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Any guesses?
Without reading the article, I'll guess Rodney, Joyner, O'Brien and Franklin. Now to go see how I did...
The sad thing is Penn State football wouldn't have needed saving if it wasn't for the gutless stupidity of a few people. Why doesn't Jones write a column naming four people who tried to destroy Penn State football??
Okay. I guessed two of them. The others are so absurd I never even thought of them. Typical drivel from Davey.
Any guesses?
Okay. I guessed two of them. The others are so absurd I never even thought of them. Typical drivel from Davey.
Exert from his article. This sums up better than I even could exactly what we disagree on. He believes contrition was best and being right isn't enough. I say being right is almost always enough and you need to be willing to die, or in this case have your public image killed for what you believe in. This University for me is one of those things, to our leaders it was not.
"Then-PSU president Rodney Erickson had to make a decision on whether to sign the NCAA's consent decree or fight. I have maintained before and will here that it was a much tougher decision than all the university's patriots and legal pundits who deal in absolutes would have you believe.
Erickson's decision was to simply survive. He has been called inept and cowardly for this. I think that's unfair.
Many people I respect who know more about the legal process than I have told me the case was a slam-dunk in Penn State's favor had it immediately contended the NCAA's decision to move outside its stated enforcement protocol and lay down penalties from its executive level for what was a criminal act. The organization's bully tactics have come to light in the interim.
These people conveniently forget or never recognized in the first place exactly how venomous was the national perception of Penn State at the time. I believe a position of contrition rather than contention was a wise one in 2012. That the football program was allowed merely to stay afloat without an injunction was better for the perception of the university in the long run.
Some people will never be convinced of this because they live in the bubble of central Pennsylvania. They don't understand how an immediate legal process being initiated by Penn State in 2012 could have backfired on the school's national image. Sometimes being right doesn't matter. Living to fight at the right time can be the better play."
I'll go with Ira Lubert, Dave Joyner, Fly'in Ly'in O'Brien and Rodney Erickson?
"Many people I respect who know more about the legal process than I have told me the case was a slam-dunk in Penn State's favor had it immediately contended the NCAA's decision to move outside its stated enforcement protocol and lay down penalties from its executive level for what was a criminal act."
So even if you are innocent, it's better to plead guilty if people are very very angry with you. Good lesson to be learned there, kids.
"Many people I respect who know more about the legal process than I have told me the case was a slam-dunk in Penn State's favor had it immediately contended the NCAA's decision to move outside its stated enforcement protocol and lay down penalties from its executive level for what was a criminal act."
So even if you are innocent, it's better to plead guilty if people are very very angry with you. Good lesson to be learned there, kids.
Any guesses?
Yes, I believe the people who saved Penn State were those who wouldn't accept this crap on face value. Alums and fans and students and advocates who wouldn't let others at work, the dinner table, family gatherings, social functions, or even those in media and entertainment get away with mischaracterizing the facts and push a failed and faulty narrative.And how about some credit to the fans and alums who continued to support the University and football program in its most difficult time?
There is a difference between criminal guilt and public perception. I said in December 2011, then America will want Penn State to pay for this... not because they were found guilty, but because they were perceived as guilty. The problem I have is immediately throwing Joe under the bus, even more so that Spanier/Curley/Schultz, when Joe was not implicated in the grand jury presentment. I think if Penn State wanted to show contrition, it should have been immediately transparent regarding the administration and BOT, and not involved with a back room negotiation to punish the football program.
Whatever they paid Mitchell was effectively fine money. I wouldn't be surprised if he never stepped foot into PA, let alone Centre Co.Did he credit george mitchell? Is jones that stupid?
I live outside of the "Central Pennsylvania Bubble". I live in "Real World Bubble". I can tell you, without any hesitation, that Rodney Erickson was a coward - and ill-prepared to deal with the crisis. "Failure of Leadership" was spewed by the BoT about JVP....how ironic they chose those words. David Jones is a hack and I'm certain he's not lamenting the damage that was done to JVPAny guesses?
