University Park, Pa. – The Towson men’s lacrosse team (10-7) withstood a late rally from No. 9 Penn State (12-4) to defeat the Nittany Lions, 11-10, and claim its first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title since 2005 Friday afternoon at PSU Lacrosse Field.

PSU outscored Towson 4-3 in the fourth quarter to try and rally from an 8-6 deficit at the end of the third. The game was tightly contested until late in the second quarter and into the third when the Tigers broke it open with a five-goal run.

Towson was making its first appearance in a CAA final since 2010, when the Tigers fell to Delaware, 12-9 on May 8. Today’s championship is Towson’s fourth title in its ninth appearance at the CAA Tournament. Towson’s Thomas DeNapoli, Jordan Fortmann and Ben McCarty were named to the All-Tournament team. Senior goalkeeper Andrew Wascavage received Most Outstanding Player. It is Head Coach Shawn Nadelen’s first CAA championship.

Sophomore Greg Cuccinello’s second hat trick of the season led the Tigers. He also had one assist. DeNapoli added two goals and two assists, while senior Matt Hughes scored his fourth and fifth goals in four games.

TJ Sanders’s three goals led the Nittany Lions. Jack Forster and Shane Sturgis each posted two goals. Goalie Austin Kaut made six saves.

McCarty opened the game’s scoring with his seventh goal in two games off a pass from DeNapoli at 11:10 in the first quarter. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead at 10:25 when sophomore Cuccinello beat PSU’s Kaut middle right.

Penn State struck back with a three-goal run starting at 9:28, getting scores from Forster, Kyle VanThof and Steven Bogert. But DeNapoli cut short the rally with his 40th goal of the season at 2:05. Hughes caused a Penn State turnover, picked up the ground ball and fed it to DeNapoli for the score. Hughes capped the quarter with his seventh goal of the year and, fourth in four games, with one second left.

The Nittany Lions started the second quarter on another three-goal rally when Forster connected with Tom LaCrosse on a fast break at 13:53. Sanders scored at 11:11 and Gavin Ahern followed at 10:18 to give PSU a 6-4 lead.

Junior Andrew Hodgson notched a goal for Towson at 6:59 when Towson worked the ball around the back of the net to Cuccinello who fed Hodgson. He dodged a defender and beat Kaut high to low from 12 yards out. His goal inched Towson to within one, 6-5, and Mabus’ tally at 4:28 pulled the Tigers even, 6-6.

Cuccinello started the third quarter with a bullet at 12:30 to put Towson up, 7-6, before Hodgson scored just over eight minutes later to give the Tigers an 8-6 advantage they carried into the fourth quarter.

The final frame was a wild one, seeing a total of seven goals – four in the final four minutes. Cuccinello posted his final goal of the game at 13:19 from 13 yards out, but the Lions showed they still had some fight when Sanders scored his 41st of the season 45 seconds later. Hughes answered with his second of the game when freshman Dan Livingston cleared the ball and passed to a waiting Hughes right in front of the goal at 6:51. That put Towson up three,10-7.

Towson was whistled for a slash at 4:54 and Penn State capitalized just 24 seconds into the penalty with a Sturgis goal at 4:31 to make it 10-8. DeNapoli posted his 41st of the year at 2:33, unassisted to increase the Tigers’ lead to 11-8. It gave Towson just enough breathing room to withstand Penn State goals from Sturgis and Sanders, at 2:14 and 1:42 respectively.

With the win, the Tigers earned the CAA’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. They will find out their opponent during the NCAA selection show on Sunday, May 5.

College Men’s Lacrosse: Towson 11, No. 9 Penn State 10
Towson (10-7)               4-2-2-3/11
Penn State (12-4)           3-3-0-4/10

GOALS: TOW – Cuccinello 3, DeNapoli 2, Hodgson 2, Hughes, 2, Mabus, McCarty; PSU – Sanders 3, Forster 2, Sturgis 2, Ahern, VanThof, Bogert. ASSISTS: TOW – DeNapoli 2, Cuccinello, Livingston, Mabus; PSU – Ahern 2, Manley 2, LaCrosse, Zittel. SAVES: TOW – Wascavage (12, 60:00, 10 GA); PSU – Kaut (6, 60:00,11 GA). SHOTS: TOW – 32; PSU – 35. GROUND BALLS: TOW – 21; PSU – 33. FACE-OFFS: TOW –5-24; PSU – 19-24. CLEARS: TOW – 22-24; PSU – 19-23. EMO: TOW – 0-2; PSU 2-2. ATT: 796.

