I love writing on Provoketive. I’m pretty conservative. And there are people who write on here who are less conservative than me. Good for them. They have a voice. I’m about to write something that may not be very popular. And I’m glad I have a place to write it.

Today, several things happened in reaction to the Freeh Report in regards to lack of institutional control at Penn State. Specifically, head coach Joe Paterno’s role in lack of reporting the child molestation that had been occurring for more than a decade there while coach Jerry Sandusky was having his way with underage kids.

Let me say this – that is disgusting. There is no way I tolerate that. I have seen it happen first hand in my life and I wanted justice right away.

I don’t know what to think about Joe Paterno. He’s gone. Shortly after he resigned, he died. All his life all he knew was football and caring for football players. What I do know is this – we are most often remembered for what we do at the end of our lives than what we do for the bulk of our lives.

Let me say this as well. I am an Arkansas Razorback fan. I have no axe to grind either way. Arkansas has had its own problems with Bobby Petrino this off-season, that’s for sure.

The now famous “Freeh Report” documents that Paterno held back information that could have stopped child abuse. We all know that it looks like there was institutional freaking problems in reporting these things. Absolutely. It makes me sick. We all have the same questions – “Why wouldn’t you have said something?” “What was your deal?” “Doesn’t your silence make you the same as the perpetrator?”

Slow your roll for a second.

I know it’s hard. It’s hard for me. These men got their day in court. Nothing can erase what happened to them. Sandusky got his trial and will be off to hard time. Justice is served. Yet, the NCAA stepped in. What was their ruling? $30 million for however long. Fine. But the NCAA has never stepped in for a criminal ruling. What else? Scholarship reductions in the future.

Last of all, let’s take down the statue of Joe Paterno. I don’t know how I feel about that one. I really don’t.

Let me explain that. Seriously. As a sports fan. What if that happened at my campus?

Ten years ago, Beaver Stadium, held over 100,000 fans. They weren’t screaming and cheering for a man who was concealing pederasty. For a second, let’s take Joe Paterno out of the question. Most fans don’t even show up to cheer for the coach. They show up to cheer on the athletes. They were there to cheer on the athletes who showed up in August when no one was around, who put up with two-a-days, vomited, worked hard, and ran their guts out trying to beat their rivals.

Fans show up to cheer a team. You want to take down Joe Paterno’s statue? Fine. But don’t hamstring the athletes who are there now who didn’t rape kids in the shower. Don’t stain the education and pride those kids feel because they still want to be part of Penn State. Penn State is bigger than Joe Paterno. It’s bigger than Sandusky. All the NCAA did today was say that Penn State is equal to those two.

Don’t hurt those kids for the next four years by taking away their bowl games and money. Let those kids play. They have heart and drive. Let the legal system take care of the people who are really guilty of the crimes involved. Take care of the administrative figures who turned a blind eye to what was going on.

But  don’t hurt a bunch of 18-21 year olds who had no idea what was going on behind their backs while a bunch of evil adults were making decisions. The NCAA should be ashamed. Let Penn State live. Let them rise out of this like a Phoenix. Let the new coach and players make their mark on society. Let them say that this is a temporary setback that they had nothing to do with.

Tear down the statue if you have to. But this is a new day for Penn State. Let the new players make that statement. Don’t let it be a death knell for a bunch of kids who had nothing to do with it.