Penn State AD Says "409" Stickers Were "Inappropriate and Insensitive"

Friday's announcement that the NCAA would restore Joe Paterno's 409 wins, stripped in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, led to jubilation in State College. That included shows of support from other athletes: Penn State's men's hockey team wore stickers reading "409" on their helmets for that night's game. The school's recently hired athletic director says they shouldn't have done that.

On Saturday morning, Sandy Barbour responded to a tweet critical of the stickers:

(The Twitter account she was replying to has been deleted. It's unclear why, though that person quickly became a target of harassment by PSU supporters. The original tweet that Barbour was responding to has been preserved in a screenshot.)

The Penn State men's basketball team had planned to wear "409" shirts in warmups on Saturday, but that idea was nixed—though whether by coaches or by administrators isn't clear.

Alissa Clendenen, sports information director for the men's basketball team, said via email the team considered wearing shirts that said "409," but didn't. The team's SID told The Daily Collegian,

"The team considered wearing the shirts; however, the decision was made against it prior to Saturday morning. Ultimately, we wanted to keep the focus on our team and our game."

Saturday night, after Barbour had spent the day getting shit from cult members, she went back to Twitter to reaffirm her commitment to the memory of Joe Paterno.