Ncaa Position Paper
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organize the athletic programs of many Colleges and Universities in the United States and Canada. In the 1940’s a committee of the NCAA was created to set up a list of guidelines and rules that all teams in the NCAA must follow (NCAA.org). When a team breaks a rule or does not follow the set of guidelines the NCAA can step in to deliver a punishment that has been laid out within their guidelines. The Freeh Report is an independent report by Louis Freeh and his law firm into the facts and circumstances of the actions of Pennsylvania State University surrounding the child abuse committed by a former employee, Gerald Sandusky.
When the Freeh Report was published many people began to speculate if the NCAA would step in to deliver a punishment to Penn State. Eleven days after the report was released the NCAA released a list of sanctions and corrective measures as suggested in the Freeh Report. The sanctions consisted of a $60,000,000 fine, a four-year postseason ban, four-year reduction of scholarships, five years of probation and the vacation of all wins attributed to Joe Paterno since 1998 (Katz, Andy and Mark Schlabach, ESPN.com). Along with the sanctions the NCAA required Penn State to adopt all of the recommendations presented in the Freeh Report, create a disclosure program and many other corrective measures to ensure that nothing like this could ever happen again.
It is my stance that the NCAA overstepped their jurisdiction and punished Penn State for matters that should have been handled by the courts. While everyone agrees that the events that took place by members of the Penn State staff were unspeakable and needed to be handled legally, myself and many within the football community question the NCAA’s authority to place such harsh restrictions upon the PSU football program. The main question put before
When the Freeh Report was published many people began to speculate if the NCAA would step in to deliver a punishment to Penn State. Eleven days after the report was released the NCAA released a list of sanctions and corrective measures as suggested in the Freeh Report. The sanctions consisted of a $60,000,000 fine, a four-year postseason ban, four-year reduction of scholarships, five years of probation and the vacation of all wins attributed to Joe Paterno since 1998 (Katz, Andy and Mark Schlabach, ESPN.com). Along with the sanctions the NCAA required Penn State to adopt all of the recommendations presented in the Freeh Report, create a disclosure program and many other corrective measures to ensure that nothing like this could ever happen again.
It is my stance that the NCAA overstepped their jurisdiction and punished Penn State for matters that should have been handled by the courts. While everyone agrees that the events that took place by members of the Penn State staff were unspeakable and needed to be handled legally, myself and many within the football community question the NCAA’s authority to place such harsh restrictions upon the PSU football program. The main question put before
Cited: Kercheval, Ben. "Penn State gets fined, postseason ban, scholarship reduction | CollegeFootballTalk." CollegeFootballTalk. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. . Keilman, John. "How will Penn State football sanctions affect students? Look to the SMU death penalty for the answer - Chicago Tribune." Featured Articles From The Chicago Tribune. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. . Hall, Sara. "Local alumni, fans have mixed reaction to Penn State sanctions - News - The Times-Tribune." Scranton news, sports, obituaries, and shopping | thetimes-tribune.com | The Times-Tribune. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. . "NCAA.org." NCAA Public Home Page - NCAA.org. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. . Rovell, Darren."Penn State Nittany Lions ' attendance lowest since 2001 Beaver Stadium renovation - ESPN." ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. . Sharp, Andrew. "Penn State Punishment: The NCAA Finally Gets Something Right - SBNation.com." Sports News, Scores and Fan Opinion Powered by 310 Sports Blogs. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. . Waldron, Travis. "In Punishing Penn State, The NCAA 's Hypocrisy Knows No Limit | ThinkProgress." ThinkProgress. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. . Katz, Andy, and Mark Schlabach. "Penn State Nittany Lions hit with $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban, wins dating to 1998 - ESPN." ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. N.p., 24 July 2012. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. .