University Park, Pa. - Three Tigers scored two goals each, but No. 11 Penn State (9-3, 4-0 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)) took home a 10-8 victory over Towson (7-6, 3-1 CAA) Saturday afternoon at Penn State Lacrosse Field.

Junior Andrew Hodgson and sophomores Justin Mabus and Greg Cuccinello all had two-goal games for Towson. Hodgson and Mabus each added an assist as well. Senior goalie Andrew Wascavage made 11 saves for the Tigers. TJ Sanders posted his third five-goal game of the year for Penn State.

Towson and Penn State were evenly matched. The teams split the face-offs, 10-10, and each took 33 shots. Both teams were 2-3 on extra man opportunities. But the Tigers couldn’t overcome 17 turnovers, including five in the first quarter. Penn State scored two goals directly off Towson turnovers.

Sanders got Penn State on the board first at 13:00 in the first quarter before Brian Bolewicki and Cuccinello scored back-to-back goals to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead with 4:55 in the first frame. Sanders and Hodgson traded goals to start the second quarter before the Nittany Lions reeled off four unanswered goals to take a 6-3 lead at 8:34 in the third quarter. PSU held a four-goal lead, 8-4, at 2:10 in the same frame.

Towson cut the advantage to two goals three times, 8-6 at 11:52 in the fourth on an EMO goal from Mabus, 9-7 after junior Thomas DeNapoli scored unassisted at 10:07 in the fourth and the final 10-8 after a Hodgson goal.

The Tigers return to action Saturday, April 20 at Drexel at 4 p.m.

Opening Face-Off
Towson and Penn State are both coming off wins last week. The Tigers defeated UMass 9-5, while PSU handed Drexel a 13-6 loss. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. and can be heard live on the Towson Sports Network on www.towsontigers.com with Spiro Morekas and former Tiger midfielder Hunter Lochte calling the action. It will also be televised on the Big Ten Network (BTN).

Updating the Tigers
The win over the Minutemen on April 6 pushed Towson’s win streak to four games coming into Saturday’s match up. The Tigers limited UMass to two goals through three quarters, holding the Minutemen scoreless in the first quarter. Stellar play in net from senior Andrew Wascavage helped the Tigers withstand a late comeback attempt from UMass. Junior Devin Grimaldi notched his first career hat trick and a career-best four points.

Last Time Out vs. Penn State – April 14, 2012 (Penn State 8, Towson 3)
Towson scored the final two goals of the second quarter to trail just 4-3 at halftime, but for the first time in 2012 the Tigers failed to register a goal in the second half. Penn State outshot Towson 39-28 en route to winning its third straight game. Shane Sturgis and Matthew Mackrides each posted hat tricks for the Nittany Lions. Andrew Wascavage made 17 saves in net for the Tigers. Carl Iacona (1) and Matt Lamon (2) scored for Towson.

Towson-Penn State Series History
Begun in 1981, the series was contested annually after that until 1995. The teams met in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament, where the Tigers claimed an 11-6 victory to end PSU’s season. The series began again in 2010 when the Nittany Lions joined the CAA.

Towson-Penn State By the Numbers

Setting the Stage
• Navy and Penn State will meet for the 38th time on the gridiron when they square off at Beaver Stadium (106,572) in University Park, Pa. on Sept. 15.  Kickoff is set for 3:30 pm.
• This will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1974 when Navy went on the road and upset nationally-ranked Penn State, 7-6.  The win ended the Nittany Lions’ 21-game home winning streak and overall winning string of 13 consecutive games.  The series dates back to 1894 when the two teams played to a 6-6 tie.
• The game will be nationally televised on ABC/ESPN2 with Mike Patrick (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (color) and Jeannine Edwards (sideline) calling the action.  Check your local listings to find out which network will be carrying the game in your area.

