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After sex scandals at MSU and OSU, where is Delaney and the Big Ten?

Judge Smails

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May 29, 2001
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Baffoe: In Latest Big Ten Scandal, Where's Delany?
Jim Delany has been silent as his conference has encountered two ugly scandals.

It was in 2012 that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany made a telling comment regarding the scandal at Penn State involving the handling by high-level university personnel, including football coach Joe Paterno, of sexual assaults of several children by former Nittany Lion assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

"This case is unique in the sense that I think it involved people with senior executive and management responsibilities," Delany said.

Since Delany spoke those words, there have been sexual assault scandals involving people with senior executive and management responsibilities at Michigan State and Ohio State. The former was sports physician Larry Nassar’s serial sexual assaults of at least 332 athletes while working at Michigan State and with U.S. Olympians. Complaints about Nassar were known by at least 14 Michigan State representatives while he worked there without appropriate action being taken. In light of the Nassar criminal trial, an ESPN Outside the Lines investigation "found a pattern of widespread denial, inaction and information suppression of such allegations (of sexual assault) by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department," including the basketball and football teams.

The latter scandal is the ongoing investigation into claims by former Buckeye wrestlers that team doctor Richard Strauss, who died in 2005, assaulted them and students from 14 Ohio State sports and the Student Health Services in Strauss’ time at the school from the 1970s to 1990s. He may have assaulted high school students as well. The wrestlers have included current U.S. congressman Jim Jordan among those who knew of Strauss’ behavior while Jordan was a coach at Ohio State. The Republican representative from Ohio’s 4th District, Jordan denies he was aware of any misconduct by Strauss.

Yet since that "unique" case at Penn State, Delany hasn’t been very visible during the two recent cases. In January, the Big Ten released a statement saying it would "closely monitor" the Michigan State situation only after receiving a request for comment on Nassar being found guilty of multiple sex crimes, multiple school administration resigning and the ESPN report. But there has been nothing specifically from Delany regarding the situation. He has yet to speak publicly on the Ohio State investigation either.

One would think the commissioner would have a responsibility to comment on two scandals involving his conference’s schools that are reverberating nationally, even if it’s just the requisite boilerplate "monitoring" and "concern." But Delany has been noticeably silent regarding both Michigan State and Ohio State.

"We're trying to protect institutional values," Delany said in 2012 after the Penn State sanctions were issued, "that the cult of success in sports doesn't overwhelm institutions' need to make sure that intercollegiate athletics is subordinate to the mandate and initiative of higher education at each one of our campuses."

But two more times in the same decade that protection seems to have failed massively by failing to protect people from alleged sexual predators. It's has happened in the same athletic conference, Delany’s conference. That demands some sort of update from the commissioner at the least.
 
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Delaney had NO COMMENT about either the MSU or OSU case during Big Ten Media days. Here are his comments about Penn State at the same event in 2012. No need to get emotional about the hundreds of girls that Nassar sexually assaulted on MSU's campus? About the wrestlers who were sexually assaulted on Ohio State's campus?




Did Jim Delany get emotional up on stage before hundreds of reporters?

"A little bit," he admitted.

The Big Ten's powerful commissioner showed a rare side Thursday as he described the damage the Sandusky scandal had done to Penn State and his conference. Delany was speaking during his annual state-of-the-conference address during Big Ten media days.

He said firmly that the NCAA and Big Ten had "moral authority" to penalize Penn State. But Delany's voice cracked a bit when he said:

"What's clear to me, though, is that justice can never really be served in this case, because the victims can never receive justice. And that's just the sad fact of the case.


"While there are ancillary people who impacted the case in one way or another, affected the Big Ten, it's affected Penn State, obviously. It's affected a lot of people who are not involved in any way shape or form with the case, I think you have to just -- you have to recognize that the 10 individuals and perhaps many, many more, were damaged and hurt. And there's no amount of legal, criminal, civil, NCAA, Big Ten action that can change that or help them."

