A large and vociferous group of Penn State students converged on Old Main at the Penn State campus Monday night and, among other chants, clamored for the return of Joe Paterno's statue amidst celebrations for the removal of NCAA sanctions.
Monday, the NCAA announced that the two years left on Penn State's bowl ban would be lifted and the Nittany Lions would be immediately eligible for postseason play.
As part of the sanctions for the sex abuse scandal surrounding former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, Penn State was hit with a loss of scholarships and a bowl ban among other penalties. The team will also have a full scholarship allotment in 2015.
The group chanted "Where's the statue?" in reference to the statue of Paterno that was taken down outside Beaver Stadium on July 22, 2012, a day before the penalties were announced against the school.
According to the Penn State Collegian, the rally had over 1,000 students and before the group ended up at Old Main, they were at Beaver Stadium. Throughout the rally, students chanted for many things. It was largely a peaceful gathering, and the paper reported that the only damage from the gathering occurred to a stop sign. (The students also asked to be let in to the stadium while there. However, we're not sure what they would have done upon entering.)
While we can see the need for some to celebrate the removal of the sanctions, turning the sentiments towards the statue of Paterno, a statue that has been gone for over two years, is odd. But odd is a great way to describe the feelings of some Penn State fans surrounding the statue.
The statue was removed by the school after details of Paterno's role in the scandal were known. It was not part of the NCAA sanctions against the school and, quite frankly, it's insignificant for any reasons other than symbolic ones if the statue goes back up.
Plus, there's a stark difference between the reduction of penalties and the absolution of them. The NCAA's penalties didn't simply just disappear and Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 charges in his criminal trial. Monday's action doesn't mean everything can return to what it used to be before the statue was taken down and the sanctions weren't put in place.
There's a time and place to discuss any future tributes to Joe Paterno. Monday night was not one of them. Instead, it was a time to get excited about a possible bowl at the end of the season.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
