Penn State Sanctioned, JoePa Statue Gone, But It's Not Enough

That's what I keep thinking. It's not enough. It will never be enough.

What Jerry Sandusky did to those kids defies any kind of words that I can deliver. And nothing Penn State can do will ever serve as a make-good. You can't retroactively change what happened, or magically heal the human beings affected by Sandusky's inhumane behavior.

However, it's equally unreasonable to expect that nothing be done. Life should not be allowed to go on as normal at that university.

And it won't.

Monday morning, the NCAA announced historic sanctions against the university. Here are the details:

The NCAA has hit Penn State with a $60 million sanction, a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins dating to 1998, the organization announced Monday morning in a news release.

"These funds must be paid into an endowment for external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at the university," the statement said.

The career record of former head football coach Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records," the statement continued.

Penn State must also reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period, the release said.

Like I said, it's not enough. It's also not enough that legendary coach Joe Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium was taken down on Sunday.

"I now believe that, contrary to is original intention, Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university and beyond," (school president Rodney) Erickson said in his 592-word statement. "For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location."

It's not the right decision. It's the only decision.

There is a healing process that the university needs to go through here. It was rocked to its core by this scandal, which didn't even last the length of a pregnancy. The Sandusky investigation results were released on a lazy Saturday last November. From that point, everything seems to have been practically in fast-forward. Paterno was removed as football coach, the university decided to hire an outside guy -- New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien -- to lead the program, Paterno died, Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts related to abusing children, and former FBI director Louis Freeh destroyed any remnants of Paterno's legacy in his report on the scandal, released not even two weeks ago.

Paterno was aware of at least some of Sandusky's behavior; certainly, the former coach knew enough that he had to think someone should stop Sandusky. Instead, he seemed more interested in protecting the minions that "ran" the university, and protecting reputations that didn't need or deserve protecting. He was an active participant in the attempted cover-up, and frankly, based on Freeh's report, Paterno should have been facing federal charges along with former school officials Tim Curley and Graham Spanier, who are facing charges.

These punishments by the NCAA don't solve any of this. Nothing will. The organization felt it had no choice. But more than that, NCAA president Mark Emmert felt a need to protect his phony-baloney job with this action. It's an action he should have taken with rogue schools years ago, but chose to follow the NCAA's horrific processes.

Matt Hayes of The Sporting News believes the NCAA has shown its hypocritical side in all of this.

Excuse me if I can't get excited about an organization that saw Ohio State players accept cash in envelopes after coach Jim Tressel's lies and illegal benefits for players were exposed, but said lack of institutional control wasn't an issue.

If I can't get excited about an organization that knew Cecil Newton was shopping his son, Cam, to Mississippi State — yet let him continue to play at Auburn (and eventually win a national championship) — because it had no rule prohibiting parents from shopping their offspring to the highest bidder.

If I can't get excited about an organization that knows street agent Willie Lyles was paid $25,000 by Oregon for useless recruiting information; that knows Lyles was the "mentor" for five-star recruit Lache Seastrunk; that knows Oregon coach Chip Kelly lied when asked by a newspaper if he knew Lyles (Kelly later said, we call him 'Will'); that knows Kelly told Lyles he needed more recruiting information from Lyles after the fact, yet we're more than a year into the Oregon investigation with no end in sight.

If I can't get excited about an organization that looked at quite possibly the worst case of NCAA infractions in the history of the sport at North Carolina — in its depth and breadth of clear, indisputable illegal benefits and academic fraud issues — and decided it wasn't as destructive as a Southern Cal assistant coach who the NCAA claimed "knew or should have known" Reggie Bush was getting illegal benefits.

What happened at Penn State is the single greatest tragedy in sports history. Whatever penalties the university receives from the NCAA — whether or not the sport's governing body and Penn State agreed on them — isn't the point. If it were up to me, I'd shut down the program for the exact number of years the university hid the child abuse. 

This isn't a bad take at all.

More.

We have to step away from the raw emotions of a horrific moment in college football, and look at the bigger picture. You can't make a quick decision on one case because it's unthinkable in its impact and destruction on so many lives, and then drag your feet on others (Southern Cal, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio State, Miami of Florida) that cut to the very core of amateur athletics.

You can't claim lack of subpoena power in exposing issues at rogue schools, and then use the Freeh Report as the framework of your sanctions against Penn State — the same Freeh Commission that also had no subpoena power. 

