that allow schools to go over their limit of 85 doesn't help matters but does make the kids ability to go where they want easier...

Apparently a bunch of kids at PSU announced they were staying (25-35, depending on source), not sure of who was among them but I'd be interested in hearing that list.

[THE_WIZARD_]

The NCAA rules that allow schools to go over their limit of 85 doesn't help matters but does make the kids ability to go where they want easier...

Yes they can go over their yearly and cumulitive numbers temporarily...but they have to reduce them by the same number the next season.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Stewart Mandel @ slmandel
RT @ CecilHurt: How far was NCAA manual tossed in PSU case? Bylaw 19.5.2' "death penalty" provision for repeat offenders only allows 2 years.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Wisconsin announced their 2013 schedule today, including the earlier announced BYU game

• 08/31 – UMass
• 09/07 – Tennessee Tech
• 09/14 – at Arizona State
• 09/21 – Purdue
• 09/28 – at Ohio State
• 10/05 – Open Date
• 10/12 – Northwestern
• 10/19 – at Illinois
• 10/26 – Open Date
• 11/02 – at Iowa
• 11/09 – BYU
• 11/16 – Indiana
• 11/23 – at Minnesota
• 11/30 – Penn State

Good thing they added BYU cuz that home slate kinda stinks. They and Purdue moved their game; maybe more Big10 teams will start doing this? Playing conf games earlier in Sept?

[Tony G]

Not shocked at this...

Penn State insurer seeks to deny coverage

By Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, CNN
updated 12:13 AM EDT, Thu July 26, 2012


A Joe Paterno statue has been removed. A lawsuit by the school's insurer is the latest fallout from the Sandusky case.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Penn State insurer says former officials withheld information on Jerry Sandusky's behavior
• One of those administrators denied this week any role in a cover-up
• Also Wednesday, Penn State board meets, discusses recent NCAA sanctions
• Statement from board says penalties, though harsh, could have been worse

(CNN) -- Penn State's legal battles continued Wednesday with the university's primary general liability insurer filing a motion claiming coverage should be denied because the administration failed to disclose what it knew about former coach Jerry Sandusky's behavior, according to legal documents.
The motion, filed in common pleas court by the Pennsylvania Manufacturer's Association, says Penn State did not provide it with information relevant to the insurable risk the association assumed. The association has already sued Penn State over the coverage of one of Sandusky's victims' claims against the university, filed in November 2011.
The association has insured Penn State under general liability policies since 1976.
"It would be unlawful and contradictory to public policy to require PMA to provide coverage to PSU under any policy issued to PSU after May 1998 with respect to PSU's concealment of Sandusky's sexually abusive conduct ... and failure to take appropriate action to prevent Sandusky from molesting minors," the motion read.
The motion comes days after former Penn State President Graham Spanier denied a role in a university cover-up of Sandusky's actions. Spanier has not been criminally charged in the case. However, an investigation by ex-FBI chief Louis Freeh concluded that he helped university officials conceal allegations of sexual abuse against the former assistant football coach.
No one from the Pennsylvania Manufacturer's Association was immediately available for comment.
Sandusky, 68, was convicted in late June of 45 of the 48 sexual abuse counts he faced, involving 10 victims. He was an assistant football coach at Penn State for more than 40 years until he resigned in 1999 but still had access to Penn State facilities through his charity until he was arrested in 2011.
Sandusky founded The Second Mile, a nonprofit organization for underprivileged youth and several of his victims attended the program. The foundation announced in May it will close.
He will be sentenced in September.
Penn State slapped with $60 million fine
The Penn State Board of Trustees met Wednesday night to discuss football sanctions handed down by the NCAA. According to a statement, the members found the sanctions difficult, but understood that they could have been much worse, reportedly a multiyear shut down of the team, a traditional major college football power.
No votes were taken, the statement said.
"The university and board resolve to move forward together to recognize the historical excellence in Penn State's academic and athletic programs," the board said. "We anticipate and look forward to demonstrating our outstanding performance in complying with the sanctions."
On Thursday, Steve Garban became the first Penn State Board of Trustees member to resign since the Freeh report.
The NCAA handed Penn State a number of severe and unprecedented sanctions Monday for "perpetuating a 'football first' culture that ultimately enabled serial child sexual abuse to occur," according to the NCAA website.
The sanctions include a record $60 million fine, a four-year postseason ban, a four-year reduction in football scholarships and five years of probation. Penn State was also forced to vacate its football victories since 1998, including 111 by the late Joe Paterno, costing him the record as the winningest coach in the NCAA's top division.

[entropy]

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A man who claims to be the unknown victim molested in a Penn State shower by Jerry Sandusky in a case that led to Joe Paterno's firing intends to sue the university for its "egregious and reckless conduct" that facilitated the abuse, his lawyers said Thursday.

The lawyers have done an extensive investigation and gathered "overwhelming evidence" on details of the abuse by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, they said in a statement.

"Our client has to live the rest of his life not only dealing with the effects of Sandusky's childhood sexual abuse, but also with the knowledge that many powerful adults, including those at the highest levels of Penn State, put their own interests and the interests of a child predator above their legal obligations to protect him," the statement said.

The university said in a statement that it is taking the case seriously but cannot comment on pending litigation.

University President Rodney Erickson and the Board of Trustees, the school said, "have publicly emphasized that their goal is to find solutions that rest on the principle of justice for the victims."

Prosecutors have said they don't know the identity of the boy molested by Sandusky in 2001. The encounter was spotted by a former graduate assistant who reported the abuse to school officials, including Paterno, but none of them told police.

The victim is not named in the statement, and the AP generally does not identify victims of sex crimes without their consent. The plaintiff has been identified in documents only as Victim 2.

Sandusky awaits sentencing after being convicted of 45 sex abuse counts. Before his trial, his lawyer said he'd been contacted by a man he believed he might be Victim 2. But the lawyer said he was not convinced.

The attorneys who released the statement include several based in Philadelphia and in State College, home to Penn State's main campus and where the shower assault took place.

"We intend to file a civil lawsuit against Penn State University and others and to hold them accountable for the egregious and reckless conduct that facilitated the horrific abuse our client suffered," the statement said.

Trustees fired Paterno, who has since died, because he failed to do more about claims against Sandusky, and a scathing independent review said several top school officials looked the other way because they were afraid of bad publicity. The NCAA has vacated 112 Penn State wins.

[entropy]

Voicemails to Victim #2 left by Sandusky..

http://www.rossfellercasey.com/sandusky-voicemail

[THE_WIZARD_]

This is going to get really ugly really quick...