A Heartfelt Cry to the Victims in the Penn State Scandal

AP Photo/Paul VathisJerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno stand together in 1999 in State College, Pa. Now Paterno stands accused of failing to meet his moral responsibility regarding an accusation of child sexual abuse against Sandusky.

This is not about Joe Paterno.

If these boys really were molested, groped and raped by a middle-aged ex-Penn State football coach, then whatever misjudgment Paterno made will be a single lit match compared to the bonfire these boys will walk in for years to come.

Many of them won't be able to trust. Won't be able to love. Won't be able to feel -- nor trust or love themselves.

Don't feel sorry for Paterno. He's had his life. Feel sorry for these boys, because they may never get one.

Imagine: One reported victim in the Penn State case, now 24, has been living with that kind of hole growing inside him since he made allegations against Sandusky in 1998 -- 13 years ago. Those allegations never led to charges. That's 13 years of not being believed, of knowing his alleged perpetrator was out there, volunteering at high schools and running his grisly camp "tours" of the shower room.

The horror of it makes you want to punch somebody. If anyone could talk to boys Sandusky might have abused who haven't come forward yet?

"Tell someone," I beg of you.  "Because people are going to believe you. I believe in you...and YOU SHOULD KNOW ITS NOT YOUR FAULT.

No, this isn't about 84-year-old Joe Paterno not taking more steps that might have stopped it. It's about everybody not taking more steps that might have stopped it. Not parents, not teachers, not uncles, not friends, not counselors.

Imagine: Victim One, according to the Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News, was often taken out of class by Sandusky to be further molested. Just taken out of school by somebody who wasn't his parent, with no questions asked until his mother finally called the principal and asked her to check into it. Later that day, the principal called back in tears. "You need to come down here right now."

According to a 1998 study on child sexual abuse by Boston University Medical School, one in six boys in America will be abused by age 16. For girls, it's one in four by the age of 14. Those "If you see something, say something" billboards shouldn't just be about terrorism. They may apply to sex abuse, too. Doesn't matter if it's your uncle, your longtime assistant coach or your buddy. You HAVE to say something. And yet, precious few people have the guts to say anything at all.

"The fear is too strong,..... I can see it as you are feeling you don't know what to do. You might think, 'Oh my god, how bad is this going to look? What are we going to do now that we've let this guy operate right under our noses? We better keep quiet.' But it can't work like that anymore."

Does this hippie blame Paterno? Let's ask some questions shall we?:

"Does Paterno have grandchildren of his own?
[Yes, 17.]
How would he feel if it were one of his grandkids in that shower with the coach?

What would he have done? Somehow, the perpetrator felt welcome at that school.
[We need systems in place that make perpetrators feel unwelcome."]

What must those boys feel like, right now, as all this darkness gets played out in front of the camera lights?

Take it from me; a woman whom at the young age of 5; was sexually abuse by her own family member.....and this is my first time speaking publicly about it to my fans.... but not my own family. 

Do I feel ashamed? No. I feel empowered. Because that bitch won't hurt me nor any member of my family anymore. 

The road these boys are on now is endless and buckled and uphill. Some will hate their parents for not protecting them and hate themselves for hating them. They will hate the pervert for tricking them and hate themselves for being tricked. And just when they think this cruel and long legal process is over, it can start all over again.

If all these charges turn out to be true, though, soon he and Sandusky will both be going to prison -- a place where, with any luck, they will feel most unwelcome.

So, my word to you dear fans of iHeart Amile; listen to your loved ones. See any signs of some distraught inside that is too scared to come out. 

It took me almost 16 years to tell my family..... don't let it be forever with yours. 

HEY NCAA Football......Why no playoffs?

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department wants to know why the NCAA doesn't have a college football playoff system and says there are "serious questions" about whether the current format to determine a national champion complies with antitrust laws.

Critics who have urged the department to investigate the Bowl Championship Series contend it unfairly gives some schools preferential access to the title championship game and top-tier end-of-season bowls.

In a letter this week, the department's antitrust chief, Christine Varney, asked NCAA president Mark Emmert why a playoff system isn't used in football, unlike in other sports; what steps the NCAA has taken to create one; and whether Emmert thinks there are aspects of the BCS system that don't serve the interest of fans, schools and players.

“

Serious questions continue to arise suggesting the current Bowl Championship Series system may not be conducted consistent with the competition principles expressed in the federal antitrust laws.