Hayes is right in what he is saying. The NCAA is an athletics institution, yet it has miserably failed to properly govern athletics.

Maybe this will spur some action in that regard. But virtually everything with the NCAA is a process, so don't bet on it.

Scott Sandelin Staying Right Where He Is

Easter Sunday was filled with fun, great hockey, and some grilling at the mansion. Hopefully, yours was just as enjoyable, whatever it was you ended up doing.

Easter also marked a historic moment in college hockey, as the newest and biggest startup program in years finally named its coach, after a week full of speculation, rumors, innuendo, and a small amount of actual information.

Penn State is starting hockey in 2012, and Sunday they announced that former Alaska-Fairbanks and Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky will be the man to lead them into a new era of college athletics at the school. Gadowsky -- along with UMD's Scott Sandelin and Wisconsin women's coach Mark Johnson -- were the top candidates, according to various reports.

Here is the straight poop from Happy Valley.

"Guy is the perfect choice for Penn State," said Penn State President Graham Spanier. "He has been immensely successful, is a great motivator, knows how to build programs, and has strong academic values."

"Pursuing success with honor. Building tradition. Achieving excellence. As we launch our hockey program at the Division I level, these are the on and off-ice expectations, and Guy Gadowsky has successfully accomplished these goals and more throughout his career. We welcome Guy and his family to Hockey Valley," said Curley.

"I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to lead Penn State hockey during this transitional period and into Division I," Gadowsky said. "I am truly honored to join Penn State and the spirit, pride, passion, class and professionalism found within its students, staff and alumni. I am humbled by the tremendous gift by the Pegula family and the commitment by Penn State. This is a very exciting time for college hockey and Penn State and our family is thrilled to be joining the Penn State family."

In September 2010, the University announced an $88 million gift from Terrence M. and Kim Pegula, the largest private gift in Penn State's history, which was intended to fund a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose ice arena as well as help to establish an NCAA Division I men's hockey program. In conjunction with the gift, Penn State will establish an NCAA women's hockey program.

"I am very impressed with Guy, his pursuit of the challenge at hand and plans for Penn State hockey, stated Terry Pegula.

"We are thrilled to have successfully courted a coach from such a strong academic institution with the passion, energy and the perfect demeanor for Penn State," commented Joe Battista, Associate Director of Athletics for Ice Arena and Hockey Development. "Guy has outstanding recruiting connections across North America and with USA Hockey and Hockey Canada and has built or revived programs in college and professional hockey."

Appointed to the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee through 2013, Gadowsky took over a Princeton program that had won a combined eight games in the two seasons prior to his arrival for the 2004-05 campaign. During his initial five seasons, the Tigers improved their win total each year, topped by a program record 22 victories in 2008-09.

Gadowsky led Princeton to two of its three all-time NCAA Championship berths in the 110 years of the program, in 2008 and 2009.

As a collegiate head coach, Gadowsky has helped develop nine players who have played in the National Hockey League, including three of his former Princeton players who have played in the NHL this season: Mike Moore (San Jose), Darroll Powe (Philadelphia) and Kevin Westgarth (Los Angeles). A 2011 Princeton senior, AHCA second-team All-American Taylor Fedun, signed with the Edmonton Oilers, after the Tigers' season was completed. 

As for Sandelin, the Duluth News Tribune notes that he'll meet again with UMD brass Monday about a contract extension, which seems like a forgone conclusion at this point. Sandelin has one year left on his current deal, and coaches rarely coach the last year of a contract.

Usually, there's a good reason why when they do ... as in, the school doesn't trust that they've got the right guy long-term. There are no such worries at UMD. Sandelin may have been bench boss through some lean years, but the Bulldogs have three straight 20-win seasons, and you may have heard about that national championship they won a couple weeks ago.

With this bit of news, hopefully the offseason can begin now. If there is any UMD news, you can obviously come here for information. But it seems like we can finally settle into a "normal" offseason now, while still floating on air over the national title.

Scott Sandelin to Interview at Penn State

If your head has been under a rock (I've been accused of worse over the years), you might not know that UMD coach Scott Sandelin confirmed to Kevin Pates that he's been contacted about the opening at Penn State, and will likely interview for the gig.

