This is a terrible outrageous thing that happened there. But t debate whether it is fiar or unfair seems out of line. One of the most obviuos characteristics of most today is there is no shame and most times no real remorse except the remorse that they were caught!

I agree with the fine but the rest seem to harsh, I mean the students never done anything during the scandal.

I think desmond howard put it best by saying thr Penn St players have a choice in whether to stay at the school. The child victims had no such choice to be victims.

Too harsh? The school knew what was going on and did nothing. This is exactly what they deserved and the athletes have the option of transferring.

@ Paul Hunter

so you think it's okay for the student's to get the full blame????

Winning at what price? That's the bottom line here. PSU is lucky they didn't get the death penalty. And while it is ashamed student athletes have to pay the price, what message doe it send out if nothing was done? This was a huge cover up top to bottom for one sole purpose, to get a record. Bobby Bowden paid the price for a cheating scandel and lost wins, this is much worse. People's lives will never be the same., ruined when one word could have ended things ten years ago or sooner.

@Samuel, there is always going to be collateral damage. If it were as easy as firing the just guilty parties everytime your program cheated or broke rules and got away free, it would be too easy to get away with cheating. There were only a few Ohio State players that sold gold necklaces and got tattoos, but the whole team is banned from bowl games this year, and those players that broke the rules are gone for the most part in the NFL. Same thing in the real world. If the president of a company runs that company into the ground, it isnt your fault, but your left trying to find a new job.

This college reminds me a lot about the unions. No matter what you did wrong, how badly you behaved, caught red handed, WE will stand and fight for you. Think about it, it went on for 10+ years, and all they think about is how do we keep this program running. 60 Mil. is only one years worth of revenue from the sports team. Those kids will have a lifetime.

I understand the knee-jerk reaction to this horrific situation. But take a step back and LOOK. Its likely and reasonable to BELIEVE that Paterno knew, but it has not been PROVEN. I'm an Alum and I think its probable....but I don't presume to know if there was an "active cover up ". But apparently proof is not required.... only high emotion and media hype.

They should have shut the foot ball program down for a year. That would have made the ultimate statement. Our higher education institutions have lost their way and purpose. They are a big business with a brand name, run first and foremost like a business which is how much income can we generate and who has an inside connection with who. It’s the tail waging the dog. Many relatives have gone to Mount Union over the years and I am disappointed to see that MU is not taking the high ground on some labor type decisions like they would have years ago. Their roots in a church based operation are no longer in sight in the rear view mirror. Very sad.

This really doesn't matter Joepa is in the afterlife and in my family's heart and mind he is the winninest coach and it's sad the NCAA has punished everyone but Jerry Sandusky! I'm ignoring the NCAA and thanking joe pa for the great and the best times of my life. For the record I'm 23 we are penn state and always be!!!!

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The “shutting down” for the program for a year I would have liked to have seen in addition to the fines, forfeit of wins and so on. An empty stadium for a year would say more than all the other punishment put together.

As for the “it hurts the innocent kids” I think it would send a valuable educational message. The kids would better under stand if the head of the company they go to work for after collage screws up in a major way, you can lose your job no matter how innocent you were.

And Jim Tressel got a nice job at The University of Akron. Shame on the administration. So many universities just have no pride.

Had it not been for The Daily Kent Stater, Kent State would have accepted a million bucks tainted money and named an athletic building after the donor. Again, no pride.

Marie Curie could not have gotten a free ride at Kent State but an athlete can.

Tressel will get caught again, just watch how his former assistants are doing, they will get caught soon it runs in the blood

It is so sad the those children had to be subjected to this preditor on campus, but it's now out and in the open. The greed factor was more important than protecting our precious children. And shame of his wife for choosing to look the other way.

I don't believe in punishing people for the sins of others and that's what's happening here. The football team and the student body of Penn State were not the culprits. It was the football managment and the university administration that hid it all for the sake of keeping enrollment up and keeping the money rolling in. It's the same with Tressel; it's only a matter of degree.
Before you call me names, try to recognize that I did NOT say that the gross errors of judgement were equal in their magnitude. I know that there are people on here that won't be able to reason that out. So be it.

