Differences, parallels in sexual-abuse scandals at Syracuse, Penn State

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Maybe the strange calm here can be attributed to Syracuse basketball's position atop the national polls, or to the normal stillness of an Adirondack winter.

Or perhaps it's because the Bernie Fine scandal has yet to yield criminal charges, sordid grand jury reports, student riots, or the stunning dismissal of both a college president and an iconic coach.

Whatever the reason, nearly two months after several sex-abuse allegations surfaced against Fine, coach Jim Boeheim's longtime top aide and neighbor, the worst of the storm seems to have passed this rusty Finger Lakes city.

As Boeheim's No. 1-ranked Orange prepared to meet Villanova on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, there were few reminders here of the case that so recently attracted national headlines.

Unlike the aftermath at Penn State, where child sex-abuse charges involving football assistant Jerry Sandusky touched off an earthquake that cost Joe Paterno his job, few alleged victims have come forward.

There has been no dramatic court testimony like that offered by Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary, no ongoing public protests, no frantic coaching searches, no administrative hand-wringing of the kind that's lingered in Happy Valley.

"The play of this team to reach No. 1 in the country has provided a big distraction from the Bernie Fine story," said Brent Axe, a sports talk-show host for Syracuse's WSKO The Score 1260. "Many people here in Central New York feel they have turned the page. Whether the worst is still to come or not, I get the sense that they are fearful of what is around the corner."

It's been three-plus weeks since the Syracuse Post-Standard, which has been reporting heavily on the Fine case and the ongoing federal probe, last ran an extensive story on it.

In fact, after an extended period when the subject hadn't even been raised, Boeheim seemed surprised to be asked about Fine following a Jan. 1 win over DePaul, his unbeaten Orange's 15th in a row.

"I'm only worried about one thing, this team," he responded. "I'm really not going to talk about anything. Everything will be played out. . . . Everything else will work its way out."

That's vastly different than Boeheim's defiant "I'm no Joe Paterno" remark, meant to dismiss the allegations against Fine when they were raised in November.