I just made a recent, terrible discovery regarding this Sandusky business.
After endless hours of reading, fact-checking, corresponding, comparing notes and examining evidence (or lack thereof)...apparently, all I had to do was ask ESPN basketball commentator Jay Bilas. He has all the answers. There's a year-and-a-half shot to hell. Sumbitch.ESPN, home to Mark Schwarz and Van Valkenburg. Champions of Ray Lewis and Jim Boeheim.
I quit.
"Sometimes you just need to know when to fold 'em."
"There so many people, screwing up in so many different ways, I don't even know where to start."
If these thoughts cross your mind, you are not alone. But, you should never quit.
My problem is I'm a half-Irish, half-Italian, college-educated hillbilly...and I'm either too old or too stupid to walk away from a fight. If I can help, I will share how I manage to break things down into managable parts. I've tried to make it clear that, given my background, I actually allow for the fact that people may claim I'm biased. I'm OK with that. I try to concentrate on asking reasonable questions, defering to experts on particular subjects...and defending people's rights and due process..
Things I've learned
- Presentments should be banned. *See my previous posts.- The Freeh Report was presentment#2
- Victims: everyone who says "what about the victims?" is correct.
- $60 million: this is nothing to Penn State. It won't cover the salary of a utility MLB infielder. And the worst part is, victims won't see a penny of it. We'll pay the NCAA, the task force and then what?...more telephones for hotlines, bigger web sites? Maybe construct some office buildings? Print brochures? Buy TV advertising? Jobs for therapists/psychologists/psychiatrists/attorneys? You could give $25,000 to 2000 different victims and have $10million left over for Emmert's yacht collection...and I could at least say most of it went to actual victims. BTW - I have seen the financials for RAINN and I don't get it. There are hot dog stands with bigger budgets than that and I don't understand paybacks to the founder and attorneys' fees. I'm not casting stones...I'm willing to be educated. The people who have made the most lasting impression with me seem to be the "Adult Survivors" group. They had some meaningful press over on HuffPost. I have no idea what happened to Fisher's group, the high school administrators, CPW, DPS, etc. Zero press coverage since their demonstration.
Things/people I can't/won't do anything about
- NCAA: a class action or anti-trust suit just going someplace to happen. Clinging to college basketball and the Big Dance as it prepares to fold and surrender college football to ESPN. We made our bed with these people and the BIG(fill-in-a-number-here) conference.- ESPN: owners of college football. Those who say we are headed for 4 mega-conferences and a playoff system are probably right.
- Freeh: recently voted "Mr. America" by the Cayman Islands...or something like that. If the reports are true, this man has the worst record in the history of the American justice system.
- The price of tea in China.
- O'Brien: I like this guy. Whether he goes or stays...I don't really care and I'm not going to be mad if he does. PSU is going to have to adjust to what it is like everywhere else. Loyalty is not a factor and it's not personal. If someone waves $10million and a lifetime of security for you and your family in your face, you will be obligated to chew on that a little...maybe a lot. If he/we go 4-8 next year and our coliseum falls short on Romans, the fanbase will encourage him to move on. It's the way it is...get used to it.
- Erickson: I don't hate the guy. He's just the Peter Griffin of college presidents.
- Baldwin: I wrote about her a year ago...got zero replies.
- Emmert: He did not invent the expression "arrogant, money-grubbing prick." He embodies it.
- Red Sox, Montana, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Ohio State.........: It would be nice if there was some parity in the coverage/punishment levels of these issues. A level playing field, if you will. However, PSU critics will cling to the notion that it's just our attempts to deflect attention away from us.
- Raykovitz/2ndMile: Everyone asks...nobody answers. Same with DPW, CPS, etc.
