Thursday, July 26, 2012

Observations from the Window 7.26

It has been a draining couple of days since the NCAA announced its draconian punishment of Penn State. Draconian may not be the right word but I always liked the sound of it and never really had a chance to use it before. I didn't check so don't hold me to that statement if it turns out I did use it.  I have stressed, argued, discussed, texted, and emailed on the subject all together too much since Monday.

More than one person has reminded me I have some way more important and exciting things coming up over the next few months. Including a trip I have been dreaming about my whole life. So why did I let it get to me the way it did? Even Ash asked me that question. There are probably dozens of answers I could give but most don't hold up well. I saw a tweet from a current Penn State football player in which he said he wouldn't be transferring anywhere. He said that the team and school were like a family to him and you don't desert your family.

In a couple weeks I'll be thirty years old. Of those thirty years I have spent ten in State College. Maybe it's the splendid isolation Penn State exists in but it really does feel like family when you are there. It's just the culture of the school and town, something that one monster and a few of his buddies can't destroy. In a very intended swipe at the new
Sports Illustrated cover I'd like to say we will always be Penn State.

This subject isn't going to go away for years, if ever, but hopefully this is my last post on the subject. I'm sure it wont be my last post about Penn State because there are just so many good things I can write about. Maybe it's just time for a lot of us to move on and help
rebuild what we love.

Edmund Burke said the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

One of those lessons we just never seem to learn.