I am, currently, a Penn State student and I am, and will be, spending my next few years in the cheerful land of Happy Valley.
So those of you who read this article and say; "Man, he has no idea what it's like to be a Penn Stater. He just doesn't understand" - would be completely wrong.
I know what it's like to be a "Penn Stater", I've spent the better part of the past 2 years of my life in State College and in that time I've taken in what Penn State has to offer. I've seen the way things are up here. I've seen the passion so many alumni are proud of when speaking of their alma-mater.
At times, I've found myself standing along side them, whether it be shouting "WE ARE" at the top of my lungs in an effort to rally my beloved Nittany Lions back to life on the football field or singing the alma-mater with my father at the end of a victorious hockey game, I've seen and felt what it's like to be apart things here.
It is, at times, is awe inspiring.
But then again,
It's also gut wrenching.
The difference between many of my fellow students and I is that I did not come to Penn State a Penn State fan.
Quite the contrary.
I came to this university hating it, with every inch of my being.
I hated everything thing PSU stood for. I hated the mob mentality of the students. I hated how the university tolerated their underage students acting like drunken fools every weekend a football game was on. And, above all, I HATED Penn State football.
More specifically, I hated Joe Paterno (as the two are one in the same).
You see, I respected Paterno as a coach. To this day I think he is the greatest college football to ever live. But the man had too much power, too much influence. No one man should have that kind of influence on a university - especially not a football coach. Joe Paterno was, and to a certain extent, still is Penn State. He embodied everything Penn State stood (stands) for.
Mainly, football above all else.
This includes the safety and well being of children.
As I'm writing this, I can hear the sounds of the mob, and yes I do mean mob, drumming up football fight songs and yelling WE ARE at the top of their lungs. This is, of course, due to the fact that today the NCAA lifted the postseason game (or bowl game) ban on Penn State football.
As of today, Penn State can play in a bowl game or the newly instituted football playoffs. The full ban will be lifted next year when Penn State's football scholarship's are completely restored.
Funny how we seem to forget the events that transpired only two years ago.
Two years.
That's it.
That's how long it took for Penn State and the NCAA to regain some illusion of a conscience. Some illusion of morality. Some illusion that Penn State had paid it's dues for the horrible acts it had allowed to happen under its roof two years ago.
Nothing has changed up here. Nothing. Don't let the illusion fool you. Don't let it consume you just like it has so many, if not all of, my Penn State classmates. Don't buy into the notion that Penn State has somehow paid it's debt to society (or the NCAA for that matter) in just two years. It's fault. In fact it's not just false - it's bullshit.
What happened at Penn State two years ago was the worst failure of an academic institution in the history of college sports. Neigh, in the history of collegiate existence. To this day, I still feel ashamed that I attend the institution that allowed such treachery to happen right under it's noses.
But apparently - no one else does.
Not my classmates
Not my teachers
Not the NCAA
And this all goes back to what it truly means to be a Penn Stater. What it truly means to dawn the blue and white.
It means that you cherish football - a simple, nonsensical game - above all else.
And it's pathetic.
Penn State should not have had it's bowl game privileges reinstated today.
Penn State should not even have a football program left for it to reinstate privileges to anyway.
I stick by my belief that the death penalty was the only proper punishment for the program that allowed what happened to those boys to happen. And even then, that wasn't enough. Nothing would be enough. Nothing could or can ever be enough penance for this institution...nothing can ever be enough for the innocence it help destroy.
Penn State deserved every sanction it got.
It deserved that and more. Much more.
But instead it got off with a slap on the wrist.
A timeout.
And that makes me sick.
And it should make you sick too.
But hey, at least we get to play in bowl games again right. That's all that really matters.
