If you haven't read the joint CBS/SI report on crime and college football yet, you're not missing much. Despite its flawed data analysis, overly-broad assumptions regarding crime, and seemingly nonsensical determination of which teams would receive in-depth assessments, the article has gotten plenty of air time, including a brief mention on last night's KDKA broadcast.
↵Numerous websites, including the SBN blog Black Shoe Diaries, Penn State-leaning blog Slow States, and the Yahoo! Sports in-house college football blog, are already beginning to shoot back at the article. And now, Penn State is officially commenting on the report, taking umbrage with the data used by the authors.
↵↵↵"We don't like to comment on assumptions based on flawed methodology," said Guido D'Elia, director of communications and branding for Penn State football. "It doesn't match up with what we know."
↵"We can't comment on stuff like this, because we think the whole process is flawed," D'Elia said.
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As a sports fan and a lawyer, the entire article strikes me as nothing more than a bunch of legal data spewed into an article, with no real analysis or comparative discussion. There are many serious charges and convictions among the young men that play college football, and those guilty should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. But to lump all crimes that are merely alleged or charged (the article makes little to no analysis about conviction rates) is flawed.
↵Because this article has the CBS and Sports Illustrated names attached to it, the analysis found therein will undoubtedly get plenty of discussion during the college football offseason. If you read the article, though, please do so with an analytical eye.