The Second Mile, the charity at the center of the child sex-abuse charges against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is obviously in major turmoil right now. And also in transition.
Today the current president resigned, saying he hoped his leave would help restore faith in their mission. The charity also announced it had hired Philadelphia’s longtime district attorney as its new general counsel.
According to the AP:
Jack Raykovitz, a practicing psychologist, had led the group, which was founded by Sandusky in 1977, for 28 years.
Raykovitz had testified before the grand jury that recommended indicting Sandusky on child abuse charges. The panel said Sandusky found his victims through the charity’s programs.
In other PSU scandal related news, the name of the Big Ten title trophy, to be awarded for the first time on December third, in the inaugural conference championship, will see the name of Joe Paterno removed.
Obviously, we all saw this coming and it is the right call.
The trophy will now be called the Stagg Championship Trophy.
“We believe that it would be inappropriate to keep Joe Paterno’s name on the trophy at this time,” Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in a statment. “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.”
Amos Alonzo Stagg won 319 games in 57 years, most at the University of Chicago. Paterno’s 409 wins are the most by a major college coach.
Penn State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten ) and Michigan State (8-2, 5-1) lead their respective divisions and will advance to the title game in Indianapolis if they win the rest of their games.
Expect the Wisconsin Badgers to say something about that though; they host the Nittany Lions in the final week. By the way, as a graduate of Amos Alonzo Stagg high school in Palos Hills, IL, I’m all for this move.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, a Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports.
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; he’s also a member of the FWAA, USBWA and SPJ. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.