Ah, yes. The twist arrives...

◊ On PennLive yesterday (didn't check my google alerts last night), a story posted on Philly.com was discussed. The Philly.com story was a feature/profile on Steelers DT Scott Paxson (PSU '02-05). Nice little piece. It talked about the adversity he over came, particularly after being charged with sexual assault in Spring '06, an incident which supposedly occurred 14 months earlier. We all know the story... or so we thought.

"Another former Penn State player, running back Austin Scott, also was charged with sexual assault 2 years ago. The charges against him finally were dropped last April, the weekend of the draft. Scott, like Paxson, wasn't drafted."

Yeah, all of that is old news. ESPN blasted PSU all last year with it, remember? Penn State players are no good, criminals, period.

"The prosecutor in both cases, assistant DA Lance Marshall..."

Ah yes, the douchebag, who seemingly went after Penn State football players like hicks after Muslims.

"...resigned Dec. 30 after it was revealed he was being investigated by the state Attorney General's Office after allegations were made that he had improper contact with a victim of domestic violence in a case he was assigned to prosecute. Marshall allegedly sent the woman more than 100 sexually explicit text messages on his county-issued cell phone."

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! I'm sorry, I know it was during the holidays, and we all were a bit preoccupied with the Rose Bowl. But I never heard about that part of the story until I read it yesterday. My first reaction is to demand an apology (or at least demand Penn State demand an apology) from ESPN for portraying Penn State's legal history in the light they did, when we now know the entire legal system in Centre County was compromised. But, it wasn't made into a huge story, by ESPN or Penn State. That's probably the smart move. Why revisit the issue? Penn State has moved on, and ESPN will continue its sensationalist, yellow journalism. It's still a really juicy bit of news I wish I saw sooner.