Governor Tom Corbett has filed a lawsuit against the National College Athletics Association on behalf of the commonwealth, railing against unjust penalizations and breaches of procedure in their implementation.

Corbett, after accepting the sanctions against the Penn State football team in July 2012, said in the complaint he's taken time to analyze the NCAA's decision and found it did not follow its own rules. He's declared the penalties "overreaching and unlawful" breaches of antitrust law.

In response, the NCAA said Penn State has accepted the consequences of its inaction and the role of its employees and Corbett's suit is a setback to the university. The action also calls into question Corbett's own hand in the long investigation as commonwealth attorney general and later as a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees.

Local alumni and fans have generally reacted to the news with cynicism.

Rob Hays, a Penn State graduate and professor at Northampton Community College, said "I am no fan of the NCAA, which exceeded its authority and did a hatchet job on Penn State without conducting its own investigation. But I can't see the governor winning this fight - unless what he's really after is to win in the court of public opinion in Pennsylvania.

"Penn State agreed to the sanctions, has accepted its medicine and is moving on," Hays said.

Penn State football fan and frequent Press contributor Dana Grubb agreed. "Although I'm happy [the lawsuit] is being done, I believe Corbett is looking to gain political benefit and curry voter favor after his failure as attorney general to handle the original child abuse complaints and questionable insertion into the issue as governor and Penn State trustee," Grubb said.

"[Governor Corbett's] 180-degree turn on these events and issues is both pleasing and disturbing," Ara Barlieb, PSU class of '73 said. "He shares considerable responsibility for the incalculable damage created by the Freeh Report and by the failure of Penn State's Board of Trustees to challenge its many murky assertions and unsupported conclusions. I support the lawsuit, although I can't imagine it has been filed for any of the right reasons, foremost of which would be to reverse the rush to judgment that the governor helped engineer."