Navy Nuggets
•    Navy owns a 17-16 (.515) record in games played away from the friendly confines of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium under head coach Ken Niumatalolo, including a 3-5 (.375) mark over the last two years.
• The Mids are 15-6 (.714) in home games under Niumatalolo which includes a 2-3 (.400) record in 2011.
• In Navy’s last five wins, it outscored the opposition, 105-31, in the first half, including 43-0 in the first quarter.
• In the Mids’ last eight losses, they have been outscored, 179-69, in the first half, including 72-10 in the first quarter.
• Navy has been held below 300 yards rushing in seven of its last 13 games and won just one of those games (Army).
• Navy is 27-4 (.870) under Niumatalolo when scoring first.  The Mids are 5-18 (.217) under Niumatalolo when the opponent scores first and have lost the last eight games (over the last three years).
• Under Niumatalolo, the Mids are 21-3 (.875) when leading after the first quarter and 11-19 (.367) when trailing or tied after the first stanza.
• An opposing running back has rushed for over 100 yards in a game against Navy in nine of the last 13 contests.  In the previous 40 games, Navy surrendered only nine 100-yard rushing games to opposing running backs.

Injuries
•    Starting sophomore outside linebacker Chris Johnson is out for the year with a torn ACL in his left knee.
• Starting junior wide receiver Matt Aiken is questionable with a right knee injury.

Scouting Penn State
•  The Nittany Lions are 0-2 under first-year head coach Bill O’Brien, losing at home to Ohio, 24-14, and on the road to Virginia, 17-16.
•  Quarterback Matt McGloin has completed 46 of his 83 (.554) passes for 457 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.
•    Wide receiver Allen Robinson has an incredible 19 catches for 186 yards and a touchdown in his first two games.  He is tied for seventh in the country in catches per game and 27th in receiving yards per game.  Kyle Carter has 10 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.
•    Running back Bill Belton started against Ohio and carried the ball 13 times for 53 yards.  He missed the Virginia game with an ankle injury.  Derek Day started against the Cavs and carried the ball 18 times for 47 yards.
•    Outside linebackers Michael Mauti (21 tackles) and Gerald Hodges (19 tackles) lead the team in tackles.  Mauti also has a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, while Hodges has recovered a fumble.

The Last Time … 
Navy 7, Penn State 6    Sept. 21, 1974 | University Park, Pa.
• Navy parlayed a lone second-quarter touchdown drive of 80 yards and some steady and alert defensive play to upset nationally-ranked Penn State, 7-6, on a rainy and windy day.
• The Midshipman victory ended Penn State’s 21-game home winning streak and overall winning string of 13-consecutive games.
• The Nittany Lions missed on four field goal attempts, including one from the 43-yard line with less than two minutes on the clock.
• Navy also gobbled up five Lion fumbles.
• Navy initiated its lone touchdown drive in the second period when fullback Bob Jackson burst over the left side for 21 yards.  Quarterback Phil Poirier then was successful on passes of 14 and 21 yards, respectively to wide receivers Ike Owens and Robin Ameen.
• Another key play was a pass to Jackson, gaining nine yards and a first down on the State 10.  On third down from the four, Jackson on the fullback run-pass option hit Ameen in the end zone and Steve Dykes added the extra point.
• The Nittany Lions, kept off balance by the Navy defense led by Chet Moeller, pieced together a 58-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter.  Fullback Tom Donchez made five-straight carries during the march, gaining 24 yards and a first down on the five.  Tom Shuman then hit Jerry Jeram with a five-yard scoring pass, the clock showing 4:41 remaining.
• Penn State went for a two-point conversion but Shuman’s pass for wingback Jim Eaise was knocked down by Navy halfback Ed Jeter.
• Penn State had the ball once more, but Chris Bahr failed on the 43-yard field goal try.
• Earlier Nittany Lion drives to the Navy 19, 36, 23, 12, 15 anad nine-yard lines ended in fumbles or missed field goals.
• Moeller had 13 tackles, three of them for losses, and a recovered fumble.

