Frank Pallotta is a freelance writer and lifetime resident of Syracuse, New York. He graduated from Syracuse University in 2009. The views in this article are his alone and do not reflect the views of HLNtv.com.
Penn State and Syracuse University have always been closely linked. They were football rivals, athletic crown jewels of the northeast, and were known for the long-term tenures of each of their beloved coaches (Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim has been a figure of SU basketball since 1969). Unfortunately, they now find themselves linked in a much more sinister way.
I was born and raised in Syracuse, went to Syracuse University, wrote for the school’s newspaper, The Daily Orange, and have decked myself in bright orange to trek up to the Dome in the dead of winter to support Syracuse basketball. These things came naturally. They were, in a way, birth rites. I support my university as it has supported me and this is why, when the news first broke of child molestations allegations at Penn State, I wondered if something like that could happen here and, if so, what would come of it?
Now, I don’t have to ask. I know. Then again, I don’t know. The child molestation allegations against assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine only lead to more questions. With the Jerry Sandusky case, every piece of breaking news seemingly led us closer to the truth. With the Fine case, it’s the opposite. Every piece of evidence that would seemingly bring clarity to the situation has instead made things murkier. It's like we’ve been led everywhere but closer to some sort of truth.
Syracuse media outlets jumped on the secret recordings of Laurie Fine, who said she was aware of her husband’s alleged abuse of accuser Bobby Davis, and recently Davis told ESPN that he had a relationship with Laurie Fine. You’d think these things would help make the picture clearer, but they don’t. Why wasn’t the tape of Davis presented to the police earlier? Why didn’t it come out 10 days ago when ESPN first broke the story? Did Davis really have a relationship with Laurie Fine? She claims the tapes were tampered with. More questions, fewer answers.
Yes, the university has to protect themselves, especially after the lessons learned from the Penn State scandal, and I believe firing Fine was the right call. But that doesn’t even have anything to do with his guilt, since Fine himself has denied the charges.
Because this is my home -- my school -- I have followed this story as closely as anyone probably could and what I’ve found is mostly distractions that lead nowhere. Instead of hearing more about who knew what and when, we have on-air tribunals arguing for each side. Everyone has an opinion, yet no one really knows anything. Even the city of Syracuse, which is closely associated with the university, seems to be awash with citizen “reporters” with their own personal “sources.”
The fervor surrounding the case, and the desire to mitigate another Penn State-like tragedy has only inspired more misinformation, which sends the Syracuse rumor mill spinning off its hinges and further from the truth.
Yet, I wait. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “I reserve judgment as a matter of infinite hope.” Not hope of this story having a happy ending (I’m not naïve enough to think it will, no matter what is found), but rather infinite hope that the truth, and not more questions, will soon come out.
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