5 Things That I Am Following This Week

1. Penn State Fallout.  This could be #1-5, but that would be too easy.  Therefore we will break it down even further.
1. The NCAA.  I am starting to hear from some college football insiders that the NCAA might not have any rules against this.  Um, there is this little thing that brought SMU down called Lack of Institutional Control.  This is the ultimate case of Lack of Institutional Control.  If the football program isn't given the Death Penalty, then the Death Penalty will never be used.  If the NCAA can punish Boise State for allowing a recruit to sleep on a damn couch, they can penalize the school for allowing the Football Program to be the final arbitor of punishment to the players on the football team.
2. The Alumni.  If I hear about how Joe Pa was just a human being that made a mistake one more time, I am going to scream.  He was a human being that allowed the raping of young boys by one of his friends and colleagues to go unfettered.  The "Penn State Way", which Paterno became famous for is wrong.  And the alumni know it.  A little bit of the blame for this should be put at the alumni feet.  It is because they loved Paterno that he couldn't be questioned and if he was that powerful alumni would threaten to withhold their money from the University.  
3. The Football Program.  It continues to roll right along.  The pitch is that they weren't a part of this and that the new coach knows what it takes to get to the NFL.  For the program, it doesn't matter about the problems that currently embroil the school.  It is sad to see that those that have taken over don't want to look back and even tell the school administration that we need to shut down the program for a year, remodel the stadium trying to eliminate any residue of this problem and teach those football players that the sport that they love isn't the end all or be all of the Penn State experience.  But the program is more important than the school.  That has been shown each step of the way.
4. The Administration.  The last one has been corrupt.  The Board of Directors doesn't seem to grasp that they messed up majorly.  And the new talking heads for the University don't seem to realize that even though the bodies have been dug up and exposed, that the University has done something majorly wrong.  I hear that they are taking steps to eliminate the chance that this happens again, but nothing about holding others responsible.  Nothing about changing the culture of Penn State.  It is missing the chance to become a true leader of major Universities.
5. The Rest Of Major Football Programs.  We have all heard the stories about how college football coaches sort of have their little fiefdom at their schools.  Some bigger than others.  While this sort of criminal and ethical activity isn't happening at those schools, there are probably illegal activities that are being swept under the rug by those football programs that are renegade programs because the coach knows that they will be fired if the activities are known.  The University doesn't demand all the facts because of the money that football brings in.  So scandals like this will start to erupt more often and will continue until the University and NCAA become watchdogs of their respective programs. 
2. The A.J. Allmendinger Suspension.  According to the A.J. camp, there must have been something in a supplement or some prescription drug that he received.  According to NASCAR, it probably doesn't matter.  A banned substance is a banned substance.  Allmendinger will have to travel the Road to Recovery and lose major money and sponsorship because of it.  He might not even make it back to Sprint Cup Racing just because of the stigma this will cast on him.
3. Louis Freeh.  The man that wrote the scathing report on the Penn State Scandal is going south.  Specifically to New Orleans.  He has been hired by Saints Owner Tom Benson to investigate Bountygate and other scandals that has embroiled the football team.  Here is hoping that he does get to the bottom of everything down there and issues a report like he did with Penn State.  I can only hope that it is shorter so I don't have to spend hours reading the report like I did Thursday.
4. The Boston Red Sox.  If I take one thing away from this Baseball season, it will be that the Red Sox importance to MLB must be high.  Because I am tired of all the speculation and innuendo from talking heads about what the Red Sox are doing and how the dysfunction is causing problems on the field.  Let me ask you this.  If this same situation was happening in Kansas City, would it get half the attention that it is getting now?  I know what my answer is.  I don't care if Terry Francona and the hierarchy of the Red Sox aren't talking still.  I don't care if the GM and Manager don't talk.  Until MLB figures out that to grow the game and get people interested, they need to push more teams besides Boston, New York, Texas, LA, and the huge metropolitan areas.  Until that happens, there are fans like myself that will pay attention but not be emotionally invested in following the game day after day.
5. The Dwight Howard Fiasco.  This has been on Sports Radio and TV day after day.  I am tired of Dwight Howard.  He is starting to remind me of LeBron James.  Overexposed and looking like a fool.  I don't care what the Magic do with him, trade him, sign him to a 30-year extension, cut him.  It does not matter to me.  But his situation needs to be settled so I can listen to some different stories like Pittsburgh and Washington in 1st place of their respective divisions.