Today's Topics: NCAA, Penn State penalties

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Oregon State president and chair of the NCAA Executive Committee Ed Ray: "The message is the presidents and chancellors are in charge.


"The cautionary tale here is, every major college and university needs to do a gut check on athletics' role in the school's culture."


Encouraging words. 


Reality and money say otherwise.


During the Monday morning press conference to announce sanctions against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, NCAA President Mark Emmert and Ed Ray spoke using words that were very admirable.


Ray's suggestive "gut check" probably will resonate with some people -- the people already trying to do the right thing. 


Officials and coaches who went to bed last night with a bend-the-rules approach will continue to do so. When such people feel a threat from outside forces, they still will employ a bunker mentality.


That's because the NCAA has not initiated investigations in the past. The organization's involvement usually follows media reports or other information that arises as a red flag.


The NCAA will need to police athletic programs and universities actively to fulfill Emmert's statement that, "football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people." 


That, or Emmert should hit the circuit with a stand-up routine.


Penn State penalties


The high levels:

• A four-year ban from bowl games
• Football scholarships reduced to 15 annually for four years
• A $60 million fine to be paid by the university
• Football team stripped of all of victories between 1998-2011

The stance here had been a "death penalty" decision for Penn State to create a true break from the past. But such a decision would have harmed harshly many innocent people within the school and community who had nothing to do with the scandal.

The initial take on the sanctions are this: They do the former, but limit the latter.

The football program essentially will be forced to start over. It will be years before the Nittany Lions recover on the field from what has transpired.

Still, football will be played for fans who want to attend games and a local community that depends on those events.

Even for those not affiliated with Penn State, the crimes, the coverup and the results remain hard to comprehend. 

It's all so surreal -- except for the victims.


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Today's Topics: Paterno statue, Titans' Britt

According to news reports, the decision to remove or move the Joe Paterno statue from outside Beaver Stadium will be made by Penn State University President Rodney Erickson.


The easy stance to take is demanding the statue be removed entirely.


The sad stance is to say it should remain.


But what really should happen to the statue is it should be replaced.


No unbiased person would want to arrive at Un-Happy Valley this fall and see a depiction of Paterno with his index finger pointing upward and four Nittany Lions right behind him.


The notion of being "No. 1" is the last thing associated with Penn State these days.


But Paterno's accomplishments at Penn State, good and bad, should not be put in a room or pushed aside. 


Whether or not the statue has a prominent home, Paterno's career and actions will be a constant presence at the school for an undetermined amount of time. And we're talking decades, not months or years.


The statue should be replaced by a more subtle one, perhaps a bust, with a summary of the coach's record, accomplishments and details of the horrific ending.


Just as if Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire or Roger Clemens ever get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame,  their plaques in Cooperstown should explain the complete story.


Latest NFL DUI: TItans WR Britt


Today's NFL Player in Trouble Spotlight focuses on ... Tennessee WR Kenny Britt, who reportedly was arrested for DUI.


Britt and Titans CB Tommie Campbell apparently were with a female soldier and were stopped at a gate heading back to Fort Campbell (Ky.), according to a report from 104.5 The Zone radio in Nashville.


At this rate, Roger Goodell is going to have to hire someone to deal with players who break rules or laws. Otherwise, the NFL commissioner will have little time to do anything else. 

Today's topics: Kidd, Paterno

Jason Kidd arrested for DWI


Knicks guard Jason Kidd ended what reportedly was a wild evening by smashing his Escalade into a telephone pole early Sunday morning.


Since the pole had position, Kidd earned a charge: DWI.


Perhaps teams that sign players to lucrative contracts should request the player hand over his driver's license until the contract expires. (Not that that would stop all of them from driving, but it couldn't hurt.)


DUI/DWI obviously is not restricted to the rich and famous. But unlike the average person, paying a personal driver or getting a limo for the night is like you or me paying to ride the bus or subway.


Many athletes/celebrities constantly told how special they are start to believe it. Some even think they're invincible to the outside world.


Ask Jim Leyritz or Donte Stallworth if they were invincible.


Joe Paterno's family order own review of Freeh report


Note to the Paterno family: Let it go.


Anything associated with the family will be looked upon, at best, with skepticism. At worst, as a desperate attempt to restore JoePa's image.


Unfortunately for them, there's nothing to erase the coach's role in the Sandusky story.


Joe Paterno, like all of us, should not be defined by one moment/incident in his life. He was a great coach who did many great things throughout his life.


But good deeds don't earn us Mulligans -- especially in a storyline that ruined the lives of victims, scarred a great university and further proved that few things in life are what they seem to be.