Delany gave perhaps the most reasoned explanation of the NCAA penalties against Penn State. There was a higher calling for the Big Ten and NCAA in the case.


"I don't really care if it's a precedent. I don't really care about whether or not they [NCAA] had jurisdiction or whether or not there was an underlying NCAA violation. There's been a lot of debate by pundits one way or the other.

"The only thing that matters to me is I think the NCAA did have moral authority to act, and I think the Big Ten had moral authority to act ...

"I think because the Freeh report has been accepted by the institution, it allowed for the NCAA to take its next steps it felt were appropriate. You can debate them all you want, but in my view they had moral authority and responsibility to act as did the Big Ten ...

"This case is unique in the sense that I think it involved people with senior executive and management responsibilities ... I think the other issue is that Penn State adopted -- not only adopted, but authorized the Freeh report and then adopted it. So that in addition to the moral authority, they had a legal set of findings which the university accepted and embraced and commissioned.


"If this is precedential and -- I don't believe that it is -- but if you ever had senior executives and a set of findings that the NCAA could rely on that related to a criminal charge, I think perhaps you would -- an institution would have something to worry about, because of the elements or the facts would have some commonality. But absent those kinds of things, where you don't have a factual set of findings and you don't have senior involvement in those findings, I think it's a stretch."

In a league that prides itself on academic excellence, Delany had to admit that a third of his league is currently on probation -- Penn State, Nebraska (books), Michigan (20-hour work week) and Ohio State (Tattoogate).

"The Penn State situation certainly needs to be separated from the discussion of Nebraska's book-buying policies. I think it's intellectually and morally difficult to even discuss those things in the same sentence.

"In the case of Ohio State, you had a coach who lost his job for not being honest about answering questions about tattoos. I think that also has to be separated and it's morally and intellectually a stretch to discuss that in the same sentence.


"Having said that, there are all three NCAA cases. And so when you look at NCAA cases, we -- and me in particular -- have never claimed that we don't have teams on probation or that we don't have teams that make mistakes."
 
Delaney had NO COMMENT about either the MSU or OSU case during Big Ten Media days. Here are his comments about Penn State at the same event in 2012. No need to get emotional about the hundreds of girls that Nassar sexually assaulted on MSU's campus? About the wrestlers who were sexually assaulted on Ohio State's campus?




Did Jim Delany get emotional up on stage before hundreds of reporters?

"A little bit," he admitted.

The Big Ten's powerful commissioner showed a rare side Thursday as he described the damage the Sandusky scandal had done to Penn State and his conference. Delany was speaking during his annual state-of-the-conference address during Big Ten media days.

He said firmly that the NCAA and Big Ten had "moral authority" to penalize Penn State. But Delany's voice cracked a bit when he said:

"What's clear to me, though, is that justice can never really be served in this case, because the victims can never receive justice. And that's just the sad fact of the case.


"While there are ancillary people who impacted the case in one way or another, affected the Big Ten, it's affected Penn State, obviously. It's affected a lot of people who are not involved in any way shape or form with the case, I think you have to just -- you have to recognize that the 10 individuals and perhaps many, many more, were damaged and hurt. And there's no amount of legal, criminal, civil, NCAA, Big Ten action that can change that or help them."

Delany gave perhaps the most reasoned explanation of the NCAA penalties against Penn State. There was a higher calling for the Big Ten and NCAA in the case.


"I don't really care if it's a precedent. I don't really care about whether or not they [NCAA] had jurisdiction or whether or not there was an underlying NCAA violation. There's been a lot of debate by pundits one way or the other.

"The only thing that matters to me is I think the NCAA did have moral authority to act, and I think the Big Ten had moral authority to act ...

"I think because the Freeh report has been accepted by the institution, it allowed for the NCAA to take its next steps it felt were appropriate. You can debate them all you want, but in my view they had moral authority and responsibility to act as did the Big Ten ...

"This case is unique in the sense that I think it involved people with senior executive and management responsibilities ... I think the other issue is that Penn State adopted -- not only adopted, but authorized the Freeh report and then adopted it. So that in addition to the moral authority, they had a legal set of findings which the university accepted and embraced and commissioned.


