Big Ten Removing Joe Paterno's Name from Big Ten Trophy Is Latest Embarrassment

What more can be said about the situation at Penn State? That’s right, nothing else can be said about the Jerry Sandusky scandal that rocked the Penn State football program. However, news today that the Big Ten will remove former head coach Joe Paterno’s name from the new Big Ten football title is just another story that embarrasses the Nittany Lion program.  

In case you missed it, the Big Ten’s football title is no longer known as the Stagg-Paterno trophy. It is now is just the Stagg Championship Trophy.  

Now, this isn’t as big of a set back as, say, what came out in the grand jury report. Or how the Board of Trustees handled the firing of Paterno. Or the student riots that happened after the news broke of the Paterno firing. But this was going to be something that Penn State alumni and fans would use in the argument that Paterno was the best coach ever.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said about the removal, "The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial. We believe that it's important to keep the focus on the players and the teams that will be competing in the inaugural championship game." 

Speaking of those alumni, specifically alumni donors, they have received an email from Mark Sherburne their Acting Director of Athletics. In that email, courtesy of MSNBC’s Darren Rovell’s blog, the athletic director vows that Penn State has to “accept our challenge and move forward to build a better and more sound program.” It then adds that, “Our theme of Success with Honor has been tarnished. We must never waver in our commitment to do the right thing.” 

That email was sent before the trophy lost Paterno’s name, and it will be surprising if they send another email saying they will move forward again. But it is funny that the email was sent to only donors. Why wasn’t the email sent off to every alumni and not only to the ones that have given the school a contribution? 

Either way, email or not, the removal of Joe Pa’s name from the Big Ten trophy puts more dirt on the grave of the Penn State program under Joe Paterno. Maybe in five to 10 years, the Big Ten will put Paterno’s name back on the trophy. Maybe the alumni that were on this email will make a rallying cry to get Paterno back on.  

For now, the story cannot get much worse for Penn State. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if it does. 

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