Shortly after news broke that Jerry Sandusky had been sexually abusing boys for years, an ESPN investigation fueled accusations that Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine had committed similar crimes. A year later, the case is officially over.

Remember the Bernie Fine story, when a longtime Syracuse basketball assistant was fired mid allegations of molestation – and a very strange recording involving a phone conversation between an accuser and Fine’s wife, Laurie? Laurie Fine remembers.

When Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim vigorously defended his longtime assistant coach and friend Bernie Fine from allegations of child molestation – while harshly criticizing his accusers – it was clearly a risky move. Today brought the latest reason why.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick says the state of New York can’t press charges against Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine. Fine has been accused of sexual abuse by three men, who said Fine molested them when they were boys. Two of them served as ballboys for the Syracuse basketball team.

Putting the two sources in touch with each other seemed like an odd choice for a journalistic enterprise. The thing, though, is that ESPN’s not really a journalistic enterprise. It’s an entertainment enterprise that doubles as a journalistic enterprise, which is the uncomfortable thing about Vince Doria going on TV and answering questions about his company’s journalistic integrity.

Last night, Syracuse overwhelmed Eastern Michigan 84-48, but what most people were more focused on was that it was the first game for the Orange since the firing of longtime assistant coach Bernie Fine. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim talked about the scandal, as well as his defense of Fine, after the game – and even had his own cheering section.

The major focus in the disturbing child molestation story involving former Syracuse basketball assistant Bernie Fine story is rightly on his alleged crimes. But there’s another side to the story popping up: the story of how the story was covered, and why some details didn’t emerge sooner.

Bernie Fine, the longtime Syracuse assistant basketball coach currently under investigation for alleged molestation, has been fired, the university announced earlier this evening.

When news broke that longtime Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine was under investigation for alleged molestation, among the prevailing reactions were, “Oh God, please not again,” and also some skepticism. But a secretly-taped phone call, apparently involving Fine’s wife, sheds some new – and a very odd – light on things.

It’s hard to imagine any story worse than the scandal at Penn State, and maybe a single story can’t be any worse. What could be worse, though: multiple stories like it.