With one year left on his UMD contract, discussions were already underway on a contract extension when this news broke. It's simply not ideal -- or customary, for that matter -- for a Division I coach to work the final year of a contract. It's not ideal because it can make recruiting more difficult. It's not customary because most coaches are either released (perhaps it's a "resignation" or a real resignation) or have their contracts extended before that final year begins.

This is a no-brainer decision for UMD and athletic director Bob Nielson. They want to extend the coach, as UMD is fresh off their first national championship, and you don't want to start the offseason with the bad vibe of losing the head coach who helped make it all possible.

On the other hand, if Penn State -- which is using a large private donation to start their hockey program -- really wants Sandelin, can UMD do anything to stop them from getting what they want?

In the end, this is up to Sandelin and Penn State more than anyone else. However, I know a lot of fans have reached out to me, asking for advice on who they could try to communicate with at UMD.

At the risk of making myself look like a lackey, which I've tried hard to avoid, I figured I'd offer a little bit of advice.

It seems that Nielson understands the value of this coaching staff, but if you'd like to send him an email with your feelings on the subject, his address is rnielson@d.umn.edu.

Chancellor Lendley Black might be the new guy, but he's really impressed me with his enthusiasm for the athletic teams. He was at the Frozen Four, and even donned a blond wig to fit in with the team theme. It was great to see. He can be reached at chan@d.umn.edu.

I don't think I have to say this, but if you're going to write these gentlemen, please be courteous and tactful with your comments. We are lucky to have good people in leadership positions at UMD, and they will respond in kind, either through their words or actions on this issue.

So much for the offseason, huh? :)

Big Ten Hockey Ready to Ruin, Save Sport

As we await the arrival of Penn State on the college hockey scene, we also await the arrival of Big Ten Hockey.

(CHN says that the Nittany Lions' new arena is coming along nicely, which speeds up the timetable for all this.)

It seems a foregone conclusion that the Big Ten will form a hockey conference, with members Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving the WCHA, and Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State leaving the CCHA. That six-team league might not have a long conference schedule, but they will be formidable in terms of television revenue.

This has left many college hockey supporters to do a lot of hand-wringing over the potential impact of the Big Ten.

Some will tell you that this is a good thing for the sport. The addition of a Big Ten conference increases the sport's national television footprint, thanks to the success being had by the Big Ten Network, and its obvious role in televising college hockey games. Bumping the WCHA back to ten teams and the CCHA to eight would mean the leagues have room for future expansion, which might open the door for new programs to sprout up in the Upper Midwest.

There are others, though, who sit fearful of the Big Ten's unknown impact. They believe the CCHA could suffer, with smaller programs like Lake Superior State, Ferris State, Bowling Green, and Western Michigan having problems without the revenue they get when Big Ten schools visit for conference games/series.

My friend Jess Myers wrote this last week for 1500 ESPN in the Twin Cities.

Strong and successful programs like Miami (Ohio) and Notre Dame (which also has a new rink under construction) would remain. However, small-school programs in Michigan like Ferris State and Lake Superior State have budgets that rely in at least some part on the revenue they generate from the yearly home games versus those high-profile teams. Those two schools, along with the likes of Michigan Tech and Bowling Green (which flirted with dropping hockey two years ago), could face fiscal extinction if a Big Ten hockey league comes on-line.

Does it matter? Well, there are 58 Division I programs currently. That's just enough in the eyes of the NCAA to field a 16-team tournament conducted at four regional sites. Take away three or four of those 58, and we might be back to the somewhat goofy 12-team arrangement that had top seeds needing only one win to get to the Frozen Four.

One thing is abundantly clear.

Jess isn't right or wrong, because we don't yet know the impact the Big Ten will have on college hockey.

Maybe it would inspire further expansion. Maybe it would be a death blow to small programs.

In the end, the prospects of further expansion are interesting. College Hockey, Inc., head Paul Kelly has not hid from the fact that he'd like to see California schools add Division I hockey. Giving them a traditional power league like the WCHA to join could be attractive.

Perhaps serving as a bit less of a pipe dream, schools like Illinois and Nebraska could have interest in joining the Big Ten.

(Remember, Nebraska joins in all sports this year.)

What bothers me are the absolutes some fans on Twitter and message boards are using to describe this. The Big Ten could be bad for the sport, but it's hard for me to buy that argument, given the information currently available.

******

Instead, I am trying to see this as a positive.