"If this is precedential and -- I don't believe that it is -- but if you ever had senior executives and a set of findings that the NCAA could rely on that related to a criminal charge, I think perhaps you would -- an institution would have something to worry about, because of the elements or the facts would have some commonality. But absent those kinds of things, where you don't have a factual set of findings and you don't have senior involvement in those findings, I think it's a stretch."

In a league that prides itself on academic excellence, Delany had to admit that a third of his league is currently on probation -- Penn State, Nebraska (books), Michigan (20-hour work week) and Ohio State (Tattoogate).

"The Penn State situation certainly needs to be separated from the discussion of Nebraska's book-buying policies. I think it's intellectually and morally difficult to even discuss those things in the same sentence.

"In the case of Ohio State, you had a coach who lost his job for not being honest about answering questions about tattoos. I think that also has to be separated and it's morally and intellectually a stretch to discuss that in the same sentence.


"Having said that, there are all three NCAA cases. And so when you look at NCAA cases, we -- and me in particular -- have never claimed that we don't have teams on probation or that we don't have teams that make mistakes."

That is some next level hypocritical high horsery.
 
The Big Ten Conference issued its own penalties Monday to Penn State, banning the school's football team from appearing in the Big Ten championship game for four years and stating the school won't receive any conference bowl revenue during that same span.

"The accepted findings support the conclusion that our colleagues at Penn State, individuals that we have known and with whom we have worked for many years, have egregiously failed on many levels -- morally, ethically and potentially criminally," read the statement from the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors.

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"They have failed their great university, their faculty and staff, their students and alumni, their community and state -- and they have failed their fellow member institutions in the Big Ten Conference. For these failures, committed at the highest level of the institution, we hereby condemn this conduct and officially censure Penn State."
 
We are a threat to the order of Ohio St and Michigan ruling the conference. Delaney had to pile on. Just like now he has to protect. We can't upset the balance of power that was struck in the mid-twentieth century.
 
It's even more ridiculous considering officials at MSU and OSU had knowledge of multiple bad acts and did nothing while people at PSU reported outside the university the single vague incident of which they were aware. Delany and Emmert felt they had moral authority to act in 2012. Apparently they now think the situations at MSU and OSU are within the bounds of decency.
 
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Hmmm....no talk of institutional values at Michigan State and Ohio State?



Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said Monday that the Penn State scandal has caused "great damage" to the conference.
"I would say it's as damaging as any set of actions or activities that I've been involved with in my 33 years as commissioner," he said. "I accept that as fact."
However, he said, the damage is not irreparable.
"We've been damaged, but not mortally damaged," he said. "I think we have an opportunity to redeem. I'm hopeful we can learn lessons from this and become better as a result."
Delany said good can come out of the pain. Perhaps most important, he said, a university's institutional values should never be subordinate to intercollegiate athletics, as the Freeh report alleged was the case at Penn State.
"We're trying to protect institutional values -- that the cult of success in sports doesn't overwhelm institutions' need to make sure that intercollegiate athletics is subordinate to the mandate and initiative of higher education at each one of our campuses," Delany said.



Big Ten Statement on Ohio State 8/24/18
"We support the findings of the investigative team led by Mary Jo White, the recommendations of the Board of Trustees & the decision made by President Drake in consultation with the Board.” The B1G had no further comment.
 
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"What's clear to me, though, is that justice can never really be served in this case, because the victims can never receive justice. And that's just the sad fact of the case.
Shelbys and Jeeps are nice, but it's still Lock Haven - is what I think he's saying here...
 
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Ahhhh....on the five year ANNIVERSARY of the sanctions, Delaney brings it up at Big Ten Media days AGAIN. Radio silence on Ohio State and Michigan State.


Just five years after the NCAA placed sanctions on the Penn State football program, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany recalls the journey the Nittany Lions have made.