Chris: I agree with you. Seems like the wrong ones are getting punished. Yes, something HUGE had to be done in the form of punishment. I give them a little credit for acting as quickly as they did. I think this showed a huge aknowledgement of wrongdoing on the administrations part. But... who are they really punishing?

NCAA punishments often punish schools years after due to investigations that take time, etc so this is not unsual that coaches/students that weren't involved have to pay the punishment. Which is why the NCAA gave all student atheletes the chance to transfer to any other school without penalty. Maybe that part of it isn't fair but the alumni and student base must own the fact that these people represented the university when they made the decisions to cover it up so the university has to be a part of the punishment when it came down to it..which is why they are doing the right thing by not fighting the ruling. They gave the people the power so they have to own the fact the people made a horrendous mistake. I understand why people want to support their school but it's sometimes it coming accross wrong, especially when most people will say there is no defense or excuses when a child is harmed and no one acts...much different then a recruiting violation...schools have been punished worse for lessor offenses...all about perspective...everyone should come together and raise awareness for child abuse...these boys/men will live with this for the rest of their lives and it is a vicious cycle that is sometimes repeated after generations so a silly 4 year punishment and fine seems so insignificant...

I think perhaps a better "punishment" would be to provide many many academic full scholarships on the universities dime,especially to those in need who might have otherwise been eligible for an athletic scholarship @ Penn State, which have now been taken away due to this incident.The penalties here really only hurt those going forward-not those whose deeds caused this.I understand the need to make a statement/punish here regarding the football program,but I feel other more positive things could have been implemented as well.The punishment hardly fits the crimes.

So the players are part of the "team" in the good times but not during the bad............

I believe they PSU should serve up the headmaster on a silver platter, because he admits he new nothing about all of this... What Rubbish, through him out with the trash.

THROW, sorry

If any player knew about it he deserves being tried as accessory. I am not aware that any have been accused as knowing. Holding a whole university accountable for a crime, no matter how small or how heinous, seems to me to be extreme.

Noone would say that the kids who were subjected to these crime will not be affected their whole lives and my heart does indeed go out to them. But this penalty is about the fact that staff and administration HID THOSE CRIMES; DID NOTHING ABOUT IT; ON THEIR WATCH! Had they reported it as they certainly should have, arrests would have been made and the perpetrators dealt with.

Is not a university, as is any organization, a sum of all its parts? If one part goes bad, is it necessary to stigmatize the whole organization, including the thousands of innocents, to make a point? No, you make your point by dealing with THAT PART! You don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

This punishment is completely appropriate. The cover-up at Penn State is symptomatic of a larger problem in professional sports: putting the sport over any ethical obligations, partly to save reputation, but mostly for money. Football makes a lot of money for universities, and it's sad to see the lure of money distract from legal and ethical obligations.

As I've read the comments, I've seen a lot of complaints that the punishment has hurt the innocent. Of course it has. There is no way that the NCAA could target the punishments to the people involved with the cover-up. Even if they could, they shouldn't. The punishment sends a strong message that this sort of behavior is not acceptable in any university. No university should put money and reputation before their responsibilities. If the remedy to the situation was to fire everyone involved, I guarantee that similar situations would happen in the future. Unfortunately, uninvolved people will be affected by this, but that's the price you pay.

As a side note, taking away the wins was the best part of the sanctions. If Joe Paterno knew about Sandusky's crimes and disregarded them in the name of football, he doesn't deserve to have a legacy.

Out of a university of thousands of staff and students a mere handful put money and reputation before their responsibilities. As far as I know, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a legal system to deal with criminals.
This situation is not one of breaking NCAA rules as was the case at Ohio State. This is a criminal case, a blatant cover-up of breaking the law. Fire the parties if found guilty? No, sentence them to the maximum sentence prescribed by law. Prison time, my friend, will be a wake-up call for college presidents, faculty, and staff.
It is not acceptable behavior in the hallowed halls of academia.