Collective Punishment?

Crime,Criminal Injustice,Individualism Vs. Collectivism,Justice,Media,Morality,Pop-Culture,Sport

            

When the events surrounding pederast Jerry Sandusky surfaced, I ventured that, to an outsider, the American football scene was obscene—starting with its incestuous fraternities, the rock-star status surrounding handlers and players, their pompom-waving, knickers-baring groupies, and the tantrum-prone fans who experience bare-fanged fury when their heroes let them down. The problem with this freak show is that the participants are pathologically invested in it.

Besides, how did the words “coach” and “legendary” ever come to be paired? Ridiculous.

Now comes the news that the NCAA, whatever that stands for— reporters no longer follow the convention of first writing out acronyms in full—has leveled a punishment on Penn State that will likely affect every student at the university.

Collective punishment for transgressions (crimes included) committed by certain individuals (who are no longer at the helm)!

The football program will also be excluded from playing in bowl games and post-season games for four years, as well as having its football scholarships reduced from 25 to 15, and having to pay a $60 million fine, the equivalent of one year’s revenues from the football program.

Thirteen team victories have been voided. So many kids must have worked hard and played their hearts out. Why are they are being penalized?

Career and camera-conscious individuals will do anything to look as if they are busy doing something. This is all Brownian Motion, and terribly unfair.