"Five years ago, 2012, I stood up here and did my best to represent the conference," Delany said on Monday to kick off the 2017 Big Ten Football Media Days. "To represent Penn State, trying to understand the challenging circumstances we all found ourselves in."

Exactly five years and one day prior, the NCAA hit Penn State with a $60 million fine, a four-year football postseason ban and the vacation of all wins dating back to 1998 in response to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case.


Perhaps most detrimental to the current football team was a reduction of scholarships from the NCAA limit of 85 to 65. The Nittany Lions were also only allowed to add 15 new players per year instead of the normal NCAA limit of 25. Although the sanctions were eventually rolled back, it was still a big detriment to the program.

"My first thought was we need to get through this, we need to embrace Penn State." Delany said. "They are a member of the Big Ten. We want them to be a member of the Big Ten and return to health."

LWFCJ.gif


 
Ahhhh....on the five year ANNIVERSARY of the sanctions, Delaney brings it up at Big Ten Media days AGAIN. Radio silence on Ohio State and Michigan State.


Just five years after the NCAA placed sanctions on the Penn State football program, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany recalls the journey the Nittany Lions have made.

"Five years ago, 2012, I stood up here and did my best to represent the conference," Delany said on Monday to kick off the 2017 Big Ten Football Media Days. "To represent Penn State, trying to understand the challenging circumstances we all found ourselves in."

Exactly five years and one day prior, the NCAA hit Penn State with a $60 million fine, a four-year football postseason ban and the vacation of all wins dating back to 1998 in response to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case.


Perhaps most detrimental to the current football team was a reduction of scholarships from the NCAA limit of 85 to 65. The Nittany Lions were also only allowed to add 15 new players per year instead of the normal NCAA limit of 25. Although the sanctions were eventually rolled back, it was still a big detriment to the program.

"My first thought was we need to get through this, we need to embrace Penn State." Delany said. "They are a member of the Big Ten. We want them to be a member of the Big Ten and return to health."

LWFCJ.gif


The B1G is "wife beating" Penn State. If you study spousal abuse, it is the cycle of anger, violence and apologies. The victim is lured into a false hope that everyone learned their lesson, things will be better and it will never happen again. The BIG is the one who "beat" Penn State, then is saying "It was good for you." Finally saying "we just want what is best for Penn State so we need to embrace them". This is just want abusers do and how they get away with it for so long.

How long before PSU continues to allow themselves to be the victim of the B1G? Time will tell, I guess.
 
Delaney got more shots in when the NCAA vacated our sanctions...

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany has weighed in on the NCAA’s decision to reduce Penn State’s sanctions to USA Today Sports. In the statement, Delany outlined much of what the conference already announced earlier today, and weighed in on the reasoning behind Penn State’s sanction adjustment. Delany did however state that the reduction isn’t an assessment of the original penalty.

Delany’s full statement can be seen below:

“I don’t think this is an assessment of the original penalty as much as it’s an assessment of the desire to change program’s policies, make adjustments to conduct and behavior. There’s a belief that a lot of that has occurred, and therefore the penalty should be modified. The financial penalty that we imposed is not going to change, but we needed to really change the access to the championship game if they’re eligible for postseason play. They could win their division. If they’re eligible for the postseason, they should certainly be eligible for our championship. Keep in mind that there are other penalties that are still in effect — the Big Ten’s penalty on bowl receipts is still in effect. That means that money is intended to go to organizations in our communities that serve the needs and health of youths. The NCAA $60 million penalty is still in litigation. Our penalty, which is probationary, is I think two more years. Some of the penalties have been modified; others have not.”
 
I try to think about adult topics like non-revenue sports and academic standings and revenues when I think about the big ten. But it always come back to all the cheating and theft and insults and backstabbing bullcrap that has been pulled. It really does boggle my mind that it's some kind of secret or we're crazy or whatever. It's clear as day what is going on.
 
I try to think about adult topics like non-revenue sports and academic standings and revenues when I think about the big ten. But it always come back to all the cheating and theft and insults and backstabbing bullcrap that has been pulled. It really does boggle my mind that it's some kind of secret or we're crazy or whatever. It's clear as day what is going on.

