The Penn State Scandal From a Penn State Student: Effect On the University

There is no doubt the Penn State scandal is a black eye on the university's image and reputation, however all black eyes eventually heal. The alleged actions of Jerry Sandusky are despicable,but the University as a whole is not defined by the actions of one man. Penn State is a proud institution made up of many great people and organizations. Penn State is more than football and definitely more than one man. On the other hand, the mass media, in particular ESPN, has portrayed Penn State as an institution made up of rioting child rapist supporters. In the weeks after the scandal ESPN vilified everything that Penn State did was bad, even going as far as Rick Reilly saying the moment of silence and prayer before the Nebraska game was wrong. Despite what the mass media is saying, Penn State is still and always will be a proud institution.

In my previous post I discussed the "grand experiment" and Penn State's long history of having one of the most honorable football programs in the country. However, football is not the only thing that brings Penn State honor and glory:

• In 2011 THON raised $9,563,016.09 for childhood cancer research. THON 2012 looks to top this total from last year and is scheduled for February 17-19, 2012. THON is the largest student philanthropy in the world.
• A lab at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center found a potential cure for cancer.
• Penn State is a top notch academic institution offering more than 160 majors and is commonly referred to as a "Public Ivy".
• The Wall Street Journal ranked Penn State #1 among corporate recruiters.
•  Penn State is one of the top Meteorology schools in the world. (Its my major and this is the primary reason I attend this great university.)
• Penn State has over 800 student organizations all of which achieve excellence in their own way.
• All of our athletic programs, in total Penn State has 29 athletic  programs. Penn State has won a total of 68 National Championships and are defending champions in fencing, wrestling, and women's volleyball.
• The proud origin of the WE ARE... PENN STATE chant.
• The student body of Penn State is truly a thing to behold and the scandal united the student body even more. On football Saturday's, over 100,000 proud Penn State students and alumni gather together in Beaver Stadium to proudly cheer on the football team. Listening to 100,000 people belt out the WE ARE... PENN STATE chant is truly a thing. During the average game a full stadium chant happens once or twice. During the Nebraska game, right after the scandal broke, I lost count of how many there were. The night before the game the student body united 10,000 strong on the lawn of Old Main in a candlelight vigil and sang the Alma Mater proudly during the vigil. 

These are only some of the many things that make Penn State a truly great institution. An institution this great cannot be brought down by the despicable alleged actions of one man. WE ARE PENN STATE and we will recover from this. 

The Penn State Scandal From a Penn State Student: Joe Paterno's innocence

Scapegoat: a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur 
one that bears the blame for others
one that is the object of irrational hostility (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
Example: Joe Paterno


There are only two division I schools that have won a national championship and have never committed an NCAA violation, Penn State and BYU. Coming into this season, The Penn State football program was clean as could be. Last season Joe Paterno earned his 400th career win. Joe Paterno has been at Penn State since 1950, and the head coach since 1966. Paterno established what became known as "the grand experiment", the perfect combination of football, academics, and success with honor. The grand experiment was tremendously successful; Penn State graduates 80% of its players (#1 FBS school in the nation), won two national championships, went undefeated five times, all while never committing an NCAA violation. The grand experiment was a great success and provided a model that all schools should follow. Penn State had the most honorable football program in the Nation until one fateful day in November 2011.


One week after Paterno became the winning-est coach in NCAA D-I football history with his 409th career win, I awoke to a text message from my brother that read "your school's athletic program is in shambles". Confused, I replied "Our women's volleyball and men's wrestling teams are defending national champions, our football coach just broke the wins record, and out team has off this week how are we in shambles?" I was expecting to hear that one of our teams lost his Alma Mater, The University of Delaware. Instead he just replied "go to any sports website." I went to ESPN.com and there it was, the story that would rock Penn State to the core "Penn State involved in sex scandal."


