Lost in the high-stakes tit for tat between the NCAA and the Pennsylvania legislature is why anyone would want a sports agency to manage funds targeted for child welfare. Such citizen well-being programs are the purview of governments, not private outfits whose apparent mission is to maintain competitive balance in college athletics.
Governments already have the infrastructure to disperse these funds and to make sure they are going to worthy agencies — the NCAA does not. Governments have overview programs to verify monies given to agencies are spent appropriately.
The NCAA does not. Governments are accountable for mismanagement of funds. The NCAA is not. I personally don’t care whether this money is spent in or out of Pennsylvania, as long as it is used to fund the type of abuse prevention programs it is designated for. But is there any rational reason the NCAA should be involved in overseeing how these funds are spent?
Further, consider Emmert’s statement: “If individual members or state lawmakers take it upon themselves to decide what sanctions are appropriate, simply to protect their home team, then collegiate sports would be dramatically altered.”
The Pennsylvania law does not change nor challenge the appropriateness of the sanctions. It does not change the amount of the sanctions. Penn State will be penalized the same regardless of the outcome of the NCAA lawsuit.
Emmert knows all this, and yet he wants to convince the public this law challenges the NCAA’s authority to punish. It does not. Emmert’s statement is an intentional deception.
Bob Harris
Class of 2007