The Big Ten has never been about academics. It is, and always has been, about money and nothing else
 
When you locate Delany, let me know if Barron has his boot up his ass which is where is should be. My guess, though, is that Indiana Fats is too preoccupied scarfing down onion dip.
Not sure about his boot, buy maybe his head.
 
If anyone in a leadership at PSU had any stones whatsoever, the would:

1. File suit for our bowl $.

2. Announce PSU is leaving the conference, effective 1 January 2019.

3. Challenge Delaney and his hypocritical band of stooges to sue PSU for breach of contract.

Please explain #2. How does that work?
 
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Delaney got more shots in when the NCAA vacated our sanctions...

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany has weighed in on the NCAA’s decision to reduce Penn State’s sanctions to USA Today Sports. In the statement, Delany outlined much of what the conference already announced earlier today, and weighed in on the reasoning behind Penn State’s sanction adjustment. Delany did however state that the reduction isn’t an assessment of the original penalty.

Delany’s full statement can be seen below:

“I don’t think this is an assessment of the original penalty as much as it’s an assessment of the desire to change program’s policies, make adjustments to conduct and behavior. There’s a belief that a lot of that has occurred, and therefore the penalty should be modified. The financial penalty that we imposed is not going to change, but we needed to really change the access to the championship game if they’re eligible for postseason play. They could win their division. If they’re eligible for the postseason, they should certainly be eligible for our championship. Keep in mind that there are other penalties that are still in effect — the Big Ten’s penalty on bowl receipts is still in effect. That means that money is intended to go to organizations in our communities that serve the needs and health of youths. The NCAA $60 million penalty is still in litigation. Our penalty, which is probationary, is I think two more years. Some of the penalties have been modified; others have not.”
In other words, “We’ll let them play in the championship because it will bring in money to the Big. We won’t, however, change our minds on the fines because it is money for the Big. Our first priority always is money for the Big.”
 
I harbor no love for Delaney, but to be fair, the big difference between the situations is simply that PSU leadership admitted fault (even though ironically there wasn't any) and implicitly or perhaps explicitly asked for sanctions. Lest we forget that during the Corman lawsuit, PSU was cooperating with the NCAA and not fighting the penalties.

The NCAA and Big Ten were basically taking what they were given. Other schools aren't going to simply allow penalties to be levied without fighting them -- heck, tOSU's entire press conference made it clear that they value football success over the general reputation of the school; they'd surely take the NCAA or Big Ten to court if they attempt to sanction them.
 
They learned their lesson. I’d be fine with them saying nothing on this if they’d apologize or atleast admitted they were wrong in their handling of penn state.
 
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Our BOT are cowards, big pussies. Others fight and stand up.

Actually, I'd say it takes a lot of guts to throw your university and its iconic coach and football program under the bus just to avoid any personal scrutiny. All while spending a boatload of other people's money.

It would have been simple, not even all that "courageous" to fight the false narrative all along. But the BoTs had no desire to do so, rather they created the false narrative for their own purposes.
 
Baffoe: In Latest Big Ten Scandal, Where's Delany?
Jim Delany has been silent as his conference has encountered two ugly scandals.

It was in 2012 that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany made a telling comment regarding the scandal at Penn State involving the handling by high-level university personnel, including football coach Joe Paterno, of sexual assaults of several children by former Nittany Lion assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

"This case is unique in the sense that I think it involved people with senior executive and management responsibilities," Delany said.

Since Delany spoke those words, there have been sexual assault scandals involving people with senior executive and management responsibilities at Michigan State and Ohio State. The former was sports physician Larry Nassar’s serial sexual assaults of at least 332 athletes while working at Michigan State and with U.S. Olympians. Complaints about Nassar were known by at least 14 Michigan State representatives while he worked there without appropriate action being taken. In light of the Nassar criminal trial, an ESPN Outside the Lines investigation "found a pattern of widespread denial, inaction and information suppression of such allegations (of sexual assault) by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department," including the basketball and football teams.

