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1. Former U.S. Attorney Richard Thornburgh, commissioned by the family of late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, poked enough holes in the Freeh Report to let the air out of it. Thornburgh’s report, released Sunday, illustrated that the Freeh Report was not the last word on the Penn State scandal -- merely the first. The NCAA built its case against Penn State on the Freeh Report because the Board of Trustees vouched for it. That’s not much of a defense now that the Freeh Report appears to be a rush to judgment. Instead, it’s one more blow against what credibility the NCAA has left.

2. By accepting Kyle Whittingham’s offer to become Utah co-offensive coordinator, Dennis Erickson did more than return to the sideline one year after being fired at Arizona State. He delayed his candidacy for the College Football Hall of Fame. Erickson’s record of 179-96-1 (.650) and two national titles (Miami, 1989-91) means his entry into the Hall is a question of when, not if. And his acceptance of the job confirms him as a guy less interested in the trappings of a million-dollar job than in coaching ball -- and kids.

3. Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops pushed offensive line coach James Patton out the door (to Indiana) after seven seasons because the Sooners’ running game has been mediocre for four years. In that time, Oklahoma hasn’t averaged more than 163 yards per game or finished higher than seventh in the Big 12. It may be a recruiting issue. The Sooners have had one All-American (tackle Trent Williams) in the last four years. Stoops will tell us the new direction of his running game by revealing Patton's replacement.

Former Penn State assistant Jay Paterno joined "Mike & Mike" earlier Monday to discuss what his family is hoping to accomplish with its response to the Freeh report and how it impacts his late father's legacy.

You can listen to the full interview here .

Judge Louis Freeh on Sunday responded to the Paterno family report criticizing his investigation into the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Freeh called the Paterno family report "self-serving" and noted that Paterno's testimony to a grand jury shows a lack of appropriate action by him and other top Penn State officials after former assistant Mike McQueary informed Paterno of a 2001 incident between Sandusky and a boy in the showers of the Lasch football building.

From Freeh's statement:

I stand by our conclusion that four of the most powerful people at Penn State failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade. These men exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being, especially by not even attempting to determine the identity of the child who Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001.

Here's the full statement.

The family of the late Joe Paterno on Sunday released a detailed report claiming that the Freeh report is "total failure" and rife with false allegations that discredited the former Penn State football coach.

Read the full Paterno family report, entitled "Critique of the Freeh Report: The Rush to Injustice regarding Joe Paterno." The Washington D.C.-based law firm of King & Spaulding led the family's investigation. A summary detailing the "Failures of the Freeh Report" can be found here.

Colleague Don Van Natta writes that the new report raises questions about the Louis Freeh-led investigation.

If the Freeh report was a prosecutor's relentless opening statement that delivered devastating, far-reaching consequences, the Paternos' rebuttal is a defense attorney's closing argument brimming with outrage and fury. It remains to be seen whether the public accepts the Paternos' fury and outrage as justified.

More to come ...

Sue Paterno, the widow of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, has emailed a letter to hundreds of former Penn State players, informing them that a report, commissioned by the family in response to the Freeh Report, will be released Sunday.

The Freeh Report, authored by former FBI head Louis Freeh, was highly critical of Joe Paterno and other administrators at Penn State in their handling of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal.

According to Sue Paterno's letter, the report presents "a persuasive critique of the Freeh report as a total disservice to victims of Sandusky and the cause of preventing child sex offenses."

Click here for more on the story.

Penn State's Bill O'Brien has earned another coaching honor for his Year 1 success in State College, and the latest award has a link to his predecessor.

O'Brien on Thursday night was named the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year winner at a ceremony in Houston. It's the third national coaching honor for O'Brien, who also earned the Maxwell Football Club's Collegiate Coach of the Year award and ESPN AT&T Coach of the Year award. O'Brien swept both Big Ten Coach of the Year awards after guiding Penn State to an 8-4 record, including wins in eight of its final 10 games. The first-time head coach guided Penn State through a difficult offseason that included the announcement of severe NCAA sanctions and the departures of several key players.

