Morals forgotten in sports

Last week, I brought you a plea to not fear all teachers and school officials after several incidents, most notably the Penn State sex abuse scandal.  But now, I'm concerned about how much power sports have over schools.

For a long time, the archetype of school administrators pressuring individual teachers into changing grades of athletes to make sure the star players win the school the state championship has created a stigma for almost all athletic programs, whether or not such allegations are true.

This has been the subject of various television shows: "Saved by the Bell," "King of the Hill," and even "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," to name a few.

In the last case of the "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" episode "Go Fish," the swim coach genetically tampers with the swim team members via steroids, resulting in their transformation into creatures from the Black Lagoon.

But, unfortunately, this stigma didn't just come out of nowhere.  It is a sad fact that athletics do have a lot of power over administrators simply because that is the aspect of schools in which the vast majority of the public has invested itself.

Let's take a look at the Penn State scandal, a case that revolves around the former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who allegedly abused eight boys he met via his charity.

The NPR article, "Penn State Abuse Scandal: a Guide and Timeline," states several Penn State officials are being charged with failing to report suspected child abuse.  These reports came from two individuals. Mike McQueary, who was a graduate-assistant in 2002 when he says he witnessed an incident and reported the situation to former head coach Joe Paterno.  Jim Calhoun, a former janitor, also reported issues in 2000 to his supervisor.

However, allegations that this was happening occurred prior to these two incidents. Ray Gricar, a former Centre County district attorney, chose not to pursue charges when rumors of these activities surfaced in 1998, despite having two victims who reported that Sandusky hugged them while they had been showering in a locker room.

It wasn't until 2002 when McCreary came forward that the university did anything, simply taking away Sandusky's keys to the locker room and banning him from bringing children onto the campus.

It wasn't until 2010 that McCreary finally testified before a grand jury that was investigating the allegations that surfaced in 2009.  This jury calls the behavior "inappropriate" not "sexual" in 2011, but after the case reaches public notoriety, we have reached the current status of the scandal.

But why would these people not report such behavior and abuse of children? It's simple—money.

A December 2010 Huffington Post article, "The Most Profitable College Football Teams," states Penn State reported a total revenue of $70.2 million and a total profit of $50.4 million in the 2009-2010 school year. And as we know, money is very powerful and the root of all evil.

It is quite clear that the preservation of the profitable and prestigious football program outweighed the health and safety of kids.

Now, don't take me for a sports-hating nerd, but the truth, the hard truth, is that athletic programs can throw this much weight around simply because they create so much power in the community, both through fans and the dollars they pay for tickets and merchandise.

The only way we, as a nation, can reverse this thinking is to take stock of what we empower through these allegiances.  Are we more aligned with football or children's health? We are willing to let sports outweigh our morals to the point that winning one game jeopardizes the safety and futures of so many.