A rogue program, an iconic coach, and an unspeakable tragedy
Ronald A. Smith is a professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University. His books include Pay for Play: A History of Big-Time College Athletic Reform, Play-by-Play: Radio, Television, and Big-Time College Sport, Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big-Time College Athletics, and Big-Time Football at Harvard: The Diary of Coach Bill Reid.
"A distinguished Penn State sport historian gives us an intriguing
account of his institution's athletics history and daunting journey
through a period of national humiliation in well-chosen,
research-guided language that holds the reader's interest start to
finish."--Joe Crowley, former president, NCAA
"With exhaustive primary source exploration and riveting
exposition, superimposed on an examination of Penn State as a
fulcrum, Ron Smith examines the 'real controllers' of college
sport—university presidents, boards of regents, and alumni—each of
which over time have tended to separate college athletics from an
institution’s intended academic purpose, and, as well, cast
institutions into scandals of immense proportion, of which the Joe
Paterno/Jerry Sandusky case thrust Penn State’s Happy Valley utopia
into an abyss of staggering anguish and disbelief."--Bob Barney,
author of Selling the Five Rings: The IOC and the Rise of Olympic
Commercialism
"Smith thoroughly documents decades of events that led to the
Sandusky abuse of children. Smith's detailed history of sports
administration at Penn State illustrates how the abuse evolved and
was ignored in a cloud of conflicting priorities. The reader
wonders what kept the individuals in power from not responding
sooner and appropriately."--John Swisher, Professor Emeritus,
Pennsylvania State University
"Wounded Lions is a good book, a solidly researched account,
written by an experienced, first-rank historian."--Sport History
Review
"Smith's understanding of the scandal at Penn State within the
larger context of athletic history at the university not only
demonstrates that the environment that creates a scandal takes many
years to develop, but also that understanding contemporary issues
require a look back at history. . . . Overall, Wounded Lions
presents strong evidence that the Sandusky Scandal cannot be
limited merely to the coach's transgressions. Smith makes a
compelling case for his argument and bolsters it with archival
materials and his personal experience at Penn State."--Sport in
American History
"Using Penn State archives and other research materials, Smith
traces how football, and specifically Paterno, gained unquestioned
influence on the campus. The author provides admirable research,
complete with illuminating anecdotes.--Kirkus Reviews
"As Smith evaluates the scandal and its origins from a multitude of
institutional angles, the narrative reflects a deep research into
the internal workings of a prominent athletic program, a valuable
resource."--Library Journal
"For those well acquainted with Intercollegiate Athletics or for
the casual fan this meticulous history will be a revelation. . . .
What Ron Smith has done is produce a detailed indictment of an
isolated administrative and athletic culture that left the
institution and its representatives unable 'to do the right thing,'
when faced with a crisis."--Huffington Post
"Based on extensive archival research and insider knowledge, this
book convincingly demonstrates that PSU actually had a lengthy
history of leadership missteps, which the entire Happy Valley
community overlooked to protect the university's pristine image.
Recommended." --Choice
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