The new league's members will have scheduling arrangements with their old leagues, so rivalries like UMD/Minnesota, St. Cloud State/Minnesota, and Michigan/Northern Michigan won't go away with the snap of a finger.

With only six teams, the Big Ten needs to keep a good relationship with the existing leagues in Division I. They can't rely on Atlantic Hockey tomato cans like American International for all their non-conference games. Assuming four games against each Big Ten team, that makes a 20-game conference schedule. If there are no trips to Alaska involved, the Big Ten teams would have to play 14 non-conference games to fill their schedules.

Minnesota and Wisconsin aren't going to want to play Boston College and Boston University all the time, so logic dictates they'll have to schedule WCHA and CCHA teams.

As far as other moves that could happen as a result, it makes sense for Alaska to join the WCHA at some point, because they'd no longer have the big-time draw of the Big Ten teams in the CCHA. Moving would allow them to play four games per year against rival Alaska-Anchorage, and it would allow the WCHA to exempt -- for at least some teams -- two road series per year instead of one, opening up the chance to play more non-conference games.

That might be a scheduling nightmare for the WCHA, but it's something they could deal with, because it's a move that would be good for business in the end.

No idea if that would ever happen, but I thought I'd throw that idea out there.

No matter what, the Big Ten could just as easily be a huge positive for the sport. Since it's virtually inevitable, it might be a good idea to be more accepting of the idea and try to figure out ways that this could be good ... rather than waiting for it to be bad.

Penn State Changes Everything

College hockey is going to get started soon. With just 58 teams, fans should typically consider themselves lucky that there are 16 teams allowed into the national tournament at the end of the season. That's quite a low ratio of participating schools to tournament teams.

The sport has backed itself into a corner in a way. There are no smaller conferences for teams to join when they first become Division I programs. There is no room for newcomers in most of the leagues. And why would a powerful league like the WCHA want a Division I newcomer, likely to be at least a short-term whipping boy?

Over the weekend, our friends at INCH reported that Penn State was set to join the ranks of Division I hockey institutions, with an announcement possible this week.

It's an announcement that will be heard around the hockey world, as the sport has not seen much expansion since the early days of College Hockey America. It shows that there is indeed the opportunity for growth within the game, and it proves that big-time institutions like Penn State are indeed interested in a sport like hockey, which is relatively expensive and can be a big money-bleeder if not handled properly.

One has to wonder what has already been determined behind the scenes. It's not likely that mighty Penn State is starting a varsity hockey program so it can be an independent, or play in a league like Atlantic Hockey.

No, there's a big-boy ambition here, and the resources exist to carry that ambition out.

Where will they go? Well, the obvious answer seems to be the Big Ten. Penn State's teams are in the Big Ten conference, but the Big Ten does not yet sanction a hockey league. There are only five Big Ten members with active hockey programs, and six teams are required for a league to gain an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for its champion.

Penn State would be the sixth. So would Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Wisconsin jump at the chance?

I don't see why not. None of them are reliant on their current league for survival, especially Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. They are big-time hockey programs that could thrive in any league. Michigan State has a lot of tradition, and Ohio State -- while not the powerhouse it should be -- is not going to stay in the CCHA out of blind loyalty.

The Big Ten is a cash cow, thanks to a wonderful television network that makes a ton of money for the league and its member schools. That network is set up to be the home of Big Ten hockey, should the league get started. That could happen as soon as 2014, as it's not expected leagues will release members before then because of scheduling commitments.

However, the Big Ten can't do this alone. With only six members, teams will only be able to bank on 20 conference games per season. That leaves between 12 and 14 non-conference games that must be arranged. In order for the Big Ten to have a chance, I would expect them to reach scheduling agreements with at least two of the other Division I leagues. That may require them to work hand with leagues they've raided to get teams -- the WCHA and the CCHA. Because of the power the Big Ten teams are likely to have nationally (even with Minnesota down right now, Michigan and Wisconsin are NCAA regulars, and Michigan State is back on the rise), no league will turn down a chance to get some non-conference dates with Big Ten teams.

That said, the Big Ten would be smart not to burn bridges along the way to making their hockey conference a reality at last.

If/When the Big Ten finally forms a hockey league, we'll get some answers to these questions. Until then, it's largely pure speculation.

After all, wouldn't it be funny if Penn State just joined Hockey East and left everyone alone?