Penn State removed the statue of Joe Paterno from the entrance to their football stadium. They pried the brass plaques off the wall which listed his winning seasons.
The one often referred to as "Joe Pa" proved to be a flawed individual who was anything but a responsible Pa to the young men being abused in the Penn State locker room.
His was a sin of omission; a failure to do what needed to be done. It was a failure to protect the powerless, and for a person of faith, a failure to live an ethical life.
Both the university and the NCAA took away from Joe Paterno, now deceased, that which he apparently valued more than the lives of those young men: his record as a football coach, and with it his place in history and his reputation. Of course his family is devastated; they will be carrying the shame he has avoided.
In the story of David and Bathsheba, the child born of David's power grab of Uriah's wife, was struck ill and died. At least that young man was spared the humiliation of forever being known as 'the one' - the living example of David's sinfulness. His life was cut short but he was spared the shame that would have been his.
David repents wholeheartedly, apparently. But the damage was done. A life was taken.
The irony of having the David and Bathsheba story on the week when Penn State begins to bear the consequences of its shameful behavior is not lost on me.
Neither is the fact that lives were taken - and all for the sake of football. Sex and the Sinner, a modern saga.
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