He beat out Ohio State's Urban Meyer, Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, Stanford's David Shaw, Kansas State's Bill Snyder and Vanderbilt's James Franklin for the Bryant award, which recognizes coaching excellence both on and off the field.

Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was the initial recipient of the Bryant award in 1986. Paterno had several famous matchups against Bryant's Alabama teams and had a friendship with the longtime coach. In 2001, Paterno broke Bryant's record for career coaching wins at a major conference (the record later was removed after the NCAA vacated Paterno's wins between 1998-2011).

O'Brien is the first Big Ten coach to win the Bryant award since Ohio State's Jim Tressel in 2002.

The Big Ten used to be the league of coaching stability.

Rewind to the 2005 season, and the Big Ten featured seven coaches -- Penn State's Joe Paterno, Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez, Michigan's Lloyd Carr, Minnesota's Glen Mason, Purdue's Joe Tiller, Northwestern's Randy Walker and Iowa's Kirk Ferentz -- who had been in their jobs for at least seven seasons. Paterno obviously had been at Penn State for a lot longer than that, but Alvarez was in his 16th and final season with the Badgers and Carr was in his 11th with the Wolverines.

Look at the Big Ten coaching landscape right now. Only one of those coaches, Ferentz, remains. The next longest-tenured is Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald, who took over following Walker's death in 2006. Indiana's Kevin Wilson, who just completed his second season, will be the longest-tenured coach in the Leaders Division in 2013. Eight of the Big Ten's 12 coaches will be in their first, second or third seasons next fall.

When was the last time the Big Ten had this type of coach turnover?

You have to look to the early 1990s to find similar results. Six Big Ten teams made coaching changes between 1989-92: Illinois (after 1991 season), Michigan (after 1989 season), Minnesota (after 1991 season), Northwestern (after 1991 season), Purdue (after 1990 season) and Wisconsin (after 1989 season). The league had 10 teams until 1993, so the 60 percent turnover rate in a three-year stretch certainly was significant.

The bad news is the Big Ten's national profile struggled during that time, much like it is now. The league went 4-9-1 in bowl games between 1990-92 and had just two teams in the final rankings in both 1991 and 1992. The good news is things improved the next few seasons, as the Big Ten posted winning bowl marks in 1993 and 1994 and won three consecutive Rose Bowls. Several coaching hires made between 1989-92 worked out well, namely Alvarez at Wisconsin and Gary Barnett at Northwestern.

The Big Ten hopes history repeats itself in the coming years.

Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was a victim of his own success when it came to winning Big Ten Coach of the Year honors.

Tressel never claimed the award despite dominating the league during most of his Buckeyes tenure. If Tressel had a down year midway through his run at Ohio State, only to get the team back to a league title or a BCS bowl the following year, he would have had a better chance.

In many ways, the Big Ten Coach of the Year award is about what happened the previous season or the previous offseason rather than the actual season for which the honor is presented. Recent history also shows first-year coaches who bolster programs have a good chance for the award.

And that's why Ohio State coach Urban Meyer might never win it.

Penn State's Bill O'Brien on Tuesday swept the Big Ten Coach of the Year honors -- the Hayes-Schembechler award (voted by the coaches) and the Dave McClain award (voted by the media). O'Brien guided Penn State to an 8-4 record in his first season.

He beat out another first-year Big Ten coach, Meyer, who went 12-0 in his first season in Columbus, including a road win against O'Brien's Lions. Buckeye fans were hopeful Meyer would be the first Ohio State boss to win Big Ten Coach of the Year honors since Meyer's mentor Earle Bruce got it in 1979.

O'Brien's selection stems primarily from the way he kept Penn State afloat after a turbulent summer that brought severe NCAA sanctions on the program, followed by the departures of several key players, including star running back Silas Redd. After an 0-2 start that had many writing off Penn State for the foreseeable future, O'Brien guided Penn State to wins in eight of its final 10 games (6-2 in Big Ten play).

Although Penn State actually won more games in the previous season -- the Lions' nine wins later were vacated -- O'Brien's work under such unusual circumstances made him a deserving candidate.

But it begs the question: Will Meyer ever win the award?

Unless Ohio State takes a surprising step backward during his tenure, probably not.

Let's look at the recent winners of the McClain Award.

