Sometimes the sporting world just doesn’t get it. This past weekend there were a couple of decisions by those in power which were just unacceptable.
First Penn State thought it would be appropriate to honor Joe Paterno on the 50th anniversary of his initial win at the school. They had a small ceremony on Friday night, then carried over the celebration to the Nittany Lion’s game against Temple. It was revealed a couple of year’s ago that Paterno was aware of some of the accusations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky in his sex abuse scandal. The school’s honoring of Paterno showed little regard for the victims in the various cases. Shameful.
Even worse was the fact that former NFL safety Darren Sharper was nominated for the sports Hall of Fame. The five time pro bowler is accused of drugging and raping 16 women in several states. Sharper was also nominated last year before he pleaded guilty and was hustled off to jail. There is apparently no character clause for the nominations, which are overseen by the sports Board of Directors.
Sports are supposed to set examples for young people and fans, what the hell kind of message are we sending.