In response to:
Not often that I disagree with Mr. Prager (and agree with the NCAA, I feel dirty having said that), but if this incident had been revealed in 1998 there clearly would have been recruiting implications for the team. The benefited by hiding the incident which was their motivation. Limiting the incentives (including I think removing a strong portion of Mr. Paterno's past earnings) is the only logical response to this kind of coverup.
One of the NCAA's punishments of Penn State was the vacating of all its football team's wins from 1998 through 2011. It was in 1998 that Penn State coach Joe Paterno and university officials became aware of the accusation that assistant coach Jerry Sandusky had showered with a young boy.
As a result, Penn State's 112 wins are no longer wins, and Joe Paterno is no longer the coach with the most wins in college football history. Instead of 409 victories, his record shows 298.
Before explaining why this decision is morally wrong, I should note that...
socialism, collectivism and liberalism from a secular institution
control of the individualism
and
regulation of businesss and free enterprise.
There is of course the issue of the players who were recruited during this time and have suffered the punishment (in change in records) for something they were presumably not responsible for. But because Robin Hood gave his money to the poor does not mean the theft is ok or that we shouldn't recover the stolen money.