This Penn State ruling...

[gravedigger]

Can a sports nerd explain to me how the NCAA can take away wins from Paterno? And also explain why it's a big deal? I mean, sure he was a pedo enabler but you can't really change history or facts. Do those wins then get credited to the losing teams? I understand the rest of the sections (which mostly make me laugh) but this part makes no sense to me.

[B_Metal]

Basically his legacy is getting a whitewash. It's a college football thing. Not sure if the other team gets credited with wins or what but he now officially didn't win those games thus NOT the winningest coach of all time.

[PHEDG]

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By vacating 112 Penn State victories from 1998-2011, the sanctions cost Paterno 111 wins. Penn State finished last season 1-3 with Tom Bradley as coach after Paterno was fired in November, days after Sandusky was charged.
Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden will now hold the top spot in the NCAA record book with 377 major-college wins. Paterno will be credited with 298 wins. Vacated wins are not the same as forfeits -- they don't count as losses or wins for either school.
"I didn't want it to happen like this," Bowden told The Associated Press. "Wish I could have earned it, but that's the way it is."
The late Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson has the overall NCAA Division I record with 408 wins.

[BillyG]

And also explain why it's a big deal?

Because the cult around football, especially small town college football, is fucking terrifying. There's an incredible documentary out there waiting to be made.

[Timothy225]

I'd watch the hell out of such a documentary. Small town college football is on the same level as those little kid beauty pageants to me, sad and terrifying. IT'S A GAME, PEOPLE! College is supposed to be getting an education to get a career going so you can have a shot at a better life.

[Matt]

Really surprised that they didn't go with a death penalty on this.

[Timothy225]

Have to see how these sanctions work over time, Matt. They might've killed the football program after all, especially if up and coming players decide not to go to Penn State for college.

[Captain Russ]

Really surprised that they didn't go with a death penalty on this.

They fucking deserve it.

[BillyG]

Have to see how these sanctions work over time, Matt. They might've killed the football program after all, especially if up and coming players decide not to go to Penn State for college.

Yup. At least some kids that didn't have anything to do with it still get to play ball, keep their scholarships, and go to school. Killing the entire program would have hurt a bunch of innocents as well as the shitbag school.

[Timothy225]

Yup. At least some kids that didn't have anything to do with it still get to play ball, keep their scholarships, and go to school. Killing the entire program would have hurt a bunch of innocents as well as the shitbag school.

THIS.

[Matt]

It'll take decades to rebuild this program. Even then, i doubt it'll ever be what it was.