The NCAA is a worthless, corrupt organization: After hammering Penn State for the same infractions, Michigan State cleared of wrongdoing despite paying out $425 million to 333 sexual abuse survivors

… will probably erect a statue to Urban Meyer 

Something is wrong with this story. A July article on the Deadspin website said that “Michigan State will pay a total of $425 million to the 333 survivors who have already come forward, with an additional $75 million set aside for any survivors who are not yet known …” This is the result of decades of abuse by former Dr. Larry Nasser, who has been convicted of a variety of sexual abuse crimes and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

In January, the Detroit Free Press newspaper reported that after investigation by ESPN’s Outside the Lines reporters and one by the paper itself, Michigan State has covered up not just the Nasser case, but also sexual abuse by athletes in both the men’s basketball and football programs.

“What isn't murky is that school officials left out damning evidence in the 2014 Title IX report regarding Larry Nassar, the doctor who was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison earlier this week for sexually abusing young women and little girls, among other things. That's shameful. No, it's despicable, and whatever else you think about all the news Friday, here was point-blank evidence of a cover-up. Which makes it difficult to know what to trust at MSU these days.” In short, MSU violated federal regulations in this case, but the horrible part of this is that so many young women and girls were violated.

That story is from January, and it had this headline in the online version: “Michigan State and the dark cloud that moved over it on Friday.”

Six months later, that cloud was cleared by the gutless NCAA.

What is incongruous for me is this headline from the Free Press from last week: “NCAA clears Michigan State after inquiry into Larry Nassar, football and basketball.”

That is outrageous!

For context, Penn State sanctions

Jerry Sandusky was a former defensive coordinator for Penn State, designing two defensive schemes that helped win two national championships in more than two decades at the school. He founded a charity called the Second Mile for disadvantaged youth, and from there, he groomed young boys with gifts and kindness before abusing them.

Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child abuse in June 2012 and is presently serving what amounts to a life sentence in state prison.

After a report commissioned by Penn State, the NCAA levied these sanctions: The NCAA fined the school $60 million, imposed a four-year postseason ban on Penn State football, significantly reduced the number of scholarship players the team can field over the next four years, placed the program on probation for five years and enabled any current or incoming player to transfer and play immediately without restriction.” the Washington Post reported in July 2012. It also removed wins from the Penn State record book, something that was changed later.

As an alumnus of Penn State, I was appalled and thoroughly embarrassed by the situation. However, except for the elimination of wins, I accepted the punishment. As a whole, the school eliminated them and made the programs legal within guidelines of the federal government.

Subsequently, the president of the university was convicted of covering up the child abuse, along with guilty pleas by the athletic director and a vice-president who was involved in the coverup. They served a short sentence in jail.

What is almost a Catch-22 situation is that Penn State was convicted based on a report that the school had commissioned itself, led by former FBI director Louis Freeh. The NCAA did not conduct any investigation, just relied on that report.

So, in essence, Penn State convicted itself. Without it, the NCAA would not have been able to levy such sanctions.

While I accepted the sanctions but rooted for the team to recover from them, which it has done, I am outraged at the reaction of the NCAA to the horrific abuse of young gymnasts by Nassar — and the concomitant coverup of sexual abuse in the men’s athletics programs.

Compare the numbers

Nasser was a creep, whether he was working for USA Gymnastics or Michigan State. A total of $433 million to 333 survivors. Penn State discovered that it had at least 33 victims of Sandusky and has paid out more than $100 million in the case.

That shows the inconsistency of the NCAA in the Michigan State case. The Free Press reported last week that NCAA Vice President of Enforcement Jonathan F. Duncan wrote to Michigan State that the administrative body “ ‘has not substantiated violations of NCAA legislation’ in either the Nassar situation or the football/basketball allegations.”

So, how can you pay out more than $400 million and yet violate no NCAA rules? Or are these different rules for the schools that are actually located in the Midwest instead of those located in the East/Mid-Atlantic?

Conclusion

Now, Ohio State is conducting its own investigation into a myriad of scandals including abuse of at least 65 athletes in various sports by the late Dr. Richard Strauss, a physician for the athletic teams for about 20 years in Columbus.

That does not include abuse by a swimming coach or the hiring of a domestic abuser as an assistant football coach. After the NCAA investigates Ohio State, it will probably recommend that a statue of Urban Meyer be erected to show what a great guy he is.

They completely ignored the programs of Tom Izzo, the highly successful basketball coach at Michigan State, and Mark Dantonio, the popular but not nearly as successful football coach.

After all, Meyer has a helluva lot better record on the field than either of these guys. And for the NCAA, that’s all that matters.