The " Penn State Scandal " has taken on a life of it's own. Story breaks, arrests, Paterno and the University President fired, campus unrest, "Paterno Demonstrations" , new rumors surfacing and more! All the other breaking stories seem trivial in light of this story. Wall Street, the European crisis, "Occupy Wall Street ", Herman Cain , etc.....Who cares ? All people are talking about is the "Penn St. Story ". Not since the "OJ Simpson chase " which pre-empted game 6 of the Knicks-Rockets NBA Championship series 17 years ago has a single story so captivated an entire nation !
And why ? The horrific, unthinkable nature of the allegations ?Big time college sports . Joe Paterno , the legend , and his beloved Nittany Lions ? The coverup , or simply the cumulative effect of all of the above? Mark my words...This story will be front page news for the next year.
Which brings us to Saturday's football game at Penn St; Penn St. vs. Nebraska. The final home game for the seniors. Bowl Game at stake . The first game in over 40 years where Joe Paterno has not been the head coach in "Happy Valley". Wow!
The real issue with all the raw emotion percolating around out there is will the players, fans and media be safe ? We all truly hope so and want to believe that cooler heads will prevail, but will they? We've seen demonstrations up there over the last 48 hours, albeit not all 1000 % peaceful. Can the campus police, local law enforcement and if necessary the State National Guard peacefully control and protect 80,000-100,000 people ? Excellent question. None of us know the answer.
So Penn St., carefully monitor the situation between now and Saturday. Make safety, safety, safety your number one concern .And if there are genuine safety concerns, listen to your experts and remember this is still only a game . Do not make another major mistake which could put students and others in harms way. To the student body......Enjoy the game . Remember . Peace, calm, contol.
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