Brady Hoke, Michigan, 2011

Backstory: Michigan went 7-6 in 2010 under coach Rich Rodriguez, who was fired following the Gator Bowl after a historically poor three-year run. Hoke came in from San Diego State and guided Michigan to an 11-1 record and a Sugar Bowl championship.

Mark Dantonio, Michigan State, 2010

Backstory: Michigan State tumbled to a 6-7 finish in 2009 and had a highly publicized off-field issue that decimated its roster for the Alamo Bowl. Dantonio guided the Spartans to an 11-1 regular-season mark in 2010.

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa, 2009

Backstory: Iowa improved from 9-4 in 2008 to 11-2 in 2009 and won an Orange Bowl championship. The 2009 season truly showed the Hawkeyes had escaped a down stretch from 2005-07.

Joe Paterno, Penn State, 2008

Backstory: Penn State went from 9-4 the previous season to an 11-1 regular-season mark, a Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl (all wins later were vacated). The Lions were in the national title talk for much of the 2008 campaign.

Ron Zook, Illinois, 2007

Backstory: Illinois went from 2-10 in 2006 (4-19 in Zook's first two seasons) to a Rose Bowl berth in 2007. The Illini knocked off then-No. 1 Ohio State in Columbus.

Bret Bielema, Wisconsin 2006

Backstory: Bielema was in his first year as a head coach and led Wisconsin to an 11-1 record in the regular season (12-1 following a bowl victory).

Joe Paterno, Penn State, 2005

Backstory: The Lions had endured losing seasons in three of the previous four years, and calls for Paterno's retirement had increased. He then shocked everyone by guiding Penn State to a Big Ten championship and an Orange Bowl title (both later vacated).

See the pattern here?

The award either goes to first-year coaches or coaches who have bolstered a team's win total from the previous season.

Meyer did both at Ohio State, which went from 6-7 in 2011 to 12-0 this season. But O'Brien ultimately was judged to have overcome more challenges at Penn State.

Tressel's best chance for the award came in 2002, when Ohio State went from 7-5 in his first season to a 13-0 regular-season mark (and an eventual national title). But Iowa's Kirk Ferentz instead earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors for guiding Iowa to a share of the Big Ten title a year after going 7-5.

Ferentz topping Tressel in 2002 reminds me a lot of O'Brien topping Meyer this season.

Given the trajectory of Ohio State's program under Meyer and the standard set by the 2012 team, it seems unlikely the Buckeyes will take a big step backward -- so Meyer can then bring them forward and win the award -- any time soon.

Meyer has won two national titles and several top coaching honors, including the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year award in 2004. But don't be surprised if like Tressel, he'll go through his Ohio State career without ever being named Big Ten Coach of the Year.

ESPN.com is taking a look at historically bad teams today, and unfortunately for the Big Ten, it hasn't been immune from them.

We're not talking about what Illinois did this season or what Indiana did last season or even what Northwestern did season after season in the late '70s and '80s. From time to time, good programs, even great programs, have a season that makes you go, "Huh?" Nearly every college football blue blood has had one of these seasons in the past 20 years, and we'll look back at two in the Big Ten.

Michigan, 2008

Rich Rodriguez's arrival as coach represented a new era of Michigan football, but the program sunk to historic depths in his first season and never truly recovered, leading to his dismissal after Year 3.

Michigan's streak of 33 consecutive bowl appearances ended, and the Wolverines suffered their first losing season since 1967. The team dropped nine games, the most it ever had in a single season, and finished the season with a team-record fifth consecutive loss to archrival Ohio State.

The season had several potential low points, but a Week 6 loss to Toledo, Michigan's first to a Mid-American Conference team in 25 appearances, likely earns the label. Michigan finished 109th nationally in total offense, 108th in passing and 104th in turnover margin. While Rodriguez's offense sputtered with the wrong types of players, the defense wasn't much better. Michigan surrendered 45 points in a home loss to Illinois -- the most it had allowed at the Big House since 1991 -- while Illini quarterback Juice Williams set a Michigan Stadium record with 431 yards of offense. Purdue later racked up 48 points and 522 yards against the Wolverines.

