# Penn State Sanctions - why did they accept without an appeal? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 26, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417 "2012-07-26T04:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/21 "2012-08-08T15:05:20Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Wouldn’t the fact that they’ve been trying to fire him for over two decades but couldn’t actually prove he was all-powerful? No, not really. It’s not just Paterno, either. Bobby Bowden was in the same position at Florida State. Top school officials KNEW these guys were over the hill and wanted them gone… they just wanted the coaches to leave on their own. Nobody wanted Paterno or Bowden to stay around, but nobody wanted to be remembered as the Judas who fired the man who’d put the school’s football program on the map. Paterno and Bowden had ego enough to refuse to retire- their supposed bosses just didn’t have the cojones to exercise the power they had. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/22 "2012-08-08T15:19:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What makes all this appeal stuff funny is that the NCAA has already pointed out there is no appeals process. The Paternos and trustees just think they have a lot of public support or cachet that they plainly do not have following this scandal. Excuse me? There is an entire section of the NCAA Bylaws devoted to appealing penalties. For example: > [@](#): > > **19.6.2 Appeal of Major Violations.** A member shall have the right to give written notice of appeal of the committee’s findings of major violations (subject to Bylaw 32.10.2), the penalty, or both to the Infractions Appeals > Committee per Bylaw 19.2. However, some of these “appeals” are in Federal court, as opposed to appealing to the NCAA, which claims that Penn State waived its right to appeal in exchange for not having its football program shut down for four years. Right now, the precedent is that the NCAA has the right to make, and enforce, penalties for its member schools, according to [NCAA v. Tarkanian](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=488&invol=179) the NCAA forced UNLV to suspend Jerry Tarkanian, who sued, claiming that a forced suspension violated his right to due process). ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/23 "2012-08-08T15:25:45Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I’m confused why you bring this up now; RaftPeople mentioned it on the 25th. Are you really confused? Really? Because that’s a shame. No one should be bothered by something so trivial. Maybe you can take a stab and figure out what happened… 1). I forgot that RaftPeople mentioned it. 2). Since the thread was pretty much dead and I just wanted to add it for completeness, I added it ( forgetting, of course that RaftPeople mentioned it.) 3) to annoy and confuse you, j666. Here’s a clue. Since 1 and 2 are the same (2 is just a more blown out version of 1), try 2. But 1 would also be considered accurate. If I knew I would have confused you, I would have posted it just for fun, but my time is limited, and I don’t know you. Therefore the idea I did this on purpose just to bother you can be dropped. :dubious: :sheesh: I hope the rest of your day goes well, now that I’ve cleared up this deep mystery for you. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/24 "2012-08-08T16:29:44Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Excuse me? There is an entire section of the NCAA Bylaws devoted to appealing penalties. The Paternos and players are not NCAA members. Member = member institution. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/25 "2012-08-08T18:36:05Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > **SFP** > > Think about the kid in Scranton, or Harrisburg, or York. Of relatively limited means. Mom and Dad are going to make the trip to Happy Valley for home games a lot easier than they would in Tuscaloosa, Ann Arbor or Austin. > > A co-worker’s son was a player at Mizzou, and he and his wife drove to (almost) all the home and road games. He was pretty worthless at work after Road games to Lincoln, Lubbock, Austin and Ames I agree and it’s a good point. But what would you say a reasonable car ride would be for the parents… 5-6 hours? I don’t know where you live but I’m guessing that even if you lived in the western part of PA, driving to Mizzou would exceed that 5-6 hour limit. But for people in the western part of the state, Ohio State isn’t far at all, and either is West Virginia (and of course Pitt). I haven’t done the exercise, but I’ll wager that there is a decent program within a 6 hour drive of any spot in PA. And if he’s good, going to a school out of the target zone like Mizzou would only be a hardship for a few weeks in the fall. (not including the away games, which would kill anyone driving). You have to scratch the away games, since the nearest big 10 school to PSU is OSU. when you start looking at traveling to Iowa or Wisconsin for away games, forget it. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/26 "2012-08-08T18:50:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The Paternos and players are not NCAA members. Member = member institution. Yes, but the OP said, “There is no appeals process.” Also, if Paterno was involved in a hearing concerning the incident, he would have been allowed to make a “personal” appeal to the NCAA if he was still alive (Bylaw 19.6.3). Presumably, his family feels that, since he is dead, it can make the appeal on his behalf for some reason. Students, on the other hand, cannot appeal to the NCAA directly. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/27 "2012-08-08T21:32:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What makes all this appeal stuff funny is that the NCAA has already pointed out there is no appeals process. The Paternos and trustees just think they have a lot of public support or cachet that they plainly do not have following this scandal. What I find interesting is that no matter what comes from the appeal, according to the NCAA’s original announcement, they can go back and dish out more penalties if warranted. I’d say that if they wanted to go back and slap the 4 year suspension on the program, that would be an ironic turn of events for the appeals process. I don’t understand things coming from “the Paterno family”. They have no legal grounds to stand on, even if they are season ticket holders. It’s just so strange that these people have taken the approach of staying in the news instead of disappearing for a while. The Paterno name doesn’t hold much clout anymore. And outside of state college, it holds none. I could be wrong, but what I’ve heard the appeals are focusing on is the ability of one man from PSU accepting the sanctions served by the NCAA. Ok, big deal. Lets say they win that, and the NCAA Meets with the entire board. The results will be the same… Accept these sanctions or the 4 year death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/28 "2012-08-08T23:12:31Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Are you really confused? Really? Because that’s a shame. No one should be bothered by something so trivial. Maybe you can take a stab and figure out what happened… > > 1). I forgot that RaftPeople mentioned it. > 2). Since the thread was pretty much dead and I just wanted to add it for completeness, I added it ( forgetting, of course that RaftPeople mentioned it.) > 3) to annoy and confuse you, j666. > > Here’s a clue. Since 1 and 2 are the same (2 is just a more blown out version of 1), try 2. But 1 would also be considered accurate. > > If I knew I would have confused you, I would have posted it just for fun, but my time is limited, and I don’t know you. Therefore the idea I did this on purpose just to bother you can be dropped. :dubious: :sheesh: > > I hope the rest of your day goes well, now that I’ve cleared up this deep mystery for you. Right … You finally come up with an incredibly insightful analysis of an issue everyone else had understood and dismissed the day they heard the ruling. Good job! Get the stick. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/29 "2012-08-09T02:04:41Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Right … > > You finally come up with an incredibly insightful analysis of an issue everyone else had understood and dismissed the day they heard the ruling. Good job! > > Get the stick. And you haven’t added one thing to this thread except pointing out my faux pas. If this is what you have to contribute to the topic, why bother contributing at all? Don’t bother answering. It won’t be worth reading. (I’ve just guaranteed a reply) ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417/30 "2012-08-09T02:05:56Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > And you haven’t added one thing to this thread except pointing out my faux pas. If this is what you have to contribute to the topic, why bother contributing at all? > > Don’t bother answering. It won’t be worth reading. > > (I’ve just guaranteed a reply) .. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-state-sanctions-why-did-they-accept-without-an-appeal/629417.md?page=1)