Well, folks, just when you thought that the wounds might actually be starting to heal, along comes another jagged edge to rip off the scab and start the bleeding anew. The Paterno family is going to now sue the NCAA for basically its wholesale acceptance of the conclusions of the Freeh report, and then acting capriciously in imposing bowl bans, scholly reductions, and fines at unprecedented levels. The family alleges that the binding consent decree was imposed through "coercion and threats behind the scenes."
I don't know about you, but when I read this kind of tripe I think about those poor boys and what happened to them. My mind then drifts to the institutionalization of Sandusky's abuses and the team of people who knew about them, including (if you believe the Freeh report) JoePa himself. I then get immediately shaken back to who was making threats and who was using coercion and threats behind what scenes and when, and I think that the NCAA did exactly what it should've - it brought down a structure that would allow such hideous things to exist. JoePa was lucky enough to have escaped before it actually fell; the rest, including all of the innocents - the rape victims, the athletes, the faculty, the university community, and everyone between them and us - were not as lucky. We now will have to witness the ridiculous word massaging and mock outrage that the lawyers will insert into our collective consciousness.
There should be some inquest to evaluate the allegations, but I would say that the (now) adult victims and their parents should be empaneled to make that evaluation. That's not the American way, I will grant, but there has to be some finality and I think that arrangement might provide it.
