Thoughts From Under The Tree

Miss TigerBlog - she's no longer Little Miss TigerBlog because she's no longer little - had a lacrosse tournament Friday in South Jersey.

Game 1 was supposed to be at 1:30, with Game 2 at 4:30. The tournament is famous for its parking nightmares, so it was recommended that everyone get there early.

TB and MTB arrived before noon, figuring it'd take a half-hour or so to park, only to find that the parking lots were widely empty.

MTB's team warmed up and was getting ready to play when a huge bolt of lightning and crack of thunder appeared at around 1:25, cancelling the first round of games. And so it was that the team didn't play until 4:30, by which time TB, MTB and many others had been sitting under a tree for, well, a long time.

It was pretty nice, actually, as the lightning and thunder surrounded the field but never attacked. Not one raindrop fell, but the temperature and humidity both did, all while a nice breeze steadily blew through. Added all together, it made for a serene environment.

By the time the girls actually played, TB had met one parent who coaches football with former Princeton assistant Mike Schoenwolf and had relayed to Schoenwolf TB's message that he remains the dirtiest player TB ever played lunchtime basketball with here - not to mention a very good guy, so TB was happy to hear he's done so well coaching and administrating on the high school level.

Another parent, who arrived after the parking situation had deteriorated, talked about parking in a nearby residential neighborhood, one separated from the fields by a fence. It was a long walk around the fence to the fields, and when he considered hopping the fence, the owner of the house came by and offered him the use of a step ladder, as opposed to, say, calling the cops because he was trespassing.

Still another woman talked about how she ended up in business with her husband, laughing about transitioning back and forth between their person and professional relationships.

The jury was still deliberating in the Jerry Sandusky trial at the time, and the woman also mentioned that she was a Penn State alum.

Like any other alum that TB has ever heard, this woman spoke glowingly of the school, her experience there, her affection for it and her disbelief over what to make of the entire Sandusky episode.

TB has never met anyone who went to Penn State who didn't love it there. TB's own experiences at Penn State are limited, but he was amazed at how a school that gigantic could give a feel of being so small-town, so welcoming, so friendly, so intimate.

It's easy to forget that just about eight months ago, the beloved Joe Paterno was chasing down the record for all-time wins by a coach, Sandusky was known for his great defenses and charity work and Penn State University was an idyllic, sheltering place.

And then it all fell apart in one weekend.

Sandusky is where he belongs, facing up to 442 years in prison (442 years ago was the year 1570).
 
Paterno, in order, broke the record, tried to say he'd retire at the end of the year, was fired and then died of lung cancer that he didn't even know he had when the scandal all broke. What should have been an untarnished legacy of one of the all-time, top 10 greatest examples of what college athletics could and should be instead has become a debate over what he knew, what he did, what he should have done and how he in the world he didn't do more when children were being molested in his locker room.

And Penn State? The University is reeling, having seen two administrators already indicted, its president forced to resign (and, according to news reports, possibly facing his own legal issues) and almost surely on the hook for countless millions of dollars about to be paid out to settle lawsuits.

From under the tree, TB was asked the question of whether or not he could imagine something like that at Princeton.

His response is the same as it was when he first wrote about the scandal, back when it first started to break.

The answer is "Yes."

It could be happening here right now. Or at Harvard. Or with the Yankees. Or with your local youth sports league. Or in school. Or at the religious institution. Or anywhere.

Is it happening here right now? Unlikely. Is it possible? Yes. All it takes is one authority figure with the pathological makeup of Jerry Sandusky.

To think otherwise would be naive.

If it could be Jerry Sandusky and Penn State, it could be anywhere.

The difference is what to do about it. It cannot be covered up. That is what undoes everyone beyond just the abuser.

It's frightening to think that Princeton could be put into the same situation that Penn State has found itself all these months, with many of the same ramifications.

As TB has said before, one major difference between Penn State and Princeton is that no athletic endeavor here is bigger than the University itself, and therefore the football or basketball coach cannot become the most important person on campus.

TB hopes - is 100% certain, actually - that Princeton would act quickly in a similar situation, but all the action in the world wouldn't undo the damage that one predator could do to a school.

TB plays squash almost every day here. He spends a lot of time in the Caldwell lockerrooms.

He hopes that the one day he shows up at an odd time to grab something out of his locker that he doesn't see what Mike McQueary saw all that time ago.