It was sadly fitting Sunday that before Penn State dragged down its monument to Joe Paterno, it first erected a buffer of fences and shields.

Secrecy, to the ugly end.

Monday, the NCAA will hand down punishment. It will not demand the death penalty. Still, Penn State football, as it has become known, will be toppled like that statue.

By then, though, it will be time to move on. The statue is gone. The school president was fired. Paterno is deceased.

Penn State even did what not many would do --- pay a premium fee for a former FBI director to go on TV and reveal its every horrible secret about its football program's hesitancy to stifle a chid-abuse scandal.

The victims remain and will be scarred for life. Tragic. But Jerry Sandusky is in jail for that, and Penn State presumably will pay millions in settlements. It's not cure-all system. But Penn State can't do much more, not now.

Finally, there is nothing more to hide.


Check out my column on the situation in the Daily Times Monday and, as always, on delcotimes.com