The latter scandal is the ongoing investigation into claims by former Buckeye wrestlers that team doctor Richard Strauss, who died in 2005, assaulted them and students from 14 Ohio State sports and the Student Health Services in Strauss’ time at the school from the 1970s to 1990s. He may have assaulted high school students as well. The wrestlers have included current U.S. congressman Jim Jordan among those who knew of Strauss’ behavior while Jordan was a coach at Ohio State. The Republican representative from Ohio’s 4th District, Jordan denies he was aware of any misconduct by Strauss.

Yet since that "unique" case at Penn State, Delany hasn’t been very visible during the two recent cases. In January, the Big Ten released a statement saying it would "closely monitor" the Michigan State situation only after receiving a request for comment on Nassar being found guilty of multiple sex crimes, multiple school administration resigning and the ESPN report. But there has been nothing specifically from Delany regarding the situation. He has yet to speak publicly on the Ohio State investigation either.

One would think the commissioner would have a responsibility to comment on two scandals involving his conference’s schools that are reverberating nationally, even if it’s just the requisite boilerplate "monitoring" and "concern." But Delany has been noticeably silent regarding both Michigan State and Ohio State.

"We're trying to protect institutional values," Delany said in 2012 after the Penn State sanctions were issued, "that the cult of success in sports doesn't overwhelm institutions' need to make sure that intercollegiate athletics is subordinate to the mandate and initiative of higher education at each one of our campuses."

But two more times in the same decade that protection seems to have failed massively by failing to protect people from alleged sexual predators. It's has happened in the same athletic conference, Delany’s conference. That demands some sort of update from the commissioner at the least.

Keep in mind this hypocritical, lowlife scumbag also stole 2 years of Bowl Money from PSU illigitmately and in violation of PSU's Conference Contracts - go figure! What a bushleague shithole this Conference is...
 
Where are they? Getting highly paid with minimal, if any accountability.
 
Please explain #2. How does that work?

List of conditons for staying are provided. If not met, you leave. Would take some work. But step one you go Independent until it is detatemined if another conference meets are conditions (ala Note Dame).
 
Baffoe: In Latest Big Ten Scandal, Where's Delany?
Jim Delany has been silent as his conference has encountered two ugly scandals.

It was in 2012 that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany made a telling comment regarding the scandal at Penn State involving the handling by high-level university personnel, including football coach Joe Paterno, of sexual assaults of several children by former Nittany Lion assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

"This case is unique in the sense that I think it involved people with senior executive and management responsibilities," Delany said.

Since Delany spoke those words, there have been sexual assault scandals involving people with senior executive and management responsibilities at Michigan State and Ohio State. The former was sports physician Larry Nassar’s serial sexual assaults of at least 332 athletes while working at Michigan State and with U.S. Olympians. Complaints about Nassar were known by at least 14 Michigan State representatives while he worked there without appropriate action being taken. In light of the Nassar criminal trial, an ESPN Outside the Lines investigation "found a pattern of widespread denial, inaction and information suppression of such allegations (of sexual assault) by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department," including the basketball and football teams.

The latter scandal is the ongoing investigation into claims by former Buckeye wrestlers that team doctor Richard Strauss, who died in 2005, assaulted them and students from 14 Ohio State sports and the Student Health Services in Strauss’ time at the school from the 1970s to 1990s. He may have assaulted high school students as well. The wrestlers have included current U.S. congressman Jim Jordan among those who knew of Strauss’ behavior while Jordan was a coach at Ohio State. The Republican representative from Ohio’s 4th District, Jordan denies he was aware of any misconduct by Strauss.

Yet since that "unique" case at Penn State, Delany hasn’t been very visible during the two recent cases. In January, the Big Ten released a statement saying it would "closely monitor" the Michigan State situation only after receiving a request for comment on Nassar being found guilty of multiple sex crimes, multiple school administration resigning and the ESPN report. But there has been nothing specifically from Delany regarding the situation. He has yet to speak publicly on the Ohio State investigation either.