Jones is dead on with Erickson, OBrien, and Mitchell. Replace Delany with Corman and the PSU fans who showed up at the games and it's they who saved PSU football.Any guesses?
Jones is dead on with Erickson, OBrien, and Mitchell. Replace Delany with Corman and the PSU fans who showed up at the games and it's they who saved PSU football.
Excerpt from his article.
These people conveniently forget or never recognized in the first place exactly how venomous was the national perception of Penn State at the time. I believe a position of contrition rather than contention was a wise one in 2012. That the football program was allowed merely to stay afloat without an injunction was better for the perception of the university in the long run.
Some people will never be convinced of this because they live in the bubble of central Pennsylvania. They don't understand how an immediate legal process being initiated by Penn State in 2012 could have backfired on the school's national image. Sometimes being right doesn't matter. Living to fight at the right time can be the better play."
Oh boy.Jones is dead on with Erickson, OBrien, and Mitchell. Replace Delany with Corman and the PSU fans who showed up at the games and it's they who saved PSU football.
Davey conveniently forgets how poorly PSU managed this whole mess from the beginning. Maybe there was no better choice at the time of the consent decree. But, PSU backed themselves into that corner themselves. Not willing to give Erickson or the BOT deserve criticism for their epic failure. I am willing to give O'Brien and the players most of the credit here. I am sure others deserve it, too. And how about some credit to the fans and alums who continued to support the University and football program in its most difficult time?
That's why you hire good people to help you manage a crisis like this and spin things away from you and your brand, which was Joe (as Obliviax said).+1 and this is well stated. I believe the national firestorm was wrong, it was misguided, it was largely caused by a series of errors and accidents, from the careless handling of the grand jury presentment to Freeh's speculation and grandstanding.
But it was a media/public opinion firestorm like I have never seen in my lifetime. I worked in media for 22 years and I have never seen this level of national anger directed at an institution. Just about the whole country wanted to see Penn State burned to the ground. It was almost a perfect storm.
For whatever Erickson's and the board's mistakes -- you really can't imagine what it had to be like to be in their shoes. You have to give them some slack because the pressure was so extreme. In the atmosphere after Freeh's press conference, to stand up to the NCAA really might have backfired. Heck, even Congress was starting to get involved. Corbett, who has always hated Penn State, might have been able to get the legislature to just slam PSU and eliminate its independence -- whcih would have done tremendous harm to PSU the academic university.
In the end the proof is in the pudding. They accepted the sanctions hopign they could be lifted, the sanctions were lifted, and here we are today. PSU the football program survived, but more importantly PSU the university survived and thrives.
I was as angry as anybody abotu the sanctions but that's how I see it now.
+1 and this is well stated. I believe the national firestorm was wrong, it was misguided, it was largely caused by a series of errors and accidents, from the careless handling of the grand jury presentment to Freeh's speculation and grandstanding.
But it was a media/public opinion firestorm like I have never seen in my lifetime. I worked in media for 22 years and I have never seen this level of national anger directed at an institution. Just about the whole country wanted to see Penn State burned to the ground. It was almost a perfect storm.
For whatever Erickson's and the board's mistakes -- you really can't imagine what it had to be like to be in their shoes. You have to give them some slack because the pressure was so extreme. In the atmosphere after Freeh's press conference, to stand up to the NCAA really might have backfired. Heck, even Congress was starting to get involved. Corbett, who has always hated Penn State, might have been able to get the legislature to just slam PSU and eliminate its independence -- whcih would have done tremendous harm to PSU the academic university.
In the end the proof is in the pudding. They accepted the sanctions hopign they could be lifted, the sanctions were lifted, and here we are today. PSU the football program survived, but more importantly PSU the university survived and thrives.
I was as angry as anybody abotu the sanctions but that's how I see it now.
Jones is dead on with Erickson, OBrien, and Mitchell. Replace Delany with Corman and the PSU fans who showed up at the games and it's they who saved PSU football.