"Hopefully [we will] remember it as a blip on the screen, a one-time happening," Rodriguez said of the season.

It's one Michigan fans would just as soon forget.

Penn State, 2003

The Nittany Lions had lost momentum since the middle of the 1999 season, enduring back-to-back losing campaigns in 2000 and 2001 before rebounding behind star running back Larry Johnson in 2002. But things took a sour turn again in 2003, as Penn State tumbled to a 3-9 record (wins were later vacated as part of NCAA sanctions).

After losing Larry Johnson, star receiver Bryant Johnson and most of the starting offensive line, Penn State struggled to produce, finishing 103rd nationally in total offense -- last in the Big Ten -- and 99th in scoring. Perhaps more surprisingly, Penn State couldn't stop the run on defense, finishing 104th nationally.

Penn State had never lost nine games in a season before 2003 and hadn't won fewer than four games since 1931. Coach Joe Paterno had endured only three other losing seasons in his 38 seasons at the helm.

The Lions had a six-game losing streak to begin Big Ten play, their longest slide with Paterno on staff as either an assistant or a head coach. The season ended with a 41-10 loss at Michigan State. Paterno had to fend off repeated retirement questions and replaced longtime offensive coordinator Fran Ganter following the season.

"A season like this -- you can't forget this," quarterback Michael Robinson said after the Michigan State loss. "I'm exhausted -- physically, mentally and emotionally."

Fortunately for Robinson and Penn State, there would be better days ahead in 2005.

Former Penn State football assistant coach Mike McQueary has filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the university, seeking millions of dollars in damages for what he believes is defamation and misrepresentation.

McQueary, who saw former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky in the shower with a young boy in 2001 and reported it to former head coach Joe Paterno, claims that statements made by former Penn State president Graham Spanier after the scandal broke in November harmed his reputation. The lawsuit states Spanier told athletic staff after the scandal broke that he supported athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, who had been charged with perjury and failing to report child abuse.

From the Associated Press:

"Spanier's statements have irreparably harmed (McQueary's) reputation for honesty and integrity, and have irreparably harmed (his) ability to earn a living, especially in his chosen profession of coaching football," the lawsuit said.

Messages left for Spanier and his lawyer on Tuesday were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit said McQueary learned his contract was not being renewed, meaning he was no longer a university employee, from a news conference held in July by the university's new president, Rodney Erickson. He said his salary last year was $140,000 and his future earnings as a coach would amount to at least $4 million.

McQueary's lawsuit hardly comes as a surprise, as his career options in football seemingly have been limited or completely eliminated by the scandal. The former Penn State quarterback and wide receivers coach testified in Sandusky's child sex abuse trial in June.

Every football game triggers emotion for 18- to 22-year-old players who work year-round for a dozen guaranteed days in the spotlight.

Every season opener heightens the adrenaline after eight months of toil. Factor in what Penn State players have been through over the past eight months, and their emotional roller-coaster will reach its apex shortly after noon Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

Among the key events since the Lions last left the game field Jan. 2 at the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas ...

• Jan. 6: The hiring of new coach Bill O'Brien, the program's first new leader since 1966
• Jan. 22: The death of former coach Joe Paterno
• June: The trial and conviction of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky
• July 11: The release of the university-commissioned Freeh report, which detailed a cover-up at the highest levels of leadership at the school
• July 23: The NCAA leveling historically severe sanctions against the program, including a four-year postseason ban beginning this fall
• Late July-early August: The transfers of nine players, including star running back Silas Redd

The scrutiny has been there for months, and all Penn State players have wanted to do is play football. They finally return to the game field Saturday against Ohio University in a season opener unlike any other in the history of the school -- or the sport.

"It's going to be an exciting and very emotional day," Lions senior quarterback Matthew McGloin said last week. "We've been getting pretty anxious. You can't help but think what that's going to be like coming out of the tunnel."

Added senior linebacker Michael Mauti: "It’s going to be very emotional, not only for me but for everybody in the stadium."

Even O'Brien, whose last game was Super Bowl XLVI, admitted he'll have butterflies before kickoff Saturday.

"I'd be crazy to tell you otherwise," he said. "I mean, this is my first football game as a head football coach."

