We keep feeding beast known as football

The Monday night football game wasn't much of a promo for the new Vikings stadium. We are in the midst of a typical shakedown where somehow or other the citizenry will subsidize an opulent new facility.

A flat piece of ground and some bleachers used to be good enough. Each new generation of stadiums gets more elaborate. Jerry Jones of Dallas is leading us toward outright theme parks. These are shrines to a sport that up until now has had us infatuated.

That infatuation has always been suspect. It's the reason why now the Penn State scandal is front and center. A man who should be treated as nothing more than a creep, processed through our criminal justice system, is treated as a celebrity albeit a notorious one.

NBC News sought him for an interview. This was the ultimate "get," as they say in the media industry. There might have been some high fives at the NBC offices. Then Bob Costas composed himself and directed questions at the creep.

Why do we care so much about the creep? He was a fixture connected to one of the most storied college football programs. He had proven himself a winner.

Winning is a cornerstone of the American culture. We need to learn everything we can about what makes winners tick.

Had the creep been a coach in a program that hadn't distinguished itself, the media glare wouldn't be there.

It has been said of Clem Haskins that he lives much better today, as a somewhat disgraced former coach, than if he had followed all the rules. He won but he had to be edgy doing so.

Living on the edge is like investing in the riskiest stocks. Or, as they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. We get bored quickly with losers. We say we care about integrity but we want to see winners.

Our attention span has never been so fragile. Our culture has conquered boredom in a way that never could have been imagined a couple of decades ago. It's a mixed bag as a result. Our instant gratification nature makes us reject losers and losing like never before.

We build up this shrine for football and then worship there. And then we sit aghast when disgusting things are turned up in some of these programs.

At the risk of showing age prejudice I'll say the Penn State football program was run by a very old man who increasingly wasn't capable of acting in much more than a ceremonial role.

Aging can be an unkind process. It's especially unkind for people who lack (financial) means. Heavens, Joe Paterno never would have lacked means. It's not an affront to suggest someone like him retire.

Paterno was at the top of a supremely powerful organization and money machine that did nothing more than entertain people by running over the opposition or tackling them with abandon.

We are learning that Penn State football was way too integral to the stature of its community. When you have a stadium that holds 100,000 in an arguably remote part of the state, something seems out of kilter.

Imagine if the University of Minnesota were located in, say, Redwood Falls. The location makes it harder than it should be for this institution to sustain itself. It's an unfair position.

Jesse Ventura once said St. Paul must have been laid out by drunken Irishmen. How did things develop in Pennsylvania where a huge institution like Penn State ended up so isolated? I don't know if Irishmen were involved but the inebriation part applies.

It's 4:34 a.m. as I write this and MSNBC drones in the background, touting the "exclusive" Bob Costas interview with the wrongdoer in the PSU scandal. And I won't say "alleged" either.

Right now the creep is talking about "horsing around" in the shower. Why are we so anxious to even hear this guy's voice?

He's famous because he's associated with a winner. Winning is vital to Penn State and to State College PA because a high profile is deemed so necessary there.

It's 4:38 a.m. now and I'm listening to Herman Cain try to talk about Libya. I find that far more agreeable than listening to the creep.

If Penn State University were connected to a very large and diverse city it could benefit from the synergy of power. The college and city would have shared interests. But by being in "the rolling hills of Pennsylvania," as it is described (which sounds very nice), the institution falls into a desperate pattern of seeking attention in the most direct and primal way.

And this isn't done through scientific research. It isn't done through scholarly inroads. It's done through winning football games.

Paterno was allowed to become a godlike figure there. His cognitive abilities toward the end weren't up to the task anymore. Now, the scandal has left him crushed in its wake.
As the weeks pass and he suddenly comes to realize how truly mortal and unimportant he is, I hope he realizes that the only way to salvage any of his legacy is to "come clean." He should have a catharsis.
The truth likes sunshine. We all feel cleansed when ultimately just telling the truth. Surely he knew more about the "bad guy" in all this than he has admitted so far.

Seriously, I think his best defense, even legally, would be based on generation: "I'm 84 years old and I grew up in a time when this offending behavior was sort of behind a cloud, it was taboo to talk about it directly, and we all just sort of moved on without intervening."

It's rather lame but it might be the best he can do. He can surely live with himself by just telling the truth.

Here's another major aspect, one which I haven't even heard experts on HLN elaborate on yet: The firm action of coming down on Jerry Sandusky had to be taken immediately. It had to be taken when the first allegations began floating.

That sounds obvious but think deeper: As soon as the slightest step is taken to cover up or delay, that cover up has to be maintained lest the higher-ups themselves get the ax. Well they certainly have gotten the ax now.

It reminds me of a historical reflection I read about WWII once. Hitler had to keep fighting because he had no choice. Had he just stopped fighting (what we would desire), well, the other world powers would have come to get him.

The cover-up at Penn State, once it started, had to be continued. Fortunately the house of cards came down.

We are left with the problem of an institution having disproportionate power where it is located. Visualize the 100,000-seat stadium in the "rolling hills of central PA." Doesn't the Metrodome hold just half that? And it's in Minneapolis?

Beaver Stadium must be a shrine to something bigger than football. There is an incestuous relationship among too many of the influential people there, people who owe so much to that shrine.

Look at the judge who just let Sandusky walk. Sandusky is totally free - no ankle bracelet and no money needed up front. The judge was connected to his "charity."

Can local politics be overcome to see justice done?

Our best ally in this, ironically, is the media in spite of its attraction to the salacious details. The truth likes sunshine.

Maybe when it all becomes known, we can rethink our obsession with big-time football. Maybe when Hank Williams Jr. asks "are you ready for some football?" we can sometimes answer "no."

Poor Hank. He was just saying what he thought his Fox News hosts wanted to hear.

Fox News may not be what it appears to be. We learn that Barack Obama is the "Wall Street president" so how, really, can conservatives take much issue? Maybe in an odd sort of way, Fox News is giving President Obama "cover."

I'm glad I wasn't ready for football last night (Monday, 11/14). The Vikings lost to the Packers 45-7. Boomers may be realizing for the first time that the Vikings can be a dull chronic loser.

Will we say "uncle" as Zygi Wilf twists our arm? Will we just fork over the money or allow more gambling which is just a regressive tax that hurts the less well off?

By succumbing to the temptation of increased gambling, are we courting the spectre of "Pottersville," that disturbing place in "It's a Wonderful Life" where everything has gotten corrupted thanks to the quintessential Republican, "Mr. Potter?"

Let's pray that we can keep our healthy perspective.
But I'm not betting on it.

- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com