I must admit that I thought the Jerry Sandusky case was a done deal. Based on reports from last week, that is not the situation. Until now, I was unaware that there is an ongoing appeal of his conviction and his lawyers are trying to get his case removed from Pennsylvania State Courts and into Federal Court. And just last week, I read that one of Sandusky’s accusers wants to recant his testimony saying he was coached and pressured by prosecutors prior to the original trial.
I don’t understand why the lawyers want this case in Federal Court as opposed to Pennsylvania State Court; but given that they seem to have been working toward that objective for several years, there must be some advantage there.
I am unhappy with the statement of one of the purported victims that he now wants to recant his testimony and that he was pressured into saying whatever he did say in the original trial about 15 years ago. Lady Justice is portrayed as being blind to symbolize that only the weight of the evidence on the scales will decide guilt or innocence. However, that also implies that Lady Justice cannot see how the evidence presented by either side has been obtained.
Do not misinterpret here. I am not suggesting that Jerry Sandusky is as clean as the driven snow. As I recall, he faced several dozen charges and was found guilty of just about all of them; I don’t know what the basis of his ongoing appeal might be. What bothers me is a victim saying he was pressured to testify as he did; that is a bad situation no matter how you look at it; the victim lied in the trial and the prosecutor coached him in that lie. As we learned in algebra class:
- (Not Good) X (Not Good) = (Not Good)2
Moving on … After the final NFL Exhibition Games were in the books so to speak, the league and the players union agreed to implement a new “suspension rule” for players who are flagged for five specific penalties that are highly injurious. Those penalties are for:
- Horse collar tackle
- Hip drop tackle
- Blindside block
- Hit on a defenseless player
- Launching
Players who commit three such penalties in the course of a season will be suspended for a game meaning they will lose one-seventeenth of their contract value. Moreover, the system of fines for single occurrences of these penalties remains in place; the league and the union have turned up the volume on the financial risk associated with such play. All players begin the 2026 season with a clean slate but here is a real kicker:
- The accounting continues over from season to season.
One more NFL note today … The Jax Jags play their home games in EverBank Stadium. The stadium is undergoing “significant renovation” which will necessitate removing some of the seating. Maximum capacity for EverBank Stadium this year will be 43,500, which is the lowest in attendance in the NFL by a wide margin. The smallest stadium in the league will be the Bills’ New Highmark Stadium that will open this season; it seats 60,108.
The “significant renovation” will not be completed this season and evidently the construction required to finish the job will render EverBank Stadium inoperable for the 2027 season. Not to worry, the Jags will not be playing in London for the entire season; rather, the team will play home games in relatively nearby Orlando in Camping World Stadium which hosts several college bowl games every December. The plan says that all will be ready at EverBank Stadium for the start of the 2028 NFL regular season.
Finally, this from Stephen Leacock:
“It is to be observed that ‘angling’ is the name given to fishing by people who can’t fish.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………