The challenge for Penn State players -- and, to a lesser extent, the coaches -- on Saturday is harnessing their emotions without becoming overwhelmed or reckless. Saturday marks the Lions' first opportunity to "punch back," as O'Brien said in July.

But if the Lions take things too far, they'll be in trouble against a talented Ohio team that comes to town with little to lose.

"It's going to be our job really to handle that and to control that," Mauti said. "After all the things that have gone on this offseason, to finally get back to doing what we love to do, and that's play football on Saturday, it's going to be really exciting. ... Every football game's going to be emotional, it's going to be exciting, but at the end of the day, you've got to read your keys, get off blocks, as a defender you've got to make tackles. You've got to play football.

"So as excited as we get, that's our job to control that."

O'Brien plays a big role as well, despite the opener being his first game as a head coach. He and his staff will emphasize focus and composure throughout the week.

They'll keep players busy Friday with meetings and a walk-through where game situations and special teams will be among the emphasis points.

"These are college guys," O'Brien said, "so when they run out there for the opening kickoff or the opening play on offense or defense, they're going to be excited. We just have to make sure that they understand once the ball is snapped, now we're playing football."

1. Even if you’re sick of Penn State, read "Paterno", Joe Posnanski’s long-awaited biography of the late coach. Posnanski enjoyed unprecedented access to Joe Paterno through the last year of his life. Paterno told him to “tell the truth,” whatever he saw. Posnanski lays out what he saw and learned. Where some believe there was a coverup, Posnanski portrays an elderly man who never understood -- even a decade ago -- what Jerry Sandusky had done until it overtook Paterno's 61-year career. It is exhilarating to read of Paterno the man and gripping to read of his downfall. For the fair-minded reader, the book will begin to rehabilitate Paterno’s image.

2. You know the season is close when head coaches announce the winners of their quarterback derbies; i.e., Gary Nova of Rutgers, Taylor Kelly of Arizona State and Danny O'Brien of Wisconsin. But lest Nova and O’Brien believe they have won anything permanent, they should consider Riley Nelson of BYU. Last year, Nelson didn’t win the starting job in August. But he won it in September when he came off the bench and led the Cougars to a comeback win over Utah State. Some players, like Nelson, are better when the bell rings. Some aren’t.

3. Hey, Joe Southwick! No pressure, but when you make your first start as the Boise State quarterback next week, when the No. 24 Broncos play at No. 13 Michigan State, you’re taking with you an AP top-25 streak that dates to Sept. 21, 2008, the day after freshman quarterback Kellen Moore led a 37-32 upset at No. 17 Oregon. Boise State hasn’t been out of the poll since. In fact, this is the first AP poll in which Boise State has been outside the top 10 since the third week of the 2009 season.

More excerpts from Joe Posnanski's authorized biography, Paterno, are coming to light. The latest one covers what the book describes as a rocky relationship between Joe Paterno and his former longtime defensive coordinator, convicted child sex abuser Jerry Sandusky.

The Patriot-News reports on the relevant passages from the book, which divulges that Paterno had written what the family called a "Why I Hate Jerry Sandusky" memo in 1993.

"In it Paterno complained that Sandusky had stopped recruiting, seemed constantly distracted, had lost his energy for coaching, and was more interested in his charity, The Second Mile. "He would gripe about Jerry all the time," one family member said."

Of course, Sandusky retired in 1999, one year after he was investigated by police for showering with a young boy. Many have wondered if the two were related, though the Freeh Report found no link. The Freeh Report did conclude that Paterno knew about the 1998 investigation.

Posnanski writes:

"The general media takeaway from this email chain was that Paterno had convinced Curley to back off reporting Sandusky and to handle this in-house. Others familiar with the emails believed instead that Paterno had demanded they confront Sandusky."

Posnanski also asked Paterno if he considered calling the police after being told by Mike McQueary in 2002 that McQueary had witnessed Sandusky in a Penn State shower with a young boy.

"To be honest with you, I didn't," Paterno responded. "This isn't my field. I didn't know what to do. I had not seen anything. Jerry didn't work for me anymore. I didn't have anything to do with him. I tried to look through the Penn State guidelines to see what I was supposed to do. It said that I was supposed to call Tim [Curley]. So I did."

