GameDay: In the Aftermath of JoPa
CBS 5 Sports Director Dennis O'Donnell hosts "Gameday" every Sunday night at 11:30pm and offers his unique sports analysis here.
STATE COLLEGE, PA (CBS 5) - In 31 years covering sports I have never reported on a situation as tragic as that of Penn State and the fall of college football's most legendary coach.
In its aftermath we will likely discover pieces of a massive cover-up exposed to an unprecedented degree. To me, it is a reminder to keep sports in proper perspective. No program, be it college or professional, should be bigger than the purpose it serves, which is entertainment. Tonight's Raiders-Chargers game is just that. A brief escape from the daily grind of an eight-hour workday, if you're lucky enough to have a job.
When the sport becomes bigger than the purpose, there are those who believe they are above the law. The worst-case scenario is Jerry Sandusky who scarred young boys for the rest of their lives while the most powerful people at Penn State turned their backs.
I am tired of reporting on police blotter during a nightly sportscast. Baseball's steroid scandal, HGH, the Tour De Farce, illegal recruiting gifts, officials betting on games, the Tiger Woods scandal… the list goes on. The common denominator to all of this is greed and the mistaken belief that if you are big enough, strong enough, famous enough, you will NEVER be caught. Therein lays the great miscalculation.
See you on TV.