One would think the commissioner would have a responsibility to comment on two scandals involving his conference’s schools that are reverberating nationally, even if it’s just the requisite boilerplate "monitoring" and "concern." But Delany has been noticeably silent regarding both Michigan State and Ohio State.

"We're trying to protect institutional values," Delany said in 2012 after the Penn State sanctions were issued, "that the cult of success in sports doesn't overwhelm institutions' need to make sure that intercollegiate athletics is subordinate to the mandate and initiative of higher education at each one of our campuses."

But two more times in the same decade that protection seems to have failed massively by failing to protect people from alleged sexual predators. It's has happened in the same athletic conference, Delany’s conference. That demands some sort of update from the commissioner at the least.
Judge, Their kicking back sipping some of grampa's old recipe. No doubt laughing about how gullible PSU was and wondering why the others aren't as stupid.
Baffoe: In Latest Big Ten Scandal, Where's Delany?
Jim Delany has been silent as his conference has encountered two ugly scandals.

It was in 2012 that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany made a telling comment regarding the scandal at Penn State involving the handling by high-level university personnel, including football coach Joe Paterno, of sexual assaults of several children by former Nittany Lion assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

"This case is unique in the sense that I think it involved people with senior executive and management responsibilities," Delany said.

Since Delany spoke those words, there have been sexual assault scandals involving people with senior executive and management responsibilities at Michigan State and Ohio State. The former was sports physician Larry Nassar’s serial sexual assaults of at least 332 athletes while working at Michigan State and with U.S. Olympians. Complaints about Nassar were known by at least 14 Michigan State representatives while he worked there without appropriate action being taken. In light of the Nassar criminal trial, an ESPN Outside the Lines investigation "found a pattern of widespread denial, inaction and information suppression of such allegations (of sexual assault) by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department," including the basketball and football teams.

The latter scandal is the ongoing investigation into claims by former Buckeye wrestlers that team doctor Richard Strauss, who died in 2005, assaulted them and students from 14 Ohio State sports and the Student Health Services in Strauss’ time at the school from the 1970s to 1990s. He may have assaulted high school students as well. The wrestlers have included current U.S. congressman Jim Jordan among those who knew of Strauss’ behavior while Jordan was a coach at Ohio State. The Republican representative from Ohio’s 4th District, Jordan denies he was aware of any misconduct by Strauss.

Yet since that "unique" case at Penn State, Delany hasn’t been very visible during the two recent cases. In January, the Big Ten released a statement saying it would "closely monitor" the Michigan State situation only after receiving a request for comment on Nassar being found guilty of multiple sex crimes, multiple school administration resigning and the ESPN report. But there has been nothing specifically from Delany regarding the situation. He has yet to speak publicly on the Ohio State investigation either.

One would think the commissioner would have a responsibility to comment on two scandals involving his conference’s schools that are reverberating nationally, even if it’s just the requisite boilerplate "monitoring" and "concern." But Delany has been noticeably silent regarding both Michigan State and Ohio State.

"We're trying to protect institutional values," Delany said in 2012 after the Penn State sanctions were issued, "that the cult of success in sports doesn't overwhelm institutions' need to make sure that intercollegiate athletics is subordinate to the mandate and initiative of higher education at each one of our campuses."

But two more times in the same decade that protection seems to have failed massively by failing to protect people from alleged sexual predators. It's has happened in the same athletic conference, Delany’s conference. That demands some sort of update from the commissioner at the least.
 
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List of conditons for staying are provided. If not met, you leave. Would take some work. But step one you go Independent until it is detatemined if another conference meets are conditions (ala Note Dame).

And the Athletic Department goes broke in the meantime.
 
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Actually, I'd say it takes a lot of guts to throw your university and its iconic coach and football program under the bus just to avoid any personal scrutiny. All while spending a boatload of other people's money.

