Is it #NCAA boycott time over #PSU and Sandusky?

Bobby Bowden's right — tear it down!
ESPN photo

Update, July 23: Yes, the NCAA penalty is strong, but is it strong enough. Time to boycott?

On the other hand, Yahoo's Dan Wetzel says it's worse than the "death penalty." We shall see.

That said, as I read more, I do think the NCAA was very serious. I like what I read; it's just too bad that Paterno isn't still alive himself to see all those wins vacated. At least his wife is.

Original blog follows:

I agree totally with the many commentators who say Penn State deserves, and needs to get, the "death penalty" from the NCAA for its football program. It deserves it far more than Southern Methodist University.

Hell, in this ESPN piece about college administrators versus college athletics, in the video at the top (sharing blocked right now) fellow NCAA coaching icon Bobby Bowden says Penn State should pull down its Joe Paterno statue. (Try this URL for just the video.) And, he's right — the man should be, if others get indicted, quite arguably be named as an unindicted co-conspirator, because conspire he did.

But, this is the NCAA we're talking about. Nobody's gotten the death penalty, or close to it, since SMU. And, so far, the NCAA has been mum about the Freeh report. And, it may well continue to be.

Is it possible that it will take the push of a threatened boycott of watching NCAA football, and maybe even a boycott of NCAA advertisers, to get it to do the right thing? Then, we need to start talking about that NOW.

And, if you're a serious college football fan, but a decent human being at the same time, you need to decide on which side of the bread your priorities are buttered.

And, beyond that, let's tell the NCAA it needs to engage in other massive housecleaning. If that includes revisiting the issue of pay for athletes, then that's what it includes. The NCAA must address ALL issues related to institutional governance and how best to improve them.

Finally, we know why Paterno's wife is lying about him. She's trying to protect her finances at least as much as his legacy.

Someone else not totally in the world of honesty? Joe Posnanski, who is actually trying to flog his new Joe Paterno hagiography, all while refusing to answer questions about the book or his book tour (which his publisher has scaled back).  There's bupkis about Paterno on his blog, too.