Keystone Kids
•    The Navy football program recruits Pennsylvania heavily and it currently has 13 players on its roster from the Keystone State.
• Senior defensive end Wes Henderson (Wexford), senior slot back John Howell (Hatfield) and sophomore guard Jake Zuzek (Brookhaven) are all expected to start against the Nittany Lions on Saturday.
•    Additionally, senior linebacker John Michael Nurthen (Phoenixville), sophomore fullback Maika Polamalu(Pottstown) and freshman nose guard Bernard Sarra (Monessen, Pa.) are expected to see action on Saturday.
•    Other Pennsylvania natives on the roster include senior guard Matt Couch (Enola), freshman defensive end David Gordeuk (Port Matilda), junior defensive end Michael Huf (Drexel Hill), sophomore defensive end Chris Nurthen(Phoenixville), freshman wide receiver Doug Ott (Kennett Square), sophomore corner Lonnie Richardson (Chester) and junior slot back Brian Williams (Monroeville).
•    Couch’s father, Thomas, was a lineman at Penn State in the early 80′s.
•    Polamalu’s father, Aoatoa, played football at Penn State and was the starting defensive tackle on the Nittany Lions’ 1986 national championship team.  His cousin is standout Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.

Navy-Penn State Ties
•    Former Navy head coach George Welsh was a Penn State assistant coach from 1964-72, leaving to become the Mids’ head coach in 1973. In Welsh’s only game at Beaver Stadium as Navy’s coach, he led the Mids to a 7-6 win in 1974. Welsh was the Navy coach through 1981 when he left to become head coach at Virginia. He is Navy’s career wins leader, earning a 55-46-1 mark.
• Former Penn State Associate AD Budd Thalman was Navy’s Sports Information Director from 1962-72. He provided assistance to the national media during Roger Staubach’s Heisman Trophy-winning campaign in 1963. Thalman was the Buffalo Bills’ Vice President for Public Relations from 1973-85 before going to Penn State, where he directed the Nittany Lions’ external relations and communications from 1986 until his 2001 retirement. Thalman was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame in 1998.

Navy Versus The Big 10
•    Navy is 26-41-3 (.393) all-time against schools currently in the Big 10 Conference.
• The Mids are 17-18-2 against Penn State, 5-12-1 against Michigan, 2-0 against Purdue, 1-0 against Illinois, 1-1 against Wisconsin, 0-1 against Minnesota, 0-2 against Indiana, 0-3 against Northwestern and 0-4 against Ohio State.
•    This will be Navy’s first game against a Big 10 opponent since Sept. 5, 2009, when Ohio State edged the Mids, 31-27, in Columbus.
•    Navy last beat a Big 10 opponent on Sept. 29, 1979, when the Mids won at Illinois, 13-12.

Youth Is Served
• Navy has one of the youngest football teams in America. With 13 true freshmen (Navy does not redshirt) appearing on the depth chart, the Mids are tied for third nationally for the most true freshmen listed on the depth.
• The Mids played eight true freshmen against Notre Dame (CB Quincy Adams, K Nick Sloan, CB Shelley White, CBKwazel Bertrand, QB Keenan Reynolds, OLB A.K. Akpunku, NG Bernard Sarra and DE Will Anthony.
• Navy had eight players make their first-career starts against Notre Dame, including five on offense and three on the offensive line (LT Ryan Paulson, RG Jake Zuzek, RT Bradyn Heap, WR Jonathan Gazaille, FB Noah Copeland, NGBarry Dabney, RE Evan Palelei and OLB Jordan Drake).
• Navy had 17 players make their college debut in Saturday’s opener against Notre Dame.  In addition to the eight freshmen previously mentioned,  Heap, KO specialist Colin Amerau, SB Geoffrey Whiteside, FB Prentice Christian, DEPaul Quessenberry, OG Thomas Stone, C Tanner Fleming, DE Aaron Davis and DE Danny Ring played in their first-collegiate contest.

