Penn State Is The James Nightmare Revisited

As a society, we hoped the Graham James sex scandal would never repeat itself. We hoped that the right measures had been taken so that what happened to Sheldon Kennedy and others would never happen to any other child again. WRONG!!

I think the situation at Penn State University is worse than what happened in Swift Current years ago, because if what we are hearing is correct, others in a position of power knew what Jerry Sandusky was doing and didn't act upon it. What does it say when a Penn State football staffer tells head coach Joe Paterno what he witnessed in the locker-room and that Paterno told two people who said one thing, but did nothing. These two people allowed a predator to continue satisfying his sick desires for many, many years. Should Paterno have done more? Yeah, he should have but for whatever reason he didn't and now his legacy as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time has been tarnished beyond repair. Some will say Paterno is not to blame because he did tell someone and that the chain was broken higher up. I don't disagree with that, but when Paterno saw that nothing was being done to Sandusky, he should have went to someone else like oh I don't know---THE POLICE!!!! Did Sandusky remain on Paterno's staff after the initial allegation? If he did, that is simply wrong. There is talk now--at least there was at the time of this writing--that some seniors at Penn State won't play this weekend at home against Nebraska as a sign of protest against the school that fired Paterno on Wednesday night. Really? What's even more disturbing is that the fallout over the last couple of days has centred on Paterno's legacy and not the victims of Sandusky.
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Other thoughts going through my coffee-filled mind on this Thursday morning..

--TSN's top 10 CFL plays of the regular season has the devastating Jamall Johnson sack on Buck Pierce, but it does not have the Craig Butler hit on Pierce in the Banjo Bowl.

--I will be shocked if Jovon Johnson beats Jerrell Freeman for CFL top defensive player honours.

--With US college football coming down to conference championship games and bowl games, this would be the right time for the CFL to allow neg lists to be made public so we as football fans could perhaps see some players that could end up playing for our team. Why the CFL is so secretive about the neg list is something I will never understand.

--A story in the Globe and Mail suggests CFL TV ratings have taken a dip this year. Could that be because the Riders had such a bad season and fans stopped watching them on TV. From what I understand, attendance numbers aren't a problem across the league. If you are the Commish, are you concerned that TV numbers are down if the number of people watching the game live are fine.

--Did someone film something like this outside of Mosaic Stadium this year?? Funny and true! Funny and true. (Thanks to the commissioner of one of my fantasy football leagues for finding this)

--Why isn't Paul McCallum the West nominee for top Canadian?

--While Travis Lulay had a great 2nd half, Anthony Calvillo was pretty consistent the whole season. He would get my vote for MOP.

--With the emergence of Lulay and Tate, how far has Darian Durant's stock dropped and is that a good thing going into 2012 as the expectation level perhaps isn't as great as it is to the other two.

--The Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers should be embarassed of themselves for the stunt they pulled off Wednesday night. I don't know what team is more to blame in this situation. Why didn't the Lightning send some forecheckers into the zone and why didn't the Flyers simply just move the puck. Does hockey need to implement a rule saying the puck has to be brought across center ice within a certain time frame or they get penalized. I hope not, but after what I saw last night, I don't know what you do to stop a repeat of this.

--How many poppies have you lost this year? I'm at three. I used to have a poppy with a Canadian pin in the middle, but I gave that one to my daughter. Alas, she lost it.

--Does your kid still have Hallowe'en candy kickin around and if so, how much are you stealing? Be honest!!

--Saying goodbye to a four-legged friend is never an easy thing to do, but that's what I had to do earlier this week. I think a lot of you know what I'm talking about.

--The Pats and the Warriors meet at the Brandt Centre tonight. Its the 2nd and last Thirsty Thursday of the season meaning 32 oz of your favourite Molson product is only $8. Hey, if that doesn't help get the rivalry going off the ice I don't know what will.

--It looks like the Russian team that is competing in the Subway Super Series is not a pushover again as had been the case for so many years. With that being said, I hope you have tickets for one of the games in Regina and Moose Jaw next week. While both the Pats and Warriors are playing good hockey this year, the best junior game you may see this year could be next week when the WHL's best take on the Russians.

--Good on the Riders for having Weston Dressler become the team's career development co-ordinator. Dressler is helping players that are staying in Regina this winter find work in areas that they studied while in University. We all know CFL players don't get the big bucks like the NFL players do and when their career comes to an end, which could be on the next play, they need something to fall back on. If Dressler can get a couple of players doing what they were taught in college and it leads to that player having a successful work career off the football field in Regina or wherever than its a win-win for everyone. I'm sure other teams do this as well, but if not they should be.

--If bored at work today, stand up on your desk and shout the following words "ICE, BANK, MICE, ELF"