Blue White Illustrated

Since the announcement of the lawsuit, there has been much discussion among sports law experts about its chances of success. Several pundits, notably ESPN's Lester Munson, have argued that the NCAA has broad powers to ensure that member schools promote "ethical conduct" and "individual integrity." Writes Munson, "In its description of the limits on the NCAA's authority, the Paterno group relies on the assertion that in the thousands of pages of NCAA regulations there is no rule that prohibits what happened at Penn State. Although the assertion appears to be technically correct, it may not be enough for the group to succeed." However, John Infante, author of the widely read Bylaw Blog, said that the ambiguity of rules governing ethical behavior might provide an opening for both the Paternos' lawsuit and the antitrust suit filed by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett in January. "There's the chance for the plaintiffs — in both cases, in fact — to argue that rule doesn't mean anything, that you can't say you're following a rule, or say you have a rule that claims an organization can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants," Infante told NBC Sports. "That's going to be the main point of the legal arguments for both Corbett and the Paternos, and it's also going to be the piece the NCAA is trying to defend because it does give the association a lot of cover and leeway to take action like they did against Penn State." Sollers acknowledged that the NCAA is likely to "fight tooth and nail" to prevent the lawsuit from moving forward and entering into the discovery phase. But McGinn insisted that the lawsuit serves a critical purpose. "It's designed to try to correct the record here," he said. "We know that you can't undo all the damage that's been done. We know that this is going to be a fight for the long term. When I speak of the damage, it's not just to the Paterno family, the Paterno name; it's to Penn State, a great institution that has a great history and tradition in sports. It's to the alums there, the students, the faculty and the community. The NCAA wreaked enormous damage on this community, and this is just one way to get the record right." FOOTBALL PSU pushes back against SI story Sports Illustrated got the diagnosis wrong in a report in its May 20 edition on changes to Penn State's athletic medicine program. That was the unequivocal response from head coach Bill O'Brien, part of an aggressive effort by the athletic department on May 14 and 15 to rebut the story, which alleged that the university was making moves that "might lessen athletic health care." During a 30-minute teleconference, which followed a brief appearance on ESPN's "College Football Live" and the release of several official statements from the university, as well as reams of benchmarking data detailing how Penn State stacks up against other big-time schools, O'Brien fired back against the narrative set forth by SI. "We're just guys and women in this football program who are trying to do the best for Penn State," the secondyear coach said. "When we feel like there are things out there that just aren't accurate, that are way off-base, I believe as a university, we need to argue that and fight that and not take it lying down. That's the way I feel about this. "I'm here to answer questions, and that's what I've done. I do not hire and fire doctors. I don't know anything about being a doctor. I just know that I'm in charge of this football program and I have to observe every aspect of this program to do what's right for our players. And that's what I've done from the day I got here." This past winter, Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli was relieved of his duties as the football team's head physician. Sebastianelli will continue to direct the university's athletic medicine program, a role that includes oversight of football. The team's new head physician is Dr. Peter Seidenberg, and its orthopedic surgeon is Dr. Scott Lynch. SI's story alleged that athletic director Dave Joyner had had a professional rivalry with Sebastianelli dating to Sebastianelli's hiring in 1992. In a prepared statement, Joyner said it's "terribly unfortunate some want to make baseless accusations." O'Brien leapt to the athletic director's defense, as well, describing SI's story as a "character assassination on Dave Joyner." Responding to the many sources cited in the story – some named, some unnamed – O'Brien said he and his staff have done everything in their power to ensure that players' well-being is Penn State's top priority. "We've got a helluva coaching staff," he said. "We've got people who work in this building who are the best that I've ever been around. And we're just trying to do the best for Penn State. "At the end of the day, I wish people would see that and understand that. That's what we're trying to do. At the end of the day, it can get frustrating, but at the same time, I want people to understand that the No. 1 priority for myself and our staff here at Penn State is our players. We have a deep connection with our players. "We are fighting an uphill battle. We are at 65 scholarships, 67 scholarships. You think for one second I would jeopardize the health and safety of this football team? With 65 kids on scholarship? That's preposterous." Penn State will have a primary care physician at all practices and games this fall. On Sundays, a physician will examine all players who took part in the game the previous day and any other players needing medical attention. In addition, an orthopedic doctor will attend at least one practice per week and all games and will be available after practice three additional days if necessary. He will also be available on Sunday to examine players.

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