A statue of Head Football Coach Joe Paterno near Beaver Stadium on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The NCAA has slammed Penn State University with a large $60 million fine along with the vacating of wins for 13 years, a four year post-season ban, and the loss of 20 scholarships for the next four years. The team will be non-relevant for at least 4 years because of these sanctions placed in response to the school covering-up a sex abuse scandal on campus. Current players will be able to leave the team without penalty, a nice gift to other schools in the area looking for quality transfers and a way to not penalize players for something the school did.
The sex abuse happened at the hands of retired defensive coach Jerry Sandusky with some abuse happening in showers at the school after Sandusky had retired. Sandusky is on trial and Head Coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier were fired when the scandal broke last November. A recent investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh found that Paterno, Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Greg Schultz conspired to keep the sex abuse private. The report allowed the NCAA to impose sanctions against the school which they revealed this morning at a press conference.