Argue away.

Penn State's football makeover under coach Bill O'Brien will include changes to the team uniforms.

The school on Tuesday announced two changes to the Nittany Lions' unis for the 2012 season.

1. A blue ribbon will be worn to honor victims of child abuse.

2. Players' last names will be displayed for the first time "in recognition of their resolve and dedication to the team and the university," a news release reads.

Penn State has sported an unmistakably simple look for decades: white helmets, black shoes, blue or white uniforms, no decals or names. Any talk of changes under former coach Joe Paterno were typically shot down immediately.

But it's a new era in State College, and O'Brien and players had hinted at the changes in recent months. After all that has happened, it's not surprising to see them come to fruition. O'Brien met with several players and they decided to add the names.

"We want our fans to know and recognize these young men," O'Brien said in a statement. "They have stuck together during tough times, and I commend them for the leadership they have shown. Moving forward, I'm deeply committed to honoring Penn State's traditions, while building a bright future for our football program."

Acting athletic director Dave Joyner added of the ribbons, "Coach Bill O'Brien and his football team made it clear they want to support victims and bring more awareness to this issue, which affects so many."

The ribbon addition was a must after the child sex abuse scandal involving former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky. But the addition of the names surely will attract more attention.

We'll likely get a closer look at the uniform changes Thursday as Penn State holds its preseason media day. According to a team spokesman, there have been no discussions about the uniform changes beyond the 2012 season.

What's your opinion on the changes?

Joe Paterno's family has just issued the legal equivalent of a Hail Mary pass.

The Paterno family, through attorney Wick Sollers, sent a letter of appeal Friday to the NCAA, requesting an open hearing on the sanctions handed down to Penn State as a result of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

"This matter may be the most important disciplinary action in the history of the NCAA, and it has been handled in a fundamentally inappropriate and unprecedented manner," Sollers wrote in the letter to the NCAA's Infractions Appeal Committee. "To severely punish a University and its community and to condemn a great educator, philanthropist and coach without any public review or hearing is unfair on its face and a violation of NCAA guidelines."

They have a point about the unprecedented nature of how the NCAA chose to punish the school, an argument that many have made. But if the Paternos truly believe this appeal will gain any traction in Indianapolis, then they are delusional. If they believe they are the ones to restore Penn State football back to its pre-Sandusky status, they are living on another planet.

The family argues that it has the right to file an appeal because Paterno is an "involved individual," according to NCAA rules. Well, OK. But the only real sanctions against Joe Paterno were the vacating of his wins. There is zero chance that the NCAA would overturn that decision. But even if it ignored all previous precedent and restored those wins, who really cares in the grand scheme of things?

Beyond that, Paterno's name is about as radioactive as it gets right now in the halls of the NCAA. There will be no sympathy for his reputation at this time, and that probably won't change unless new information comes to light.

The letter also seems to ignore the fact that Penn State accepted the NCAA sanctions and agreed to not have any kind of hearing on the matter. Or that the school accepted as fact the findings of the Freeh report, which it had itself commissioned and paid for.

Yet the Paternos apparently think their letter of appeal can get the NCAA to consider changing the sanctions against a school whose leadership agreed to the penalties, simply because the family of one of the main figures responsible for the sanctions doesn't think it was fair?

Yeah, um, good luck with that one.

Indeed, the NCAA rightly batted away the appeal late Friday. But, ESPN.com's Don Van Natta Jr. writes, the Paternos could use that denial as the basis to sue the NCAA. So perhaps this is just legal wrangling. But what, really, will the Paternos seek to gain by any kind of lawsuit? I'm no lawyer, but most people have heard the phrase "you can't defame the dead." The Paternos don't seem to have any standing to fight the sanctions against the football program since they are not currently associated with it. So all I could see them angling for is the restoration of wins. Which, again, would be pointless and wildly tone deaf, given all that has gone on in the program.

We get that the Paternos are upset and want to defend JoePa's honor. Fine. Try to find some evidence that disputes the Freeh report. But actions like these only make them look like they're grasping at straws.