By Arthur Solomon
The rich, famous and powerful always feel that they are smart enough to concoct a fool proof cover-up. In the not-too-distant past, we’ve endured Richard Nixon and Watergate, Bill Clinton and Monica, the Catholic Church and sexual child abuse.
On-going is Herman Cain denying charges of sexual harassment by several women by parsing the difference between the words “settlement” and “agreement.”
And, of course, the allegations of sexual abuse of children by a Penn State football coach, which was kept a family secret for many years instead of being reported to the police in an attempt to protect the brand.
Protecting the brand is not new to the World of Sports, as anyone who is involved in that self-absorbed, money-generating business knows.
One would hope that after the sordid revelations that were made public in the Penn State grand jury report that the “godding up” of coaches and their football programs by the commentators would stop.
But as anyone who tuned in the Nebraska-Penn State football game on Saturday knows, it didn’t.
While most of the ESPN coverage didn’t pull any punches when describing the Penn State troubles, old habits are hard to break. Before the kickoff, one ESPN announcer said, Penn State stands for high standards. I think many people feel that Penn State stands for covering up sexually abusing children in order to protect the brand, which brings in millions of dollars annually.
And on the after game show, JoPa was treated almost reverentially.
A former football coach said, Joe Paterno might not have coached this game, but the way Penn State played, it was still a Joe Paterno team.
These two ESPN commentators might not have gotten it, but as the Wall Street Journal reported in its November 12-13 issue, about a half dozen advertisers got it by pulling their commercials from Penn State games, “a sign that the scandal is causing fallout from marketers.”
Kevin Adler, founder of Engage Marketing, a Chicago sports marketing company, was quoted as saying, “The school’s image is damaged and brands will disassociate.”
The truth is that Penn State is similar to many colleges that boast about their sports programs and whose coaches are treated by the alumni and media as all-powerful deities.
These sports powers serve as the minor leagues for basketball and football players hoping to make it to the big leagues. The coaches get pay checks in the millions, the schools rake in tens of millions from the money their semi-pro teams bring in from various commercial business deals. The players’ bounty is being recruited by the colleges.
Big time college sports has been corrupted by Big Money. Football programs in particular have co-opted the importance of a college’s reason to be to educate and graduate students that hopefully will better their lives and benefit society.
For many students, the reason for choosing a higher education school is solely the institution’s athletic prowess. For many people, sports has become a central part of American culture, instead of what it used to be and should be, an enjoyable entertainment.
The importance of sports at Penn State is the prime reason that eyes were turned away when children desperately needed help to free them from the deviant clutches of a former defensive genius football coach.
Until he was fired as an aftermath of the alleged sexual abuse of children by his former defensive coordinator, JoePa was the all-powerful supernatural being at Penn State, not just a good football coach. Now he has sadly joined the list of men who learned that power can be fleeting.
Joe Paterno is still an iconic individual to many people; a heroic person who is being found guilty in the press before he had his day in court, the years of good deeds on his resume discounted, they say. He played by the rules, say his defenders.
But when circumstances demanded leadership, JoePa stayed on the sidelines and called the wrong play. Now, for the foreseeable future, the play book will be in the hands of public relations crisis specialists and lawyers.
Anyone who follows the sports scene knows that sexual abuse of youngsters by coaches is not exclusive to Penn State. In other cases, the stories often end up as a note in the brief’s report. Does the sexual abuse of children by coaches only deserve greater coverage if a football powerhouse in involved?
Perhaps sports editors should consider running less “gee whiz” stories about college coaches and their football programs and follow the lead of the New York Times stories about the hits to the head/concussion nexus that changed football.
Or as Howard Cosell would say, “Let’s tell it like it is,” whether the coach abuse occurs in a playground or at Penn State.
Penn State’s motto is “Success With Honor.” Some day that motto may again have meaning. But not for many football seasons.
Until then, their motto might as well be, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
* * *
Arthur Solomon is a former senior VP at Burson-Marsteller, where handled national and international accounts. He is available at [email protected]. |