It would have been simple, not even all that "courageous" to fight the false narrative all along. But the BoTs had no desire to do so, rather they created the false narrative for their own purposes.

I don't know, Nick... your "gutsy" here is my cowardice in almost all circumstances. Avoiding personal accountability and allowing blame to fall where it does not belong is self-serving, and self-preserving. Is it gutsy or ballsy? Maybe in some convoluted definition of those words, but certainly not in any positive interpretation of them, imo.

I'd say standing up to the falsehoods under intense media and public pressure would have been extremely courageous. They would have our ongoing admiration as a result.

But we're in agreement with how/why they acted, just not how we define their actions.
 
I don't know, Nick... your "gutsy" here is my cowardice in almost all circumstances. Avoiding personal accountability and allowing blame to fall where it does not belong is self-serving, and self-preserving. Is it gutsy or ballsy? Maybe in some convoluted definition of those words, but certainly not in any positive interpretation of them, imo.

I'm saying that in a sarcastic demeaning way, not admirable. It takes some huge balls to throw a crapload of innocent people under the bus just to save your own skin.
 
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I'm saying that in a sarcastic demeaning way, not admirable. It takes some huge balls to throw a crapload of innocent people under the bus just to save your own skin.
None of them got where they’re at by looking out for others.
 
Baffoe: In Latest Big Ten Scandal, Where's Delany?
Jim Delany has been silent as his conference has encountered two ugly scandals.

It was in 2012 that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany made a telling comment regarding the scandal at Penn State involving the handling by high-level university personnel, including football coach Joe Paterno, of sexual assaults of several children by former Nittany Lion assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

"This case is unique in the sense that I think it involved people with senior executive and management responsibilities," Delany said.

Since Delany spoke those words, there have been sexual assault scandals involving people with senior executive and management responsibilities at Michigan State and Ohio State. The former was sports physician Larry Nassar’s serial sexual assaults of at least 332 athletes while working at Michigan State and with U.S. Olympians. Complaints about Nassar were known by at least 14 Michigan State representatives while he worked there without appropriate action being taken. In light of the Nassar criminal trial, an ESPN Outside the Lines investigation "found a pattern of widespread denial, inaction and information suppression of such allegations (of sexual assault) by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department," including the basketball and football teams.

The latter scandal is the ongoing investigation into claims by former Buckeye wrestlers that team doctor Richard Strauss, who died in 2005, assaulted them and students from 14 Ohio State sports and the Student Health Services in Strauss’ time at the school from the 1970s to 1990s. He may have assaulted high school students as well. The wrestlers have included current U.S. congressman Jim Jordan among those who knew of Strauss’ behavior while Jordan was a coach at Ohio State. The Republican representative from Ohio’s 4th District, Jordan denies he was aware of any misconduct by Strauss.

Yet since that "unique" case at Penn State, Delany hasn’t been very visible during the two recent cases. In January, the Big Ten released a statement saying it would "closely monitor" the Michigan State situation only after receiving a request for comment on Nassar being found guilty of multiple sex crimes, multiple school administration resigning and the ESPN report. But there has been nothing specifically from Delany regarding the situation. He has yet to speak publicly on the Ohio State investigation either.

One would think the commissioner would have a responsibility to comment on two scandals involving his conference’s schools that are reverberating nationally, even if it’s just the requisite boilerplate "monitoring" and "concern." But Delany has been noticeably silent regarding both Michigan State and Ohio State.

"We're trying to protect institutional values," Delany said in 2012 after the Penn State sanctions were issued, "that the cult of success in sports doesn't overwhelm institutions' need to make sure that intercollegiate athletics is subordinate to the mandate and initiative of higher education at each one of our campuses."

But two more times in the same decade that protection seems to have failed massively by failing to protect people from alleged sexual predators. It's has happened in the same athletic conference, Delany’s conference. That demands some sort of update from the commissioner at the least.

Begs the question I’ve asked myself repeatedly since 1993: why are we in this f’in conference?

I’m not kidding. I know we get paid but it truly sucks.
 
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