You absolutely knocked it out of the park with your competitive edge argument. 100% truth.

Actually, Nixon resigned.

No, actually Nixon resigned. He did so to avoid impeachment which may, or may not have gone his way.

"If a coach robbed a bank, would his team be put on probation?"

Not unless he took the team with him but the fact of the matter is the abuse to children happened on Penn State Property.

No doubt the rumors about child abuse also traveled among football players. So in this case there were probably football players who knew, so if that is the case, they also helped to bring down the football team by remaining silent.

We would probably be shocked beyond belief if we really knew how many people knew about Sandusky and did nothing.

Finally a sports writer with a clue on this. Of course it was an advantage to cover it up. Amazing how many sports writers and casters can miss so obvious a point.

Excellent column. Great advice to Switzer. Thumbs up for The Picker.

So, in your world, child rape does not break NCAA rules?

Go back to that 12 year old in your basement and leave stupid comments to Barry Switzer.

Gotta disagree soonerk - they covered it up to protect the football program. Does it suck that kids at PSU today are getting screwed because of it, sure, but the bottom line is still the fact that it was all about the football program - which is the NCAA's purview.

soonerk - 2 things...1) stick to your guns and 2) I know ill get blasted for this but I'm in your corner. what happened to those kids is inconceivable and should have been reported long before it was. but with that being said i agree with everything Switzer said. it does not mean i love Sandusky or approve of how Paterno handled things, its just that i have a right to my opinion as does everyone else. like others i just wish that the players did not have to be punished and that there was another way around the punishment for another mans sins and crimes against those kids.

Ol' Barry just reinforced what Ron White says about "fixing stupid". He should be the last to opine on the NCAA.

The argument that "innocent people" will be hurt by these sanctions is silly.

In EVERY position where a person in a leadership position makes a horrible mistake, innocent people are hurt. That's life.

If a general tells his troops to "take that hill" and the enemy is waiting on the other side, INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE HURT.

When a few idiots at BP tried to save a few bucks, INNOCENT PEOPLE that lived in Louisiana were hurt. (not to mention BP shareholders)

When Aubrey McClendon decides to not take out any hedge positions against a Natural Gas drop and the price plumments....INNOCENT PEOPLE are hurt.

There is ALWAYS residual damage when people in authority make a mistake. That's life.

The purpose of the sanctions are less about punishing the school and more about deterring other schools from covering up their own improprieties.

Incarcerating a murderer (or giving them death sentence) doesn't bring his victim back to life. It's the threat of life long incarceration or the thought of living the rest of your life in prison that serves as deterrent to others that may act similarly.

We have to have strong punishments to deter others from acting similarly. That's the best way to protect "the innocent"

Fred makes great points.
If a cover-up can almost bring down a country, a four-year probation for covering up child abuse to make more money is peanuts.

There are two issues here.
1. The criminal issue of child abuse.
2. The NCAA issue of covering up child abuse for university profit and glory.
People like Switzer and Bayless and other media mouths -- poor Penn State -- are clueless.