Please, Penn State, Decline Your Bowl Game

This season needs to be put out of its misery, Chris Dufresne argues

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 17, 2011 12:20 PM CST

Copied

Please, Penn State, Decline Your Bowl Game — Stephfon Green #21 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a touchdown against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the game on November 12, 2011 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images)

Penn State has been tone deaf throughout the Jerry Sandusky crisis, so it’s no surprise that its interim president recently said the team should play in a bowl game this year. Wrong, says Chris Dufresne of the LA Times. “Penn State’s season can’t end fast enough.” Any Penn State bowl game would be a “carnival sideshow spectacle” with a never-ending barrage of scandal questions. “Bowl games should be celebrations, not interrogations."

Sure, it’s not fair to the players, but it’s not fair that USC players have to miss bowls because of Reggie Bush, either. “Penn State players need less time in the limelight, not more” after what Dufresne calls “perhaps the most disturbing two weeks in the history of collegiate athletics.” It would be especially awful if Penn State earned an automatic Rose Bowl bid. “The Rose Bowl has earned the right to be 60 minutes on ESPN, not 60 Minutes on CBS.” Click for the full column. (More Penn State stories.)

Report an error