The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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NCAA files Fed suit against PA

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Immediately upon Governor Tom Corbett signing into law the bill designed to keep Penn State’s $60 million fine inside Pennsylvania, the geniuses at the NCAA filed suit in Federal court in an attempt to block the new law.

The new law, called the Pennsylvania Institution of Higher Education Monetary Penalty Endowment Act (or PIHEMPEA, for short), was endorsed by Corbett, who feels that it “makes sense and is the right thing to do.”

This turkey agrees — not with the NCAA’s fine, but with the Gov’s position. Sandusky committed his criminal acts in Pennsylvania, endangering the children of the commonwealth. So, why should the money, which is supposed to be used to provide resources and education to combat child sexual abuse, go elsewhere?

The NCAA obviously doesn’t agree, but why? I’ll tell you why. They just don’t know when to let up. We’re back to the best defense being a good offense yet again. The NCAA is so used to having its way about these punishment issues that it expects its targets to lay down and accept the penalty. When some backbone shows up, they go into attack mode.

Problems abound here and a plethora of questions beg to be asked. The NCAA is certainly exceeding its authority by going after a whole damn state, isn’t it? On the other hand, it is the state that is showing the backbone, not the university. Rod Erickson and the Board of Trustees essentially asked, “How high? when the NCAA said, “Jump!”, but the Pennsylvania legislature would have none of that pussification. Their response: “Drop dead!”

So, this suit names Corbett, along with the auditor general, the treasurer, and the chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency as co-defendants. These are the primary functionaries who would be engaged in distribution of the money or oversight of such distributions.

There is no doubt whatsoever in my birdbrain that the NCAA will once again attempt to hang its legal hat on the notion that Penn State signed the infamous consent decree, which in their minds was unassailably final. This is what appeasement does — it complicates the hell out of things later on when sanity returns. Now that sanity has indeed returned and people are thinking with their minds instead of their hearts and other bodily parts, we’re stuck with the too hastily signed consent decree. In my non-legal opinion, it isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, inasmuch as it was signed under duress — namely, the cocked gun of the “Death Penalty” pointed at Rod Erickson’s head. But’s that’s my mind and whether it makes any sense legally is something for the courts to decide. Suffice to know that it will be tested. It will undoubtedly be hashed and rehashed many times over in various courtrooms over the next few years.

What a huge waste of money all this is! Why does the NCAA care about the money remaining within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania? What’s their stake in it? Here’s what their lawyers wrote:

“By seizing the funds and restricting eligibility to benefit from the funds only to Pennsylvania programs benefiting only Pennsylvania residents, the act will defeat the consent decree’s plain terms and frustrate the parties’ intended purpose.”

Would someone please tell me what the hell they’re doing? “Will defeat the consent decree’s plain terms and frustrate the parties’ intended purpose” — WTF? Where in the consent decree does it state that the funds will be used in any particular location, or not? And what really was the intent of “the parties”. (Presumably, the parties in question are the NCAA and Penn State University.) Did Penn State ever have a plan for spending a $60 million fine it didn’t know about until a day before the consent decree was signed? Did Emmert and his henchmen even have a plan in mind?

What the suit is about is control of the disbursement of the funds. Pure and simple. Pennsylvania wants it. The NCAA wants it. Pennsylvania passes a law. The NCAA sues. The lawsuit claims the new legislation is unconstitutional because it directs state officials to collect money to which the state is not entitled and the state has no right to change the contract between the NCAA and Penn State.

So what’s our friend Emmert have to say about all this? He essentially said that members must cleave unto him and if others get involved in modifying penalties, college sports would be “dramatically altered.” Ha! He be right.

You can read the Executive Summary of the suit, if you want to save some time, or read the actual filing, if you’re thus inclined. Also, you can read about this suit in ESPN.com or AP Sports.

 

 

A Sad State of Affairs in College Athletics

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Paul Finebaum of Sports Illustrated wrote in an article entitled “Under Emmert, NCAA has sunk deeper, lost even more credibility“:

It’s a sad state of affairs in college athletics. The organization that will easily — and without a conscience — destroy a coach for not following the letter of the antediluvian rule book or take away a young man’s eligibility because of an honest mistake has literally made it up as it goes along.

Meanwhile, the man behind the curtain, Mark Emmert, smiles for the cameras in his shiny suit as his organization and its credibility and integrity seemingly go up in smoke.

Truer words were never spoken. The hypocrisy of it all!

Here’s a little thing, though. Those words were written on September 1, 2011, long before the Penn State scandal, long before news of UNC’s transgressions broke, long before the Shabazz Muhammad debacle, and long before the botched Miami investigation. But Ohio State and Cam Newton were still fresh in everyone’s minds. Tresselgate (Tattoogate) and Camgate (Newtongate).

Of course, Finebaum expressed himself from a frustrated sports reporter’s viewpoint:

Instead of being honest about the cesspool he swims in daily, Emmert’s game lately has been to run off to ESPN for another doleful defense of the indefensible — the state of college athletics.

It’s too bad Oprah quit because I can’t think of a better forum for Emmert and his crocodile tears and vapid promises.

That was then and this is now, you say? Well, you probably didn’t read this piece back then because you never thought it would be an issue for Penn State. NCAA rules violations were problems for the rest of them; Penn State stood alone at the top of the heap, unassailable and clean. But that made us a big target for the NCAA vindicators, as we know now.

So, just for laughs give it a read.

 

Fire Mark Emmert: the petition

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It was inevitable that someone would create a petition to fire Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA and legend in his own mind. Change.org, a bastion of petitioners, gets the prize for being the vehicle for a petition by “Josh O” of Fairfax, Virginia entitled “NCAA: Fire Mark Emmert as President of the NCAA“. It is addressed to David Leebron, Nathan Hatch, Gene Block, Lou Anna Simon, and Judy Genshaft — the NCAA Board of Directors.

You can follow the link above and sign the petition by filling out a brief form on the same page. The Turkey endorses this petition, and thinks you should strongly consider signing it. When last I looked, they had 305 supporters and needed 195 to make it over the first hurdle.

Can the Board of Directors fire Emmert, or has he amassed too much power and become Emperor for Life?

In order to determine exactly what would be involved in shitcanning Emmert, I tried to find the NCAA by-laws on the NCAA.org site, but they’re not published there for us mere mortals. Perhaps someone with Lexis Nexus access can find them for me, as the Turkey lacks the finances to employ such tools, but I digress. It is interesting that the NCAA site is replete with rule books for each division of member institutions, posted in very prominent places, but when it comes to its own framework of rules, it keeps them secret. (Incidentally, they devote an entire page to Penn State sanctions on that site.)

Emmert, the hypocrite, is running a dirty organization but he has thus far kept his hands squeaky clean. As the scandals and internal malfeasance mount, he won’t be able to remain aloof much longer. It is time for the media to turn their negative death rays toward the NCAA in general and Mark Emmert in particular. We’ve seen some of it happening in the past day or two, so there is hope. Come on, sports writers and writerettes, commentators and commentatettes, you don’t want to be left out! Join the media firestorm today!