The NCAA has decided to "vacate" all of Penn State's victories from 1998 to 2011, pretty much taking away one of Paterno's most awesome titles, number one in wins as a coach.
I find it a bit disturbing that this was in the NCAA's list of punishments. We learn bad things about people all the time, and there just are bad people. But does this mean we should rewrite history?
Should we, like Orwell’s totalitarian Oceania, have a Ministry of Truth to keep track of all the lies we've told everyone, and destroy evidence contradictory to the lies we've told?
Next, maybe we should we next take an eraser to OJ Simpson's records? To Joseph McCarthy's votes? Or maybe we should just phase out all the talk about 9/11 and the terrorists? That was really bad, we don't want to remember it.
"It is understandable that an organization would want its official history to reflect its hopes and desires," says Gary Fine of the New York Times. "But our histories must properly reflect what happened at the time and not in our imaginations."
The answer to scandals such as these is to report everything accurately, and to remember them with sensitivity. Perhaps if we remember them, we won't be doomed to repeat them.
The answer to scandals such as these is to report everything accurately, and to remember them with sensitivity. Perhaps if we remember them, we won't be doomed to repeat them.
Another thing, this punishment is mostly hurting the players, who had little to nothing to do with what was going on. Why do they need to be punished?
"Those young men at Penn State deserve recognition for their efforts, as does Mr. Paterno. … Men in suits should not undo what boys in uniform have achieved."
Read Mr. Fine's piece on this same matter at the New York Times.
Read Mr. Fine's piece on this same matter at the New York Times.
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