Opinion: Penn State Is Wrong To Ban Sweet Caroline
By: Ryan Wooley
As Penn State tries to move past the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal, a report surfaced this week that the university will no longer play "Sweet Caroline" at home games because of lyrics that may be deemed inappropriate — which is the line "touching me, touching you".
Now for anybody that has heard the song at a wedding, sporting event or on the radio, you know it is an instant classic and one that pretty much everybody sings along with when given the opportunity. But is this taking it too far? I think it is.
What happened at Penn State University was no doubt tragic and something that never should have taken place. However, it did happen and being ultra-sensitive in regards to what you play within the football stadium doesn't do anything for the university to move forward, and instead, brings more bad press upon it.
I mean think about it. Is the song truly about a child molester? Does it make someone a child molester or think of one by singing it? Of course not. So what good comes from banning the song from the stadium?
Someone could argue that Neil Diamond wrote it about 11 year old Caroline Kennedy which is a bit creepy, but last I checked Diamond isn't a child molester, so why is a song that has been a tradition within the sports realm now vilified because of the sick actions of one man?
I find it kind hypocritical that people are all for the banning of this song, yet they're probably the same fans that stand up and clap to the beat in stadiums across the country when "Rock'n'Roll part 2" by Gary Glitter comes on.
Glitter is actually a convicted sex offender for having pornographic images of children on his laptop and for having sex with an underage girl which happened to be 14! So how come his song hasn't been banned from venues?
I believe with Penn State going down this road and other sporting venues possibly following suit with songs that may trigger bad memories for those in attendance, eventually the play list will become so short will be left with just old school hits like "Let's Get Ready To Rumble" and "Pump Up The Volume" from the Jock Jams CD collection—that is of course unless those can somehow be tied into something terrible and then we will all just have to sit in silence.
Follow Ryan Wooley on Twitter @WooleyMammoth85
