So.

The new president of Penn State has decided, contra the media, that the school really doesn't have a scandal on its hands, after all.

"It grieves me very much when I hear people say 'the Penn State scandal,' " Rodney Erickson told an unhappy group of alums last week. "This is not Penn State. This is 'the Sandusky scandal.' We're not going to let what one individual did destroy the reputation of this university."

Granting, indeed, that it is Sandusky who is charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period, let's take a look at Erickson's plaint, shall we?

• Two former longtime Penn State administrators, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, are facing charges for allegedly lying to a grand jury about Sandusky's reported crimes and for failing to report suspected sexual abuse of a minor.

• A nearly beatified Penn State head football coach was fired after the public learned that he had done next to nothing when one of his Penn State assistants told him that he had seen Sandusky — a longtime Penn State defensive coordinator — raping a young boy in a shower in a Penn State shower.

• The alleged rape occurred a month before Penn State completed a business deal with a charity founded by Sandusky.

• As Penn State bigwigs were failing to notify police about the incident, Penn State's then-head football coach, a Penn State trustee and the head of Sandusky's charity were pursuing another business deal — a $125 million real-estate luxury condo venture to be called "The Village at Penn State."

Gosh, Rodney, you're right. I see no reason this should be tagged a Penn State scandal. Don't know what we were thinking. Sorry.

Incidentally, Erickson is the same guy who, nine days after perjury charges were filed against Curley and Schultz —
at the time both still on the job at Penn State — boasted in a memo that the school's PR teams had met to "align our messages" and that "we are taking control of the narrative of our story."

Good luck with that.

• • •

In April, Manny Ramirez retired from baseball rather than serve a 50-game suspension for steroid use — the second time he had been busted for violating the game's drug policies. Now, he is trying to talk his way into one last major league payday. Let's see what he has to say:

"I want to show people that Manny can change, that he can do the right thing. And to show people that I still can
play. I don't want to leave the game like I did. I also want to show my kids that if you make a mistake, don't quit.
Just go back and fix it. And if you're going to leave, leave the right way."

So.

Manny, known most recently for quitting on teammates, faking injuries, using banned substances and shoving a 64-year-old traveling secretary to the ground in a dispute over free tickets for his family, now wants to be a role model.

For kids.

What am I missing here? Where does this guy get the nerve to ...

Oh, wait; now I get it. Manny's just trying to take control of the narrative of his story.

Good luck with that.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.