A First Time For Everything    
• Junior wide receiver Casey Bolena caught a career-high three passes for a career-best 61 yards against Notre Dame. He entered the contest with four career receptions for 53 yards.
• Senior fullback Prentice Christian, making his first-collegiate apperance, paced Navy in rushing with 39 yards on two carries including a long rush of 25.
• Sophomore fullback Noah Copeland carried the ball six times for 29 yards in making his first-collegiate start at fullback.  He also caught three passes for 11 yards.
• Sophomore outside linebacker Jordan Drake turned in a career-high seven tackles against the Irish after contributing four tackles his freshman year as a member of special teams.
• Sophomore corner Parrish Gaines recorded a career-high 12 tackles against Notre Dame and also picked off his first-career pass.
• Senior wide receiver Jonathan Gazaille made his first-career catch for a gain of four yards against the Irish.
• Junior wide receiver Shawn Lynch caught a career-high four passes for a career-high 87 yards in what marked just his third game played at wide receiver (he played defense as a sophomore).  He caught a 16-yard pass from quarterbackTrey Miller for his first-collegiate reception and caught a 25-yard strike from Miller for his first-career touchdown.
• Freshman kicker Nick Sloan connected on his first-career field goal attempt from 26-yards at the end of the first half against Notre Dame.
• Senior outside linebacker Keegan Wetzel recorded his first-collegiate sack against Notre Dame.

Lots of Passing Yards Usually Means A Loss
• Junior quarterback Trey Miller was completed 14 of his 20 passes for 192 yards and one touchdown against Notre Dame.
• The 192-yard passing effort was Navy’s best since throwing for 227 yards in a 34-31 loss to Duke in 2010 and the most yards Navy has thrown for against Notre Dame since 1996 when the Mids threw for 218 yards in a 54-27 loss to the Irish in ironically enough, Dublin.

Low Totals
• Navy’s 10 points in the opener against Notre Dame were the fewest points it has scored in a game since Oct. 2, 2010, when the Mids scored just six points in a 14-6 loss at Air Force.
• The Mids’ 149 yards rushing against Notre Dame were the fewest by a Navy team since Dec. 11, 2010, when Navy rushed for just 139 yards in a 31-17 victory over Army.

Freshman Kicker
• Freshman Nick Sloan beat out five other kickers to earn the job as Navy’s kicker on field goals and PATs.  He made his first-career field goal attempt from 26 yards against Notre Dame and also made his only PAT attempt.
• Sloan is the first freshman to start at kicker for Navy since 1996 when Tim Shubzda started multiple games, including the opener against Rutgers.  Shubzda connected on four-of-six field goal attempts and all six of his PAT’s as a freshman, splitting time with Jason Covarubbias and Tom Vanderhorst.

Beltran Off To A Good Start
• Sophomore punter Pablo Beltran got off to a good start, averaging 46.2 yards per punt on his four punts against Notre Dame which inlcuded a long of 63.
• Beltran averaged 37.5 yards per punt as a freshman.  He was the first freshman to start at punter for the Midshipmen since Brian Schrum in 1992.

By the time you’re reading this, you may already know the details.

There are significant rumors swirling regarding what type of penalties Penn State University will be handed down Monday by the NCAA, but they seem to be consistent. It appears as though PSU football will lose bowl eligibility for multiple seasons, suffer multiple scholarship reductions and be fined tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. There could be more handed down by NCAA President Mark Emmert, there could be more handed down by the Big Ten Conference.

The penalties coming just after a statue of former Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno was removed from outside Beaver Stadium in State College. The penalties have been explained as being less than “the death penalty” famously handed down to Southern Methodist University over 20 years ago by the NCAA. The penalties however are thought to be potentially as bad as possible while football is still allowed to be played.

I’ve thought a lot about the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State over the last year. I’ve written a good bit about Sandusky, Paterno and others in recent weeks. I’ve spoken even more during the course of my radio show. I guess I would describe myself as “fascinated” with the story. I will work under the assumption that I’m not the only one.