”-- Justice Department antitrust chief Christine Varney, on the BCS

"Your views would be relevant in helping us to determine the best course of action with regard to the BCS," she wrote.

"Serious questions continue to arise suggesting the current Bowl Championship Series system may not be conducted consistent with the competition principles expressed in the federal antitrust laws," Varney said.

Varney noted that the attorney general of Utah, Mark Shurtleff, has said he plans an antitrust lawsuit against the BCS and that 21 professors recently wrote the department requesting an investigation.

Shurtleff, who met with department officials last fall to discuss a possible federal probe, said at the time that such an investigation was critical to the effort to get a playoff system.

The NCAA said Wednesday it would respond to the government's questions when it receives the letter.

Spokesman Bob Williams said Emmert has consistently said the NCAA is willing to move to a playoff format if schools with the nation's major football programs want to go that route.

Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director, was confident the current system complies with the law.

"Goodness gracious, with all that's going on in the world right now and with national and state budgets being what they are, it seems like a waste of taxpayers' money to have the government looking into how college football games are played," he said.

Under the BCS, the champions of six conferences have automatic bids to play in top-tier bowl games; other conferences don't. Those six conferences also receive more money than the other conferences.

Attorney general Eric Holder referenced Varney's letter at a Senate hearing Wednesday, in response to a statement from Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and BCS critic. Hatch called the BCS a "mess" and said that "privileged conferences" have tremendous advantages over the unprivileged.

"And I just hope that you'll continue to follow up on that particular issue," he said. "It's an important one, I think."

"I don't disagree with you," Holder responded. "You and I have talked about this issue, and I think I'm free to say that we have sent a letter to the NCAA about this issue and will be following up."

Before he was sworn in as president, Barack Obama said in 2008 that he was going to "to throw my weight around a little bit" to nudge college football toward a playoff system.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

What Type Of NBA Player Will Kemba Walker Be?

Kemba Walker has likely played his last game for UConn and will make himself available for the NBA draft, sources confirmed to ESPN.com's Andy Katz Monday.

Connecticut has called a news conference for Tuesday with junior guard to reportedly announce his intention to enter the draft.

Walker

Walker, who led UConn to its third national championship, is projected as a first-round NBA draft pick and coach Jim Calhoun has said he has advised Walker to forgo his senior season.

The Hartford Courant reported Monday that Walker had played his final collegiate game, citing an unnamed source.

Walker averaged almost 24 points and five assists per game in leading UConn to a 32-9 record, including an 11-0 run through the postseason. He accounted for 45 percent of his team's points.

But with an NBA lockout looming, Walker had left his options open.

"It would be a lot of fun if I came back," he said last week. "These guys are my brothers and I love them. So, if I have an opportunity to come back, it would be special."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

2011 NCAA national championship :UConn's title win a sore sight

HOUSTON -- It was a fun NCAA tournament.

It was a fun NCAA tournament.

It was a fun NCAA tournament.

Keep saying that for as long as it takes to rid your brain of the memory of the way it ended. Otherwise, you might be scarred for life.

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Richard Mackson/US PresswireUConn's win over Butler in the national championship game was no thing of beauty.

Through the first 66 games of the biggest and arguably the wildest tourney ever, there was an abundance of excitement and drama and surprise. Then they played game No. 67 and the thing ended with a bomb of historic proportions. Connecticut capped its quantum leap from ninth place in the Big East to first place in America by beating bricklaying Butler 53-41 on Monday night, in a game that was so train-wreck terrible to watch it set the sport back to the hook-shot days.

Actually, that's an insult to the hook-shot days. Even back then, the ball went in the basket more often than it did in Reliant Stadium. The teams' combined field goal percentage of 26.1 was the worst in a title game since 1948, when Kentucky and Baylor shot a collective 25.9 percent but scored six more points without the benefit of a 3-point line or a shot clock.

The misery statistics from this disaster could keep coming for days, but here are a few more:

• Fewest total points in a title game since 1949.

• UConn scored 109 points in two games here. That marked the fewest total points in a Final Four for the winning team since Oklahoma A&M in 1946. The Huskies made exactly two 3-point shots in Houston -- and still won it all.

• Butler's three 2-point field goals -- three! -- were the fewest ever in an NCAA tournament game. Its 18.8 percent shooting was the worst in a title game and the worst in any NCAA tourney game since Harvard against Ohio State in 1946.

