Penn State's Patriarchal Pastimes By Jerry Sandusky

When the news of Penn State’s beloved football coach's scandal broke, it brought up a lot of conversation. Fans tried to come to terms with what the coach had done, and what it meant for the future of Penn State’s football program. The nonfans started to question the morality of college sports the importance it has in our society. Some looked at the scandal and clearly saw Jerry Sandusky as a child molester. Whereas others, mostly fans, tried to somehow lessen the severity of Sandusky’s action to help them better cope with the fact that their beloved coach had committed such a horrible act. In “Penn State’s Patriarchal Pastimes” by Katha Pollitt, she has the perspective of a person who sees Sandusky’s actions as blatant child abuse. In “Joes

Frank phrases like, “ raping children” (Pollitt 1) grab the reader's attention. Her forceful words appeal to the reader’s ethics. Pollitt’s writing style leaves no room for the reader to argue that “ raping children” (Pollitt 1) is ethical. Deford choices to write with a softer tone when discussing the same topic as Pollitt. Deford uses words like, “pedophilia” (Deford 1). His softer word choice lessens the shock the reader feels when viewing the article. While an ethical person would think that pedophilia is wrong it does not give the same certainty of unethicality as Pollitt's word choice

She states that American culture has become too wrapped up in college sports, so much that it has affected America’s academics. Pollitt writes, “ In no other country’s university system, after all, does does sports play anything like the central role it does in American academic life” ( Pollitt 2). Though Deford also uses this logic stating, “ Overlook. Blind eye. Forgive them of their trespasses… keep them eligible” (Deford 1). He seems less convincing than Pollitt because of how briefly he discusses the subject. Pollitt supports her claim by including facts. She includes, “... grasped by only 1.5 percent of seniors who play NCAA football and basketball…” ( Pollitt 2) when talking about college players who achieve their goal of going pro and, “ … the graduation rate of Division I athletes, 65 percent, is nothing to cheer about” ( Pollitt 2). Though Pollitt's article becomes slightly off topic with the inclusion of these facts, it adds to her point, College athletes are given “free passes” in order to stay