Some will debate the merits of the penalty handed down by the NCAA. I’ll probably work with the thought that there isn’t a penalty that I’d consider too strong. I’m not sure how much more really needs to be said about that, truthfully.

I’ll admit that the one statement I can’t help but continuously repeat over and over again is “Thank God I’m not at all associated with Penn State.” Thank God I don’t have to think about this. Thank God I don’t have to feel any culpability and guilt towards the fact that I worshipped a coach and a program that was willing to risk the wellbeing of children in order to protect their own reverence. Thank God I never helped build a community where sport was more important than human life.

But a particular Facebook post I came across this weekend caught me off guard and made me think a bit. HFS morning show host Maynard Edwards mockingly posted about the Baltimore Ravens’ re-signing of RB Ray Rice earlier this week, jesting about his overall lack of concern about the sport of football. He followed up a question about why he didn’t like football with a particularly interesting answer…

“Our national obsession with that particular sport I believe has gotten a tad bit out of hand. I realize it didn’t happen in the NFL, but when we(‘ve) got people more willing to go along with the (rape) of children in order to preserve a stupid game, we might need to do a national (gut) check on that.”

For the sake of full disclosure, Maynard Edwards is one of the first people that helped me get into the radio industry. He’s also the last person I would have thought I would have ever quoted in a sports column.

It’s an interesting thought process. Perhaps the culture created by rapid Penn State fans that believed “football above all” was more about the culture of the game itself. Perhaps all football fans at all levels (NFL, college, high school) need to ask themselves if their obsession with the game would interfere with their ability to do the right thing and take a stand against a criminal.

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NFL Network’s Kim Jones and CBS’ Bonnie Bernstein each Tweeted Friday news regarding the future of the Joe Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium.

Jones, a Penn State alum, said via Twitter “Am told that Penn State plans to take down the Paterno statue this weekend.” Bernstein said “Source: Penn State Board of Trustees voted on a conference call last night to take down Joe Paterno statue. Will happen this wknd.”

PSU officials however have not confirmed such reports when asked by various outlets. One actual denial of the report came from Daily Collegian (the student newspaper at Penn State) reporter Laura Nichols, who quoted Board member Ryan McCombie as saying “We did no such thing.”

The Paterno statue has been the subject of much debate since last week’s release of the Louis Freeh report on the Jerry Sandusky scandal in State College. Earlier in the a plane flew over Happy Valley with the message “take the statue down or we will.” A handful of Penn State students had camped out near the statue this week to protect it.

Have you ever read the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson?

The story is quite famous. At Perry Hall High School I probably had to read it at least twice. Perhaps even if you haven’t read it you’d be familiar with one of the many pop culture references to the story.

Let me try to jog your memory a bit with an even shorter version of the short story. Every year, members of a village gather together for an event known as “the lottery.” One member of every household in the village grabs a slip of paper hoping to avoid grabbing the marked slip. After it is determined who picked the marked slip, every member of the person’s household re-selects slips. They then determine which household member has selected the marked slip and promptly stone that person to death.

Yep.

In the lottery captured by the short story, the marked slip was initially selected by Bill Hutchinson. His wife Tessie Hutchinson was the unfortunate “winner” of the lottery, bemoaning how the process was “unfair” before her end.

As gruesome as the story sounds, there’s such a level of brilliance to it. Particularly brilliant is how Jackson never really explains how the lottery came about or why the village continues to participate in the exercise. It is understood that some members of the village have discussed disbanding the lottery but the tradition continues nonetheless.

During the entire Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal that has engulfed Penn State University, I’ve thought about the short story over and over again. I thought about it the night PSU students rioted after the firing of head coach Joe Paterno. I thought about in the weeks and months after Paterno’s death. I’ve thought about it a ton during the days since the release of the Freeh Report.

I’ve thought about it because it has remained clear that the cult-like following of Paterno and Penn State football has somehow continued and the culture that enabled such heinous crimes to continue still very clearly exists.

I’ve mostly thought about it because I believe at least some if not many of the Cult of Paterno members have to be otherwise right-thinking individuals. I don’t know why those villagers kept going back to participate in the lottery year after year in Jackson’s story. I don’t know why a group of college-educated people choose to ignore (or at least excuse) fact and simply say they’ll support their former head coach anyway.

