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Paterno Has Cancer, NCAA Starts Investigating Penn State's Sandusky Problem

Garth Johnston

Published Nov 18, 2011

Modified Nov 18, 2011

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Garth Johnston

Published Nov 18, 2011

Modified Nov 18, 2011

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The Penn State/Jerry Sandusky sex scandal just keeps going. As some of the alleged victims of the former football coach are starting to talk, the school has started another investigation into the scandal and now the NCAA has decided to begin its own investigation—one which, in theory, could be a disaster for the school. This comes as the Patriot-News reveals why Paterno might have been in the hospital earlier this week: Reporter Sara Ganim Tweeted, "Joe Paterno has been diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer, The Patriot-News learned."

Scott Paterno says in a statement to The Associated Press that the 84-year-old Joe Paterno is undergoing treatment and that "his doctors are optimistic he will make a full recovery."

As for the innocence of Sandusky—who allegedly used his soon to shutter charity The Second Mile to groom his victims—the full transcript of Sandusky's disastrous interview with Bob Costas does not seem to help his case at all.

NCAA president Mark Emmert sent a letter to Penn State president Rod Erickson saying that it will be looking into "Penn State's exercise of institutional control over its intercollegiate athletics programs" though it recognizes "that there are ongoing federal and state investigations and the NCAA does not intend to interfere with those probes." He also listed several questions that University officials must now answer by December 16 as part of the probe—you can read the whole letter below. Emmert doesn't exactly spell out what the ramifications of the NCAA's investigation could be, but if they really wanted to stick it to the school they could, in theory, decide to vacate its record for as long as the coverup went on.

Meanwhile the full transcript of the Bob Costas interview with Sandusky has come online and its a doozy. There are a couple of interesting quotes that didn't make the final cut but the one that caught our attention was this:

BOB COSTAS: But you're a man who by his own admission has showered with young boys, highly inappropriate. Who has continually put himself in the presence of young boys, volunteer high school coach, volunteer at a small local college, even after — you were largely disassociated from Penn States. Multiple reports of you getting into bed with young boys who stayed at your house in a room in the basement. How do you account for these things? And if you're not a pedophile, then what are you?

JERRY SANDUSKY: Well I'm a person that has taken a strong interest. I'm a very passionate person in terms of trying to make a difference in the lives of some young people. I worked very hard to try to connect with them. To make them feel good about themselves. To — be something significant in their lives. Maybe this gets misinterpreted, has gotten depending on — I know a lot of young people where it hasn't. I have worked with many, many young people where there has been no misinterpretation of my actions and I have made a very significant difference in their lives.

BOB COSTAS: But isn't what you're just describing the classic MO of many pedophiles? And that is that they gain the trust of young people, they don't necessarily abuse every young person. There were hundreds, if not thousands of young boys you came into contact with, but there are allegations that at least eight of them were victimized. Many people believe there are more to come. So it's entirely possible that you could've helped young boy A in some way that was not objectionable while horribly taking advantage of young boy B, C, D, and E. Isn't that possible?

JERRY SANDUSKY: Well — you might think that. I don't know. (LAUGHS) In terms of — my relationship with so many, many young people. I would — I would guess that there are many young people who would come forward. Many more young people who would come forward and say that my methods and — and what I had done for them made a very positive impact on their life. And I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped. There are many that I didn't have — I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways.

And now, while you let that sink in, here's the letter to PSU from the NCAA:

Tagged

bob costas

jerry sandusky

NCAA

penn state

psu

Garth Johnston

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