Penn State Postscript

The draconian fines and sanctions imposed on Penn State gave the football-at-all-costs mentality the kick in the pants it well deserves.  Fiorella remembers when the scandal first came to light and sports enthusiasts took the "Say it ain't so, Joe," attitude.  It was so easy to stonewall.  Not St. Joe, the winningest football coach in history--he wouldn't allow such a thing to happen during his watch.  Not his blessed acolyte, St. Jerry, the big-hearted tough guy who ate footballs for breakfast.  Those bad boys, those ungrateful boys--they were the villains.

And now the dust has cleared and the false idols have fallen, and Fiorella wonders what all those victories meant. Football is just another silly game.  What matters are the children.

Skewed Priorities

If Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno's long-time assistant coach, had been stealing game receipts, he would have been arrested and jailed, but his penchant for sodomizing vulnerable young boys was easily tolerated, at least by Paterno. And now football fans everywhere are up in arms that the legendary sports figure was fired by Penn State when the scandal broke.

Since when did football become more important than moral behavior? Since when did sports trump protecting children from sexual abuse?