Maybe I shouldn’t say I don’t know why. I probably do. The fact is that the Cult of Paterno just doesn’t want to believe truth because they’ve already consumed the Kool-Aid. There is no going back. They’re not just members of the cult, they’ve become the foundation after the coach’s death.

(I want to take this time to point out what most other analysts have also done. This is not a conversation about everyone everywhere that has been connected to Penn State. This is a conversation about a particular group of people. Some Penn State students, alumni and fans have been able to stand up and accept the truth about their heroes and the football program they worship. I’ve had the good fortune of speaking to many of them in the past week. They deserve a great deal of credit. They are not part of the Cult of Paterno.)

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“In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University – Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large.” – Louis Freeh

Joe lied.  Joe lied and continued to live that lie for 14 years.  During that time Jerry Sandusky was allowed full access of Penn State University, its facilities, alumni, donors, fans and children.  Now after reading the complete Freeh investigative report not only was Jerry allowed all of these amenities, when his “problem” was revealed, he was encouraged to be a Positive Action for Youth.

Joe was not alone.  Former University President Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and former University Vice President Gary Schultz all took part in this lie.  For those that were hoping for a silver lining to the disgusting story that has engulfed Penn State for the last eight months today gave no solace.

Since the press conference and the release of the report Thursday morning many different words have been used to try to describe and in some parts defend the actions of Paterno, Spanier, Schultz and Curley.  Misstep, mistake, slipped have been used by zealous Penn State fans coping with the fall of their idol to a former player interviewed on a large cable sports network to the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company who now realizes he misspoke at Paterno’s memorial service.

Truth is none of these words describes what happened.  This was a conscious effort to lie and fabricate a false reality to preserve “Happy Valley”.  This was a lie used to preserve a coach’s legacy, a university and a football program.  This was a lie that ruined the lives of young boys. 

Young vulnerable boys that idolized Penn State football looking for something to believe in, they are the only victims in this story.  These lies enabled Jerry Sandusky and fed his grotesque appetite.  Innocent children who needed help and the leadership at Penn State ignored them.  The only help that they received was lip service behind closed doors that he was not to bring his “guests” into the Penn State facilities. 

“There is an over-emphasis on ‘The Penn State Way’ as an approach to decision-making, a resistance to seeking outside perspectives, and an excessive focus on athletics that can, if not recognized, negatively impact the university’s reputation as a progressive institution.” – Louis Freeh

For 61 years the Penn State Way was defined by Paterno’s “Grand Experiment”.  Honesty, integrity, loyalty, character this was the embodiment and Penn State brand.  In the wake of the report we now know it was more of do as I say not as I do.  The area around State College, PA feels remote and protected from the outside world.  Couple that with the apotheosis stature that Joe Paterno had reached and the blind trust fans and alumni afforded the University provided a breeding ground for corruption.  With great power comes great responsibility and in the darkest moment real character is revealed.  In both instances Penn State failed.

The four men who led this cover up of a monster for 14 years abused that power.  They spit on the character of the gospel they preached. 

“Bad publicity affects a panorama of different events including the brand of Penn State, including the university, including the reputation of coaches, including the ability to do fundraising. It’s got huge implications.” – Louis Freeh

In the report after Curley spoke with Joe and changed his mind on not reporting the 2001 incident Spanier responded, “The only downside for us if the message isn’t “heard” and acted upon than we become vulnerable for not having reported it.  But that can be addressed down the road.  The approach you outline is humane and a reasonable way to proceed.”

Well, here we are “down the road” addressing it.  And because Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz did not report it Sandusky now sits in jail after being found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of sexually assaulting young boy’s.  None of the testimony sounded humane or reasonable.

In the end the old boys club at Penn State lied and Sandusky was allowed to continue to prey and rape young boys because to report it might tarnish Penn State’s reputation, its football program and fundraising.  Never once did anyone think to report it might save the life of another helpless victim.  That truly would have been the reasonable and humane way to proceed.