Sandusky: final twitches

[Jerry Garcia]

Now OTL has its jaws around spartyworld. This is going to get very ugly.

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/222 ... -case-espn

[Shore Lion]

It's going to be bad for them. And it should be. But it will rise nowhere near the national hysteria that enveloped PSU. That was driven by the Paterno name. Let's face it, this country loves to build people up and then tear them down. Nobody knows who the hell the AD or President of MSU are (or were). If this directly involved the basketball program and Tom Izzo the clamor would be greater but even then it wouldn't rise to the level that it did in State College as he doesn't have nearly the national profile that Paterno had.

And actually that's one of the saddest things about all of these cases. So many times it's more about who did what or who knew what and how they and their institution should pay instead of the victims. You can bet your sweet petunias that these kinds of things happen at much smaller schools as well but that doesn't move the national media needle.

Don't forget in addition to the payouts that PSU made to the victims there was also another 60 million for the fine that was levied. Which I thought was a total joke from the beginning because you'll never convince me that a dime of that money actually prevented someone else from being abused.

[psu_dad]

Now OTL has its jaws around spartyworld. This is going to get very ugly.

MSU had better hope that ESPN made up most of that or got it from unreliable sources, neither of which is a violation of their journalistic standards. Otherwise, Holy Friggin Cow.

[Blue&White]

I think the hysteria level is starting to rise rather quickly, actually. It may not seem as bad to us because we were all so close to the PSU situation, but I think to MSU and their fans it is starting to feel like it. And, that ESPN link JG posted won't help them. That puts football and basketball into the crosshairs. Fortunately, things like "fact checking" are not part of ESPNs remit so we don't have to care if it's true or not. But, it's out there.

Anyway, I think the pitchforks are being sharpened and the torches are being lit. Their president is gone. Their AG is gone. I can't imagine criminal charges aren't coming. And, who knows if Dantonio and Izzo will survive. They may not.

And right about now Emmert is polishing his toupee and getting ready to right the world's wrongs again.

[sameoldlama]

so MSU is a deeper pocket than UNC? It's a bigger school but is it a deeper pocket?

It wasn't some small school no one heard of on the fake classes. UNC is a powerhouse. They have loads of cash. Maybe Michigan State has more, but that much more?

That can't be the answer here. Not given who the 2 schools are. It just makes no sense.

I would offer that it is a lot easier to slap a huge fine "just cause we can" when you have a criminal conviction and 200 young girls being blared across TV confronting their molestor. This is a giant splash event. The UNC event (which I one billion % agree is the kind of thing the NCAA should have oversight on) doesn't have the splash event (trial), it doesn't have the uber villain (Nassar), doesn't have sympathetic victims (young girls) so dropping a house of them in the manner of cash extraction doesn't have the same optics. UNC can fight fines with looking like ogres - if PSU or MSU fights penalties or fines they are cast as ogres who turn a blind eye to pedophilia because of sports. Remember pretty much every sports or government body was reaching into PSU's pockets after the Sandusky scandal.

It's just easier to pile on a school with pedophile scandal then an academic cheating scandal.

[Shore Lion]

As I think about it, there is a pretty big difference with the NCAA in this case(s) at MSU. These crimes were against NCAA student athletes and many MSU leaders were told about it multiple times and did nothing to protect the very student athletes they were supposed to.

[Carl Spackler]

Just saw what Jerry posted, WOW......coach SMILEY may go down as well as Izzo. Cover ups everywhere. It's finally hitting the fan with far more to come. Sad that they kept it up to the very end knowing the PSU story. Is it a land grant myopic issue?

This may come closer to our debacle than I ever imagined. Sad for their fans and supporters who were in the dark as we were. I know how they feel and it will get worse before it gets better. Now they will experience what they dished out, those who dished like Simon, at least partially.

This is a case where the NCAA is fully justified in jumping in as it was a campus related issue with sports at the center and the only area involved beyond the cover up on higher levels. Lack of Institutional Control at its worst Emmert, get at it already.

[Crowbar]

It's trending now that both Izzo and Dantonio will resign.

[Carl Spackler]

Izzo to MSU is Joe to us. Smiley is a loss but not like Izzo. Wow, just Wow. Never expected the cover ups to be this deep, how many more heads will roll. Will any be prosecuted?

[Blue&White]

dad - think they are up to 10 minutes on the next MSU BoT agenda yet?

It's been 24 hours since that board member made those comments and MSU's whole world has unraveled. That's without the NCAA showing up, without a Freeh report, without an indictment. It took an article from SI and ESPN's OTL to trigger all this. Imagine what an actual investigation may turn up?