A large and vociferous group of Penn State students converged on Old Main at the Penn State campus Monday night to clamor for the return of Joe Paterno's statue.
Monday, the NCAA announced that the two years left on Penn State's bowl ban would be lifted and the Nittany Lions would be immediately eligible for postseason play.
As part of the sanctions for the sex abuse scandal surrounding former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, Penn State was hit with a loss of scholarships and a bowl ban among other penalties. The team will also have a full scholarship allotment in 2015.
The group chanted "Where's the statue?" in reference to the statue of Paterno that was taken down outside Beaver Stadium on July 22, 2012, a day before the penalties were announced against the school.
According to the Penn State Collegian, the rally had over 1,000 students and before the group ended up at Old Main, they were at Beaver Stadium. It was largely a peaceful protest, and the paper reported that the only damage from the gathering occurred to a stop sign.
While we can see the need for some to celebrate the removal of the sanctions, immediately turning the sentiments towards the statue of Paterno, a statue that has been gone for over two years, is odd. But odd is a great way to describe the sentiments of some Penn State fans surrounding the statue.
The statue was removed by the school after details of Paterno's role in the scandal were known. It was not part of the NCAA sanctions against the school and, quite frankly, it's insignificant for any reasons other than symbolic ones if the statue goes back up.
Plus, there's a stark difference between the reduction of penalties and the absolution of them. The NCAA's penalties didn't simply just disappear and Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 charges in his criminal trial. Monday's action doesn't mean everything can return to what it used to be before the statue was taken down and the sanctions weren't put in place. There's a time and place to discuss any future tributes to Joe Paterno. Monday night was not one of them.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Penn State students rallied for the return of the Joe Paterno statue Monday night (Video)
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