Things/people I can do something about
- Corbett: I've actually developed a tic at just the mention of his name. This is the guy who single-handedly got us to where we are today. I don't care if he said "boys..." or "10-yr.-old boy" or "The Vienna Boys Choir." The fact is, he said it. It's public. He admitted it. He bragged about it. Prior to an epic vote that we are not entitled to a roll call. It is somewhere between bullying, influence peddling, malfeasance of office...or extortion. It's a mood thing with me. He and Corman, et. al., can have dueling lawsuits all day long, but it's just political posturing to me...and it's about only the money...or PA. News flash - PA doesn't contribute to the athletic/football programs and that's where the $60million is supposed to come from. This is about merchants and individuals that have suffered, not the goddamn state. However, if the best the merchants can come up with is lost revenue on bowl t-shirts, that's kinda weak. Corbett's mea culpa was he "didn't know the NCAA broke it's own bylaws." He's a trustee, it's his job to know...quit trotting out presidents in front of the firing squad, when you guys gave them the power to begin with. He is one of 3 people who have admitted knowledge of Sandusky's true nature. Now, the only way he won't get re-elected is if he's indicted for something. Know why? There's a Corbett-friendly oil slick out there that is bigger and more powerful than Penn State.- Surma: for the life of me, I cannot figure out how this guy is still on the board.
- Masser: Keith Masser for chair; Stephanie Deviney for vice chair. OK. Sure. Let's see now, Masser broke a standing order while publicly making a "presumption of guilt" statement, as it related to the Freeh Report, the accused...and no due process. Deviney apparently is a former cheerleader or pompom girl. Welcome to Ken and Barbie on acid.
- Dambly: arrested development.
- PSU Board of Trustees: Affluence and influence. Two different words. Two different meanings. When co-mingled, you have shit on steroids. Governace problems is almost too polite. Indifferenence to concerned alumni, due process, government agencies, transparency issues, accountability is beyond belief. People outside of the PSU community think we're all nuts...and I have no snappy retorts for that. They are right. I have written about so many of these people, I'm losing track. *You will have to read my previous posts (Peetz, Lubert, Joyner, Frazier, Courtney, Alexander, Mitchell, Marsh, Emmert, Erickson, Sherburne, Poole, etc.)
- Suggestion: Beaver stadium can host the X-Games, NFL games/exhibitions, soccer matches, Penn State Invitational college football, or let a Div.II or III championship game experience life in the bigs, outdoor concerts or mud wrestling for all I care. Let's see a little entrepreneurial spirit and feed the beast.
- Recommended: people with credentials that far exceed mine - I usually point to Ben Novak for his insight as a former trustee and historian, Ray Blehar for his comprehensive legal analytics, and filmmaker John Zeigler for his relentless pursuit of the truth. These are a few of many that can found intertwined with groups like PS4RS and PSUreBOT.
- Keep asking: Most of the questions I have asked in previous posts have gone unanswered. I believe they are reasonable, uncomplicated and do not require a 40-page reply.
Matt Sandusky:
Speaking of reasonable questions, here's a few snapshots of an exchange I had recently. I know, I know, it's Twitter...not exactly the communication highway of the highest caliber.
But, it was a brief article that contained the highlighted text in yellow portion below.
Now, I've written a little bit about Matt Sandusky, and he's not some 12-year-old, playing with legos over in the corner. He's a grown man, in his 30s, kinda married or not, with kids...and within 24hrs., changed his testimony at trial. I honestly don't believe Mr. Winter knows who the Heichels are, or that he brushed up against one of the potentially strangest stories that nobody talks about.
I thought I was doing the guy a favor. Enlighten the masses, so to speak.
A journalistic courtesy.
Well, wrong.
Here's the exchange, you be the judge:
Now, my references are to:
1. Matt Sandusky admitted commiting perjury during his GJ testimony when he changed sides during the trial, and yet, he has not been charged.
2. Other victims have placed him at the scene(s) of crime(s). Actually, so did he.
3. He has never testified to any sexual abuse that has been publicized.
4. So, did he or did he not cut a deal with the AG on the perjury charges for his testimony against Jerry Sandusky? THAT was my question. Which, by the way, never happened...since that turn of events convinced the defense to keep Jerry off the stand.
5. Matt CHOSE adoption by the Sanduskys over his birth mother.
6. Finally, does anyone besides me find the Heichels (Debra, Matt, Ron) just a little bit interesting?
Anyhow, I saw Mr Winter's generic reply and went looking for my anti-bristle meds.
Excuse me? Vitriol? Anti-victim? Are you shitting me?
No, wait. Benefit of the doubt kicks in. He probably did have a lot of nutcase responses.
No, wait. He has fewer followers than I do. How inundated could he have been?
Besides, I sent him a link to my blog for a background check and source info.
Damn.
What I need is about 10,000 followers and a bigger stick.
