Dark Days for the Student-Athletes in Happy Valley
From November 9, 2011
Before the Dream Team united to make Winner’s Take a reality, I had toyed with the idea of starting a blog about sports’ positive role in everyday life. The Brighter Side, I thought I would call it, a fresh take on all the things that make sports great. Well, I’m not sure I could ever remember a week when the top sports story of the week was as far from The Brighter Side as could be.
One of the greatest things about sports is the way it can help us escape. For the athlete, there’s nothing quite like stepping between the lines, devoting every physical, emotional, and mental attribute they have to the competition, and leaving all other conflicts and pressures behind. Just the same for the fan, sports provides an opportunity to escape for a moment the headlines of an economic downturn, terrorist threats, or impending medical bills. Yet, this week the inverse occurred.
I have 3 sportstalk radio stations on my dial and no matter where I turned, the story remained the same: the disgusting, infuriating news out of Penn State. Our safe haven of sports was marred by the most uncomfortable, disturbing story imaginable. ESPN, SI, Yahoo!, you couldn’t look up a score or stat without having to confront the nightmare, and all of a sudden the great escape you were looking for left you with little more than a bad taste in your mouth and a little less faith in society. Who would have ever thought switching to news of harassment allegations against a Presidential nominee could be more light-hearted than what you found on the sports page?
Yet, lost in the emotions of what I’m sure for most people is some concoction of rage, disbelief, and sorrow, is the fact that roughly a hundred student-athletes will now be suiting up for the biggest 3 games of their season amidst this thunderstorm. A group of young men that surely were in part lured to the University by the opportunity to play for and learn from the honorable legend that for so long has been the face and name of the University. Now, due to a disturbing tragedy they are no more responsible for, and surely even more disturbed by, than any ordinary citizen off the street, they will be without their leader for the season’s final stretch. Their performance will surely be highly scrutinized, and while everyone would excuse them for falling apart at this point, here’s to hoping they don’t.
As disturbing as the week was for the casual fan, it must have been flat-out hellacious for the players simply attempting to fulfill their commitments as student-athletes. So while there is nothing other than disgust that arises from the news out of Happy Valley, perhaps the Brighter Side that can be found in all of this is that in the darkest and most disturbing hours of these athletes' careers, there is always the possibility that the locker room bond can grow stronger than ever before and fill the affected individuals with a support that is in short supply from all other places. And perhaps, just perhaps, they'll be able to step between those lines on Saturday, and for a few hours, forget about the terror of the last week and go enjoy what they were recruited to Penn State to do, play football at the highest level. And perhaps, just perhaps, for us fans, we'll be able to see Penn State and Nebraska out on that field, and for a few moments, the only thoughts that will cross our mind will be regarding the two great football teams on the field, and the escape route will once again be open.