Soon after, I read the Grand Jury Report. It was one of the most vile, disgusting things I have ever read. The alleged acts of Sandusky are some of the most despicable acts a man can do, second only to murder. The question everyone wanted answered was who knew what and when did they know it. Everyone began to focus on "Victim 2" in the GJR. Mike Mcqueary witnessed something take place between Sandusky and a young boy in a shower in the locker room. What this act was is unknown by the masses and Mcqueary has changed his story many times in these past few weeks, he also had made claims of trying to stop it and calling the police, both of which have been proven false. The GJR goes on to say that he Mcqueary told his father later that night and told Paterno the next day. The GJR then says that Paterno proceeded it to report it to Tim Curley, the athletic director, and Gary Schultz, the VP and head of campus police. Mcqueary was then called into a meeting with Curley and Schultz, Paterno was not present for this meeting. In the GJR, this is where the paper trail ends. 


The rumor that has been making the rounds the last couple of weeks is that shortly after this Paterno went to Schultz to ask what happened with Sandusky. Paterno was told that a full investigation was under way. A few months later he is rumored to have followed up again only to be told that charges were not going to be pursued. Paterno was reportedly outraged and wanted to ban Sandusky from campus but was told he did not have that authority so instead he banned from football facilities, which he had the authority to do. This is just a rumor and whether or not it is true still remains to be seen, one piece of evidence supporting it is that around this time, Sandusky was banned from football facilities. If this rumor is true Paterno's name is undoubtedly clear. The reason something like this would not appear in the GJR is that it is unrelated to the indictments of Sandusky, Schultz, and Curley. However, even if this rumor turns out to be false Joe Paterno was still wrongly fired.


The Penn State Board of Trustees made the descion to fire Paterno with very little information, and later admitted it was due to intense media pressure. The media, in particular ESPN made Paterno the focus of all their attention rather than the actual heinous acts of Sandusky. ESPN kept saying that Paterno "fulfilled his legal duty but failed his moral duty." According to ESPN, moral duty would presumably mean taking matters into his own hands. What is known from the GJR is that Paterno reported to the head of the campus police. Contrary to popular belief, Penn State police have real guns, real badges and have the same authority as any other police department; they posses the ability to make arrests and carry out investigations. Paterno fulfilled  his duty by delivering the information that he received from Mcqueary (what that information was, is still not known) to Gary Schultz, the head of the campus police department. How this is not fulfilling his moral responsibility, is beyond me. Joe Paterno should not take the blame for the failure of his superiors. It is not Joe Paterno's responsibility to bring in criminals himself, it is his responsibility to report it to the proper authority, which he did. Joe Paterno was made a scapegoat by the board of trustees as an attempt to appease the mass media frenzy.

Ryan Braun tests positive: PEDs and Baseball

Today it came out that Ryan Braun tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. This puts him on a list that baseball players do not want to be on. This positive test comes as baseball seemed to enter the "post steroid era". Most people thought that steroids were finally out of the game after the mass rise in offense and home runs that lasted nearly 15 seasons. Braun was on of the top players in the game and was named the 2011 NL MVP.  But now, just like McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Rodriguez (Alex and Ivan), Giambi, Clemons, Palmeiro, Ortiz, and Ramirez, Braun's career will be forever tainted.

I have a very strong opinion when it comes to steroids in baseball, they have no place in the game, the record books, or in the hall of fame. Taking steroids or other PEDs is cheating and anyone who cheats in order to prosper should not be honored by being voted into the hall of fame or have a record stand. Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs naturally and cleanly. Barry Bonds took PEDs, cheated, and hit 762. That record along with his single season and Mark McGwires season totals should be discredited. Hank Aaron and Roger Maris should still be the rightful home run kings. Likewise, Roger Clemons' strikeout record should also be discredited and bestowed back to it's rightful owner, Steve Carlton. Most importantly, any player who ever took steroids as a means to become a better player and therefore cheated should never be allowed in the hall of fame. There is no room for cheaters in Cooperstown.

One argument people often make is that steroids helped revitalize baseball after the strike. This argument is just flat out false. Quick! Think of the best baseball moment after the strike and before 1999, if you said anything other than Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig's games played streak record, you need to reeducate yourself on the game of baseball. The race to break Maris' record between Sosa and McGwire, while entertaining, has no place among baseball's best moments. Even if it later it did not come out that both  were on steroids, it still would not be anywhere near my top baseball moments. Also baseball, America's pastime, was able to recover from the strike just because it is baseball. American people love baseball and it will always be highly popular. I am sure nobody doubted the NFL or NBA would not have recovered from their own respective lockouts this season. People quickly forgave the players and MLB because of their love for the game. If there was one true moment that brought baseball back into American hearts, it was not Sosa vs. McGwire in 1998 in was Ripken breaking Gehrig's record back in 1995, the year after the strike.

