Penn State lawsuit reaction: New York Times blasts Tom Corbett

The New York Times strongly denounced Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's decision to sue the NCAA for the sanctions placed on Penn State's football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky trial, publishing a harshly worded editorial Friday criticizing the lawsuit.

The editorial doesn't primarily focus on the meat and bones of the suit, which argues that the NCAA overstepped its bounds in penalizing Penn State football, but rather criticizes the general idea of the complaint. The Times mainly takes issue with the argument that Penn State football is an essential aspect of Pennsylvania's economy, and that punishing it for the actions of Sandusky was wrong -- an argument the Times sees as dangerously close to the "obsession with football predominance" that allowed a serial child molester to remain revered and uninvestigated in plain sight.

It would be hard to imagine a more shortsighted misunderstanding of the scandal that continues to shake Penn State... The governor should know better than anyone that the tragedy is all about the outrageous abuse of children at Penn State, not continuing the business of football for Penn State fans.

The editorial goes on to call Corbett's lawsuit "brazenly misguided" and "foolhardy," and called the sanctions placed upon Penn State "highly deserved."

The Times further implies that the governor's suit is likely caused by political reasons with a re-election campaign approaching, and criticized his decision to hire an outside law firm rather than turning to his own Attorney General.