The Bulldogs -- ouch. For the first time in their brilliant two-year run to consecutive title games, they were in over their heads. A team much of America fell in love with unraveled one missed jumper at a time.

The biggest takeaway from Monday was not how well UConn played; it was the level at which Butler was overmatched. In the end, it finally looked like a mid-major team is supposed to look when matched against a Big East giant. The incredible thing is that a team that spent much of this season looking very ordinary put off this moment as long as it did.

A lot of credit goes to the relentless UConn defense that blocked 10 shots and simply shut down the paint, but Butler was just hopeless on offense.

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Richard Mackson/US PresswireBrad Stevens' Butler team ran out of steam in the title game against UConn.

Its most inspirational player, senior Matt Howard, was 1-for-13. Its best player, Shelvin Mack, was 4-for-15. Center Andrew Smith was 2-for-9 despite taking all of his shots within 5 feet of the basket. Guard Shawn Vanzant was 2-for-10. The bench didn't make a single field goal.

As the minutes went by and the missed shots multiplied, it actually became painful to watch. When the Dogs finally ended a 6-minute, 19-second scoring drought in the second half, the crowd roared with what sounded like relief from the agony of watching good kids play horrible basketball.

"Without question, 41 points and 12-of-64 is not good enough to win any game," Butler coach Brad Stevens said, "let alone the national championship game."

Former UCLA great Bill Walton, sitting courtside, once scored 44 points in the championship game. He outscored the Bulldogs by three.

To cap this black-eye evening, we got to watch a coach on probation accept the national championship trophy from an athletic director under investigation. UConn's Jim Calhoun, who was sanctioned by the NCAA in February for violations in his program, took the hardware from Ohio State AD and Division I Men's Basketball Committee chairman Gene Smith, who now will return to Columbus to deal with the brewing scandal in his football program.

I'm sure NCAA president Mark Emmert was thrilled to share the stage with those two as the confetti rained down.

Bottom line: This is a flawed sport at the moment, in terms of both rules compliance and quality of play. There are no great teams, and not enough clean programs.

But you won't find Calhoun apologizing for any of it -- not the ugliness of this game or the stain of winning it all while on probation. Apparently capturing a third national title not only moves the lifelong fighter into truly elite all-time company, it also allows him to revise history.

"I took full responsibility for secondary offenses that took place in my program," Calhoun said, reducing major violations to secondary offenses.

NCAA enforcement will be surprised to learn of that downgrade.

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Bob Donnan/US PresswireJim Calhoun accepted UConn's national championship trophy with Ohio State AD Gene Smith at his side; both have had recent and ongoing issues with the NCAA.

Despite the ethical squishiness of this situation, it's impossible not to admire what these UConn players pulled off. They're now the greatest tournament team ever, going 14-0 in winning the Maui Invitational, Big East tourney and Big Dance. They rode charismatic guardKemba Walker as far as he could go -- and when he finally wore down here in Houston, making just 11 of 34 shots in two games, they sucked it up and won with defense.

Calhoun said in an effort to camouflage his team's youth-related shortcomings, he hammered home the importance of stopping the other team.

"Down the stretch [of the season], we would literally take 50 percent of practice on nothing but defense," Calhoun said. "… That's much more than almost any other team I've done."

It paid off emphatically against a Butler team that guarded tenaciously in its own right, getting enough stops to hang around until its offense broke down completely in the second half. Calhoun credited the setup in Reliant Stadium but opined that the vast shooting background and tight new rims increase the odds of ugly offensive games.

"You need to understand that defense is going to really take you and hold you in any game 'til your offense gets going," he said. "I think that's what happened tonight."

The end result was viewer-friendly only to UConn fans. They'll unapologetically accept their third national title in the past 12 years, an accomplishment that moves Calhoun into truly rare coaching company.

At age 68, he is the oldest coach to win a title and one of just five to win at least three. The others are John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight. Giant names in the history of the sport.

"It's very sweet," Calhoun said. "I have no bitterness towards anybody. I don't. You can write what you want; you can say what you want to say. I know who I am, where I'm going and what I've done."

Calhoun said he loved seeing so many former players in the crowd Monday -- Richard Hamilton and Ben Gordon and Hasheem Thabeet and Charlie Villanueva and many more. When the game was over and it was time for the trophy presentation, they all came out of the stands and onto the court.

Lacking credentials, they were asked to leave by NCAA security personnel. At first they refused, then finally relented.

It was just one more uneasy moment of NCAA-UConn relations on a night only a Husky could love.