Penn State: Yellow Journalism and Deep Pockets

With all the "yellow journalism" and spins which have been reported regarding the Penn State sex scandal, it clearly has been evident that there is a "deep pockets" mentality and agenda behind the madness...

Mr. Sandusky thus far has only admitted to "showering" and "snapping a towel" with underage boys, and I guess if this was a crime, then a good many parents of young children just might be guilty of child abuse or "crimes against children."

But maybe that is the point, or at least convincing the public that your local teacher, high school coach or priest just may be a sexual predator if he so much as "touches" your child, or engages in horseplay and showers with him.

There has been a widely publicized grand jury indictment circulating on the net.

Without so much as a date stamp on it.

This story has been in the news now for over three weeks, without an end in sight.

The Penn State Athletic Department and Administration has been purged of any and all who just might have had knowledge of a hearsay accusation made by one of the coaches, who was retained until just prior to their game against Nebraska, and after a head coach had been summarily dismissed.

Much has been reported about Joe Paterno's pension and retirement fund, and just how much he will stand to continue to earn even after his dismissal, and that his house was deeded to his wife several months ago, and that he has been diagnosed with cancer...

Although not a Pennsylvanian except by birth and a short couple years living in the East Coast mostly in Jersey thereafter, I may be disgusted by the amount of the pension and retirement plan for a public employee if even that is true, attempting to hijack the pension of an 84 year old man diagnosed with cancer at this point is even more despicable.

With all the unidentified "victims" now coming out of the woodwork, and the progression of this story although the accused has only been indicted, and not found guilty of any criminal charges, with civil suits already being initiated by the "victims" families, sounds to me like we have one of those "deep pockets" cases going on here...slinging enough mud around far and wide hoping that at least some of it will eventually stick for the prosecution of these civil cases.

The "deep pockets" civil lawyer style justice.

And the "deep pockets" which will be affected definitely will be those of the Pennsylvania taxpayers, and all American taxpayers in the end, since Penn State, it has been reported, receives one of the largest government grants of any university in the country.

THIS is American justice? Flinging mud everywhere when the criminal case has yet to be determined, and in this country the accused is SUPPOSE TO BE innocent until proven guilty by a jury of his peers, and not public pressure due to a media now that also has been sensationalized beyond measure?

I think not.

Super Bowl Sunday: And The Saints Go Marching In

As a boomer who remembers the first SuperBowl back in the '60s and the Steelers/Cowboys/Jets/Colts/Redskins eras, it has been interesting also "politically" to see just how this one game has changed from its inception to last Sunday's SuperBowl and all the hoopla leading up to it.

Especially those commercial breaks, and the half time entertainment.

What started out simply as a game between two rival football groups and franchises, the AFC and the NFC, has evolved into a yearly event that is choreographed now almost a year in advance insofar as the politics that go in insofar as even the selection of a venue for this all important game.

This year, of course, the Saints finally made it to "the Bowl," and the Who Dats, for the first time in 43 years, came back with the trophy to a city still reeling from the devastation of Katrina almost five years ago and in which the amount of citizens and residents has dwindled, while the amount of long and short term visitors and foreigners has increased in leaps and bounds.

Many native born and long term residents have "moved on," to other states and will not be returning. Once was enough for them, and since then another, Gustav, even occurred which then swelled the number of visitors to the City of Baton Rouge which already was bursting at the seams with the overflow from those also former New Orleans residents, some of whom now have suffered two devastating losses of homes or property in less than five years.

The Saints needed this win like no other. And the people of New Orleans are very loyal and grateful fans of "them Blessed Boys."

I still find it interesting that the Superbowl in this country, one in which the majority of Americans still claim to have a belief in God, is played on a Sunday to begin with, and why a Sunday was selected especially when college bowl games and such are over by New Year's week. This also puts a wrench in some of those travel plans in order to be back at work then on Monday after all that celebratin', especially now that it is held on Sunday nights and not during the day.

And, of course, now the "season" has been extended another week from the original which were held the last Sunday in January for many years.

The SuperDome, of course, used to be the the premiere venue for the SuperBowl after it was built for many of those games.

It, of course, suffered a great deal of damage after Katrina, but is back and the home field once again for the Saints.

Its just too bad that the game couldn't have been played in New Orleans this year, instead of Miami.

I would think that in order to acknowledge the true fans and contributors to the NFL franchises and those teams who buy all those trinkets and pay those now outrageous sums for season and individual tickets, that a game such as this one should be played on one of the two "finalists" home fields, wouldn't you?

I mean, the influx of tourism would help pay back some of those fans for their investment in those teams through all those seasons and all those games.

I know it might complicate those travel arrangements for some of those league officials and others who need to send advance teams to those locations in order to set up the camera crews and backdrops for some of the commentators and advertisers, but is that who is really important in the end, or the people that have stood in line and bought their tickets for so many years?

Perhaps in the future the selection of a home field for the game could be determined either by the regular season records of both, or on a coin toss.

Those that need to book their travel arrangements months in advance, well there is always local affiliates that could help with some of those arrangements by putting up a few of you executives and high end advertisers in their homes and thus maybe eventually reducing the price of some of those tickets in the process, or the price of your products.

I mean, this is a time of economic recovery in America, is it not, with a disappearing middle class which is being literally destroyed, for all intents and purposes.

It was also interesting to note that the half-time show was outsourced to a 60's era British rocker group, The Who.

Now I am a Who fan as one who did grow up in that era, but for such a national event such as the American SuperBowl, don't you think we could next year "in source" rather than "out source" the half time entertainment, with the exception perhaps of a rerun of Janet Jackson's performance?

I mean were Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Simon and/or Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane (Starship), or the remaining members of the Grateful Dead or Paul Revere and the Raiders all booked up, since it would appear they also could use the gig and may also be some of those in the disappearing middle class?

Is the half time entertainment also the subject of some of those free trade agreements, or are U.S. rock bands also headlining the halftime shows at the National Soccer/Football Championships in Europe and/or Canada?

Isn't it time you also contributed your part to the American Economic Recovery and Relief Effort, Commissioner?