Victims, not football, should be focus moving forward in Penn State case

It’s the most important thing that doesn’t matter.

Penn State football was larger than life, and in order to knock it down a peg, the NCAA delivered strong penalties against the program. This included a $60 million fine to be used to help victim services, a four-year ban on postseason play, a strong cut of scholarships and the loss of all of Joe Paterno’s wins since 1998.

I agreed with the fine and anything levied against Paterno. I did not agree with the recruiting restrictions or ban of postseason play. I felt bad for the students who had nothing to do with the monstrosities that occurred.

That is, I wanted to feel bad.

But then I saw the pictures of students reacting to the penalties — hands over their faces and eyes expressing shock and disbelief.

I didn’t feel bad anymore.

Where were those looks of terror when they found out about the monster Jerry Sandusky? Where was the anger when they found out Paterno put the image of the program above the well-being of children?

That is why Penn State football must be knocked down, and people all over the country should realize that football is not as important as the lives of children. My dad told me that sport is the most important thing that doesn’t matter.

Why do Penn State supporters have such anger against everyone outside of State College? Be angry at your program for what it did to those victimized children. We as a country, everyone else, aren’t mad at the whole university. This isn’t the country hating the Miami Heat because it’s fun.

This is hating a monster. But again, the monster is Sandusky, not the whole university. And we have grown to hate Paterno — who should rot in his grave for what he did.

The monster is not Penn State. The economics majors should continue to be proud and strive for a great career. We don’t hate the students. We all know they had nothing to do with the cover up.

The football program might be knocked down, but the university is not. So get over it, Nittany Lions. Be proud of your university, but be angry at those responsible. Try and give back to the community and do something for the victims. Be bigger than football because, after all, it doesn’t matter.

We talk about the penalties, argue about whether or not they are fair. Penn State students are dealing with their football program getting the closest thing to the death penalty. But it doesn’t matter.

What matters is the victims. So let’s turn our attention from how we can make things worse for Penn State football and to how we can make things better for the victims of these violent crimes. Because that is the most important thing that matters.