Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs NCAA

I have just read the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Civil Complaint against the NCAA challenging the legitimacy of the sanctions imposed upon Penn State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal. In the complaint, Governor Corbett and his legal team come out swinging with a scathing indictment of the NCAA. The lawsuit accuses the NCAA of overreaching from the organization's core mission and utilizing the high profile sex scandal that rocked Penn State University to improve the organization's image by imposing unprecedented sanctions on the football program with the intent of making an example and expanding the organizations authority.

Much of the mainstream media coverage of the lawsuit is already attempting to distract it's merits by focusing on Governor Corbett's political motives for moving forward. Every news article I have read thus far suggests or implies that the lawsuit was filed only to boost Governor Corbett's reelection possibilities next year. This is not surprising to me after closely covering this entire scandal and is just another example of the group-think mentality of the media who is desperately trying to cling to the false narrative they themselves perpetuated at the outset of this scandal. (See Framing Paterno)

Despite the media's attempt to define the narrative nationally, when one actually reads the accusations and finding of facts stated in the lawsuit, it is not hard to conclude that it will be very difficult for a federal district court judge to just throw out the case at this point. Click here to read the full civil complaint

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of today's announcement by Governor was the NCAA's reactions to the lawsuit. The NCAA released a statement immediately after Governor Corbett's press conference stating the the lawsuit was "affront to all of the victims in this tragedy – lives that were destroyed by the criminal actions of Jerry Sandusky."

I just find the immediate invoking of the victims here by the NCAA despicable considering a few of the victims of Sandusky have already publicly criticized the sanctions in the first place. In my opinion, the NCAA's reaction pretty much supports the accusations made by Governor Corbett in the complaint filed against them today.  By invoking the victims into this lawsuit which specifically deals with the authority of the NCAA is just indefensible. Especially when you read the reaction by victim four in this Yahoo Sports article

It would take an eternity to wipe the egg off the NCAA's face for this one. There was a proper way for this all to be resolved; a manner which involved patience, reason, and a reliance on the legal system to bring justice to any and all guilty parties before any other entity, including the NCAA, became involved. Instead, the NCAA took an opportunity to seize public opinion and use it against Penn State in an attempt to show the public it's might, all the while using the victims they never truly cared about as a shield to any and all criticism. Their behavior is truly shameful in this instance.

The bottom line is the NCAA needs to recognize the seriousness of the lawsuit or the entire landscape of college sports will be forever altered by the impending court decision.