Sell The Team

This was a crazy week at the MLB winter meetings. Two of the off season’s biggest free agents signed this week. Albert Pujols signed a ten year mega deal worth $250 million with the Angels and Jose Reyes, much to the dismay of Mets fans signed a six year $106 million contract with the Miami Marlins. Jose Reyes had been a fan favorite of Mets fans for years. During the season, rumors were floating around that he might be traded, Mets fans showed their support for Reyes, not wanting him to be traded. There were even shirts made up that said, “Don’t trade Reyes.” Mets fans got their wish this time; Jose was not traded and remained in Queens for the rest of the 2011 season. In his final at bat in a Mets uniform, he was greeted by a standing ovation from the fans. He proceeded to drop a beautiful bunt right down the third base line for a hit. Terry Collins pulled Reyes out of the game after this. Mets fans were confused, at first a chorus of boos came down from the stands because fans wanted to see Reyes play the whole game. Mets fans soon realized it could be his last at bat in a Mets uniform and once again gave him a standing ovation. Jose Reyes ended the season with a .337 batting average and was crowned the NL batting champion.

Mets fans made it clear to the Mets ownership that Jose Reyes was a truly special player, not just because of his on field talent but also his personality. When Reyes came up back in 2003, he quickly became a fan favorite. Over the next few seasons he became one of those special players that define a team. In 2006 he helped bring the Mets back to the playoffs for te first time since 2000. By 2011 he was one of the most popular players on the team along with David Wright. Mets fans made it apparent that they did not want to part ways with Jose. Going into the offseason, Mets ownership seemed to realize to this and said that re-signing Reyes was their top priority in the offseason.

The Miami Marlins with their new name, logo, uniforms, and wealth were the first to make an offer. The Mets said they wanted to gauge the market before making an offer. A few weeks went by and no other offer was made to the all-star shortstop. The Marlins then inked Heath Bell to a 3 year $27 million contract. The Marlins showed the baseball world they had money and were willing to spend it. On Sunday, December 4th in became apparent that the Marlins were close to signing Reyes the rumored amount was 6 years $106 million. The Mets still remained silent. A few hours later, it became official Jose Reyes was a Miami Marlin, The Mets had lost the bidding war on the coveted free agent, or so it seemed.

The assumption at first was the Mets made an offer to Reyes which he deemed was too low compared to what the marlins gave him. It soon came out that this assumption was false. The Mets had never even made Reyes an offer. They did not even try. At the beginning of the offseason Mets told the public that resigning Reyes was the top priority, yet they did not even try. Mets fans were lied to. 6 years $106 million is overpaying for someone who is injury prone such as Reyes, in a few years he will not be the same player he is today. The Mets however still should have made an offer in the range of 5 years $90 million. Maybe Jose might have taken a hometown discount. It seemed as if he wanted to stay and in an interview with SNY’s Kevin Burckhardt, he said “They give me nothing.” Had Reyes just taken the offer with more money from the marlins versus the meager offer from the Mets It could just be tacked up to greed. But the Mets never made him an offer. They did not come in second in the race; they did not even show up to race.

Over the past few years, ever since Aaron Heilman gave up the home run to Yadier Molina, the Mets situation has gotten worse. The Mets have suffered two collapses, countless injuries, horrible contracts, a firing of the GM, firing of two managers, and a Ponzi scheme. The team and its situation has gotten worse not better. Real change must start from the top, it is time for the Wilpons to sell the team. The fans need to send a powerful message to the Wilpons, that they are clearly unfit to own a baseball team. If you want, The 7 Line released new “Sell The Team” shirts go out and get one wear it to Citi Field and chant for them to sell the team.

 Link to the Sell The Team Shirt: http://the7line.bigcartel.com/product/sell-the-team

Welcome to My Blog!

Hello, I am Brian Mastro. I am a freshman studying meteorology at Penn State University originally from Brooklyn, New York. I love the Mets, US Soccer, Penn State, sports in general, New York City, the subway, and weather. I am a very passionate sports fan and most of blog posts will be about one of my favorite teams, or some interesting  weather event. I hope you enjoy my blog!