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NCAA Officials Were Unsure Of Authority In Penn State Case, Pondered Sanctions "Bluff"

E-mails released yesterday as part of a lawsuit reveal that NCAA officials were "unsure of their own authority to penalize Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual-abuse scandal," according to Marc Tracy of the N.Y. TIMES. In one e-mail, an NCAA official wrote that she told NCAA President Mark Emmert "sanctions would be a 'bluff' and that he 'basically agreed.'" The e-mails "emerged as part of the discovery in a lawsuit against the NCAA" by Pennsylvania State Sen. Jake Corman "over where the proceeds" from Penn State's $60M fine levied by the NCAA would go. The e-mails show that several NCAA officials "questioned whether the scandal gave Penn State a 'competitive advantage,' which would more firmly have justified their involvement." Penn State in a statement said that it was "considering its legal options." The statement read in part, "We find it deeply disturbing that NCAA officials in leadership positions would consider bluffing one of their member institutions, Penn State, to accept sanctions outside of their normal investigative and enforcement process" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/6). In Pennsylvania, Charles Thompson notes Penn State officials "have argued to date that in accepting the consent decree they made the best decision they could faced with the threat of a potential suspension" for the football program. If they now "become convinced that the threat of the death penalty had no more solid foundation than a bluff, it's possible" that PSU President Eric Barron, Board of Trustees Chair Keith Masser and others "will take a fresh look at whether the very foundations of the consent decree negotiations were valid." Corman yesterday called the NCAA's behavior "outrageous." He said, "For any membership organization to maneuver one of its members into accepting a penalty that they may not have deserved if they'd received due process is just wrong" (PENNLIVE.com, 11/6).

THEIR DAY IN COURT: PSU trustee Anthony Lubrano said the e-mails represent the "tip of the iceberg." He added the NCAA should "acknowledge its mistake and void the consent decree." In Pennsylvania, Lori Falce notes the state Supreme Court yesterday "granted the NCAA permission to file an original process but denied a writ of prohibition that would keep the Commonwealth Court from issuing an opinion and enforcing the Endowment Act, the legislation that would keep the fine money in Pennsylvania" (CENTRE DAILY TIMES, 11/6).

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